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Television licensing in the United Kingdom (historical) facts for kids

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The first broadcasting receiving licence was introduced in 1904 to cover the reception of radio broadcasts. It is paid annually.

Historical timeline

BBC

At the instigation of the Post Office, the British Broadcasting Company was established in October 1922 by a group of radio manufacturers to produce radio programmes for the users of their products. Initially the broadcasts were funded by the sale of radio receiving sets, and carried sponsored programmes.

As part of the agreement with the Post Office, the Postmaster General started to apply a condition to broadcast receiving licences that the equipment used be "Type Approved by Postmaster General" and marked with the BBC logo.

Initially, the fee for receiving licences was 10 shillings, and remained at that rate until after the Second World War.

With the forming of the public British Broadcasting Corporation in 1927, the Post Office dedicated nearly the entirety of licence fee income to the funding of the BBC.

Television

The standard broadcast receiving licences covered reception of the BBC's 405-line television service between November 1936 and September 1939 at no additional cost.

The outbreak of the Second World War in 1939 led to the suspension of television broadcasts in the UK.

The television licence was introduced in June 1946 to coincide with the post-war resumption of the BBC service the same month. Television licences always included a licence to receive radio broadcasts.

From 1971, only the reception of television transmissions required a licence, and radio-only licences ceased to be issued.

Colour television

The colour television licence (actually a "colour supplementary fee" of £5 on top of the existing monochrome licence) was introduced in 1968, following the commencement of BBC2 colour transmissions the previous July.

Changing cost of the licence fee

Date Radio only Monochrome TV Colour TV
November 1922 £0.5 (10s)
June 1946 £1 £2
June 1954 £1 £3
August 1957 £1 £3 + £1
Excise Duty
October 1963 £1 £4
August 1965 £1.25 (£1 5s) £5
January 1968 £1.25 (£1 5s) £5 £10
January 1969 £1.25 (£1 5s) £6 £11
July 1971 £7 £12
April 1975 £8 £18
July 1977 £9 £21
November 1978 £10 £25
November 1979 £12 £34
December 1981 £15 £46
March 1985 £18 £58
April 1988 £21 £62.50
April 1989 £22 £66
April 1990 £24 £71
April 1991 £25.50 £77
April 1992 £26.50 £80
April 1993 £27.50 £83
April 1994 £28 £84.50
April 1995 £28.50 £86.50
April 1996 £30 £89.50
April 1997 £30.50 £91.50
April 1998 £32.50 £97.50
April 1999 £33.50 £101
April 2000 £34.50 £104
April 2001 £36.50 £109
April 2002 £37.50 £112
April 2003 £38.50 £116
April 2004 £40.50 £121
April 2005 £42 £126.50
April 2006 £44 £131.50
April 2007 £45.50 £135.50
April 2008 £47 £139.50
April 2009 £48 £142.50
April 2010 £49 £145.50
April 2017 £49.50 £147
April 2018 £50.50 £150.50
April 2019 £52 £154.50
April 2020 £53 £157.50
April 2021 £53.50 £159

Cost of a colour TV licence


Cost of a colour TV licence (inflation adjusted)


Number of licences issued

The number of licences on issue at 31 March or 1 April by year is as follows:

