Could this be the end for TV?

The debate about TV licenses has become increasingly prominent in recent months after the UK government ruled in May that all BBC iPlayer users will need a TV license from September 1. It was initially thought that these changes would not come into place until next year.

Currently, a loophole in the system allows viewers to watch the online service regardless of whether they’ve paid their license or not.

A new study from Broadband Genie has found that 39% of its participants would be in favour of cancelling their TV license in favour of subscribing to a streaming service. This statistic has since been applied to the proportion of the UK population who currently pay for a TV license, suggesting that, should these figures be realised in the near future, nine million people in Britain would stop paying their license fee.

The study suggests that, should that happen, the cost to the BBC would be an estimated £1.4 billion in revenue.

Other findings in the study revealed that 86% of participants felt that the TV license fee should be cheaper than its current £12 per month fee, while 30% of those surveyed admitted that they no longer watched live television. 43% said that the license should be scrapped altogether.

However, 73% of the study’s respondents said that the UK would still be better off keeping the BBC.