Television licensing in the United Kingdom (historical)

The Broadcasting Receiving Licence of 10 shillings was introduced in November 1922 to cover existing BBC radio broadcasts, as well as the BBC's 405-line television service between November 1936 and September 1939. The television licence was introduced in June 1946 to coincide with the post-war resumption of the BBC service the same month. 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.

Contents

Changing cost of the licence fee

The costs of the various licence fees have been increased over the years, and while this is now done annually, previously there were gaps of varying length, which will have resulted in an overall lowering of income in real terms to the BBC at times of high inflation.

Date Radio only Radio + B/W TV Radio + Col. TV
(2005 equivalent)
Nov 1922 10s
Jun 1946 £1 £2
Jun 1954 £1 £3
Aug 1957 £1 £3 + £1
Excise Duty
Oct 1963 £1 £4
Aug 1965 £1 5s £5
Jan 1968 £1 5s £5 £10 (£120.13)
Jan 1969 £1 5s £6 £11 (£125.25)
Jul 1971 £7 £12 (£116.31)
Apr 1975 £8 £18 (£116.31)
Jul 1977 £9 £21 (£91.72)
Nov 1978 £10 £25 (£97.79)
Nov 1979 £12 £34 (£116.14)
Dec 1981 £15 £46 (£118.21)
Mar 1985 £18 £58 (£118.94)
Apr 1988 £21 £62.50 (£110.70)
Apr 1989 £22 £66 (£108.78)
Apr 1990 £24 £71 (£108.71)
Apr 1991 £25.50 £77 (£110.57)
Apr 1992 £26.50 £80 (£110.45)
Apr 1993 £27.50 £83 (£111.62)
Apr 1994 £28 £84.50 (£111.86)
Apr 1995 £28.50 £86.50 (£111.51)
Apr 1996 £30 £89.50 (£111.51)
Apr 1997 £30.50 £91.50 (£110.80)
Apr 1998 £32.50 £97.50 (£114.99)
Apr 1999 £33.50 £101 (£116.52)
Apr 2000 £34.50 £104 (£118.46)
Apr 2001 £36.50 £109 (£121.49)
Apr 2002 £37.50 £112 (£121.10)
Apr 2003 £38.50 £116 (£121.65)
Apr 2004 £40.50 £121 (£123.65)
Apr 2005 £42 £126.50
Apr 2006 £44 £131.50
Apr 2007 £45.50 £135.50
2008 £47 £139.50

Historical currency conversion as per [1].

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 + Col. 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

(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.

References

Figures for 1927–1955: The British Broadcasting Corporation Annual Report and Accounts for the Year 1954–55 (HMSO 1955)
Figures for 1956–1986: BBC Annual Report and Handbook 1987 (BBC 1986)
Rounded figure for 1997 & 1998 (at 31 March): BBC Annual Report and Accounts 1997/1998 (BBC 2000) [2]
Rounded figures for 1999 & 2000 (at 31 March): BBC Annual Report and Accounts 1999/2000 (BBC 2000) [3]
Rounded figures for 2001 & 2002 (at 31 March): BBC Annual Report and Accounts 2001/2002 (BBC 2002) [4]
Rounded figures for 2003 & 2004 (at 31 March): BBC Annual Report and Accounts 2003/2004 (BBC 2004) [5]
Rounded figures for 2005 & 2006 (at 31 March): BBC Annual Report and Accounts 2005/2006 (BBC 2006) [6]
Rounded figures for 2007: BBC Annual Report and Accounts 2006/2007 (BBC 2007) [7]
Rounded figures for 2008: BBC Annual Report and Accounts 2008/2009 (BBC 2009) [8]
Rounded figures for 2009: BBC Annual Report and Accounts 2009/2010 (BBC 2010) [9]
Rounded figures for 2010: BBC Annual Report and Accounts 2010/2011 (BBC 2011) [10]

See also

External links