Year Total Issued free to
blind persons		 Radio only Radio + B/W TV Radio + colour TV Over 75s Concessionary
1927 2,269,644 5,750 2,263,894 N/A N/A N/A N/A
1928 2,482,873 12,234 2,470,639 N/A N/A N/A N/A
1929 2,731,872 14,505 2,717,367 N/A N/A N/A N/A
1930 3,092,324 16,496 3,075,828 N/A N/A N/A N/A
1931 3,647,722 21,304 3,626,418 N/A N/A N/A N/A
1932 4,621,805 31,513 4,590,292 N/A N/A N/A N/A
1933 5,497,217 35,850 5,461,367 N/A N/A N/A N/A
1934 6,259,653 39,224 6,220,429 N/A N/A N/A N/A
1935 7,011,753 41,868 6,969,885 N/A N/A N/A N/A
1936 7,616,822 44,380 7,572,442 N/A N/A N/A N/A
1937 8,127,636 46,475 8,081,161 N/A N/A N/A N/A
1938 8,588,676 49,730 8,538,946 N/A N/A N/A N/A
1939 8,968,338 52,621 8,915,717 N/A N/A N/A N/A
1940 8,951,045 53,427 8,897,618 N/A N/A N/A N/A
1941 8,752,454 50,555 8,701,899 N/A N/A N/A N/A
1942 8,683,098 47,456 8,635,642 N/A N/A N/A N/A
1943 9,242,040 48,399 9,193,641 N/A N/A N/A N/A
1944 9,554,838 48,124 9,506,714 N/A N/A N/A N/A
1945 9,710,230 46,861 9,663,369 N/A N/A N/A N/A
1946 10,395,551 47,720 10,347,831 N/A N/A N/A N/A
1947 10,777,704 49,846 10,713,298 14,560 N/A N/A N/A
1948 11,179,676 52,135 11,081,977 45,564 N/A N/A N/A
1949 11,747,448 53,654 11,567,227 126,567 N/A N/A N/A
1950 12,219,448 56,376 11,819,190 343,882 N/A N/A N/A
1951 12,369,027 58,161 11,546,925 763,941 N/A N/A N/A
1952 12,753,506 60,105 11,244,141 1,449,260 N/A N/A N/A
1953 12,892,231 61,095 10,688,684 2,142,452 N/A N/A N/A
1954 13,436,793 62,389 10,125,512 3,248,892 N/A N/A N/A
1955 13,980,496 62,506 9,414,224 4,503,766 N/A N/A N/A
1956 14,261,551 62,745 8,459,213 5,739,593 N/A N/A N/A
1957 14,525,099 62,453 7,496,390 6,966,256 N/A N/A N/A
1958 14,646,350 61,387 6,494,960 8,090,003 N/A N/A N/A
1959 14,736,413 57,784 5,423,207 9,255,422 N/A N/A N/A
1960 15,005,011 54,958 4,480,300 10,469,753 N/A N/A N/A
1961 15,176,725 50,852 3,858,132 11,267,741 N/A N/A N/A
1962 15,372,219 46,782 3,491,725 11,833,712 N/A N/A N/A
1963 15,698,991 43,371 3,212,814 12,442,806 N/A N/A N/A
1964 15,884,679 40,337 2,959,011 12,885,331 N/A N/A N/A
1965 16,046,603 34,355 2,759,203 13,253,045 N/A N/A N/A
1966 16,178,156 31,499 2,579,567 13,567,090 N/A N/A N/A
1967 16,773,205 29,662 2,476,272 14,267,271 N/A N/A N/A
1968 17,645,821 27,564 2,529,750 15,068,079 20,428 N/A N/A
1969 17,959,933 24,966 2,438,906 15,396,642 99,419 N/A N/A
1970 18,183,719 22,174 2,279,017 15,609,131 273,397 N/A N/A
1971 (1)(2) 15,943,190 N/A N/A 15,333,221 609,969 N/A N/A
1972 (1) 16,658,451 N/A N/A 15,023,691 1,634,760 N/A N/A
1973 17,124,619 N/A N/A 13,792,623 3,331,996 N/A N/A
1974 17,324,570 N/A N/A 11,766,424 5,558,146 N/A N/A
1975 17,700,815 N/A N/A 10,120,493 7,580,322 N/A N/A
1976 17,787,984 N/A N/A 9,148,732 8,639,252 N/A N/A
1977 18,056,058 N/A N/A 8,098,386 9,957,672 N/A N/A
1978 18,148,918 N/A N/A 7,099,726 11,049,192 N/A N/A
1979 18,381,161 N/A N/A 6,249,716 12,131,445 N/A N/A
1980 18,284,865 N/A N/A 5,383,125 12,901,740 N/A N/A
1981 18,667,211 N/A N/A 4,887,663 13,779,548 N/A N/A
1982 18,554,220 N/A N/A 4,293,668 14,260,552 N/A N/A
1983 18,494,235 N/A N/A 3,795,587 14,698,648 N/A N/A
1984 18,631,753 N/A N/A 3,261,272 15,370,481 N/A N/A
1985 18,715,937 N/A N/A 2,896,263 15,819,674 N/A N/A
1986 18,704,732 N/A N/A 2,679,396 16,025,336 N/A N/A
1997 22,000,000 N/A N/A 500,000 20,800,000 N/A 700,000
1998 22,300,000 N/A N/A 400,000 21,300,000 N/A 600,000
1999 22,800,000 N/A N/A 300,000 21,900,000 N/A 600,000
2000 23,300,000 N/A N/A 200,000 22,400,000 N/A 700,000
2001 23,400,000 N/A N/A 100,000 19,700,000 3,100,000 500,000
2002 23,800,000 N/A N/A 100,000 19,900,000 3,600,000 200,000
2003 24,100,000 N/A N/A 100,000 20,100,000 3,700,000 200,000
2004 24,500,000 N/A N/A 100,000 20,400,000 3,800,000 200,000
2005 24,700,000 N/A N/A 100,000 20,600,000 3,800,000 200,000
2006 25,000,000 N/A N/A 100,000 20,800,000 3,900,000 200,000
2007 25,100,000 N/A N/A 33,000 20,900,000 4,000,000 200,000
2008 25,248,000 N/A N/A 28,000 21,081,000 3,953,000 186,000
2009 25,364,000 N/A N/A 24,000 21,154,000 4,000,000 186,000
2010 25,459,000 N/A N/A 19,000 21,171,000 4,088,000 181,000
2011 25,594,000 N/A N/A 15,000 21,235,000 4,156,000 188,000
2012 25,706,000 N/A N/A 12,000 21,306,000 4,206,000 182,000
2013 25,783,000 N/A N/A 9,000 21,351,000 4,251,000 172,000
2014 25,879,000 N/A N/A 8,000 21,367,000 4,328,000 176,000
2015 25,959,000 N/A N/A 7,000 21,420,000 4,362,000 170,000
2016 25,997,000 N/A N/A 7,000 21,441,000 4,363,000 186,000
2017 26,234,000 N/A N/A 6,000 21,667,000 4,385,000 176,000
2018 26,239,000 N/A N/A 6,000 21,611,000 4,455,000 167,000
2019 26,183,000 N/A N/A 5,000 21,408,000 4,603,000 167,000
2020 25,946,000 N/A N/A 5,000 21,128,000 4,669,999 144,000
2021 25,208,000 N/A N/A 4,000 23,733,000 1,359,000 112,000
2022 24,906,000 N/A N/A 4,000 23,760,000 1,034,000 188,000
2023 24,372,000 N/A N/A 4,000 23,236,000 947,000 185,000

(1) Owing to industrial action within the Post Office the figures for licences in force (at these dates) do not reflect the true licensing position on those dates.

(2) Radio only and combined radio & television licences were abolished on 1 February 1971. From this date television only licences have been issued.

See also

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