BBC One & BBC Two available to watch live on the internet
BBC One and BBC Two will be available to watch live on the internet from next week. The channels will be accessible on www.bbc.co.uk and on internet-enabled devices such as mobile phones. They join BBC Three, BBC Four, CBBC, CBeebies and BBC News, which are already web-streamed. The announcement is likely to increase calls for the television licence fee to be scrapped.
Image Source: TheStage.co.uk
Although online viewers will still be liable to pay the licence fee, it will be increasingly difficult to enforce.
The BBC’s iPlayer service, launched at the beginning of this year, can be watched without a licence according to TV Licensing, the body that collects the money.
This is because it is only required for people who ‘watch or record TV programmes as they are broadcast’.
The number of people watching TV online doubled in the past 12 months, research by Ofcom revealed. Jana Bennett, director of BBC Vision, said: ‘The launch of BBC One and BBC Two online completes our commitment to make our portfolio of channels available to watch on the internet.
‘Licence fee-payers will be able to watch BBC programmes, live, wherever they are in the UK on their computers and other portable devices.’
The channels are being put online as part of a one-year evaluation period. They will be available only to internet users in Britain.
Although online viewers will still be liable to pay the licence fee, it will be increasingly difficult to enforce.
The BBC’s iPlayer service, launched at the beginning of this year, can be watched without a licence according to TV Licensing, the body that collects the money.
This is because it is only required for people who ‘watch or record TV programmes as they are broadcast’.
The number of people watching TV online doubled in the past 12 months, research by Ofcom revealed. Jana Bennett, director of BBC Vision, said: ‘The launch of BBC One and BBC Two online completes our commitment to make our portfolio of channels available to watch on the internet.
‘Licence fee-payers will be able to watch BBC programmes, live, wherever they are in the UK on their computers and other portable devices.’
The channels are being put online as part of a one-year evaluation period. They will be available only to internet users in Britain.
Source: Metro.co.uk
