WikipediaThe days of free TV are numbered after the government announced plans to make it impossible to watch on-demand TV without a licence.
For millions, the widely used ‘loophole’ has allowed us to watch catch-up services on iPlayer, ITV Hub and All 4 to our heart’s content without paying the annual licence fee.
However, Culture Secretary John Whittingdale has announced this morning that systems will be put in place to prevent this from happening, reports The Guardian.
YouTubeThe licence is ‘likely to become less sustainable’ in the longer term, said Mr Whittingdale.
But that’s not all – he also plans for a new requirement to provide, what he calls, ‘distinctive content’ rather than just chase ratings, but said the Government is ‘emphatically not saying the BBC should not be popular’.
In another massive shift, he also said the BBC would now come under the remit of Ofcom and the BBC Trust would be abolished.
According to Mr Whittingdale, the Beeb will get a new board – the majority of which will be made up of members independent of the Government.
It has also been announced that the current BBC chair, Rona Fairhead, will remain in post until the end of her term in 2018.
No more binging on entire series of Masterchef for free then…
