Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

BBC iPlayer AIBU

30 replies

WellAlwaysHaveParis · 01/01/2018 08:45

Bit of a silly question, but I thought I'd check here to see what you all thought, as I couldn't find the answer anywhere else online.

I know that people need a TV licence to watch BBC iPlayer. Under these rules, are you still allowed to watch iPlayer outside your home (on public transport, for example)? Would you still be covered by the licence then?

Thanks.

OP posts:
Original poster
WellAlwaysHaveParis · 01/01/2018 08:55

Bump :)

OP posts:
MaisyPops · 01/01/2018 08:55

To watch or use iplayer you need a tv licence.

FlouncyDoves · 01/01/2018 08:56

Not that they’ll check

Original poster
WellAlwaysHaveParis · 01/01/2018 08:56

Maisy I understand that you need a TV licence, but I'm wondering whether the licence would cover you outside your own home?

OP posts:
FittonTower · 01/01/2018 08:57

If you have a TV licence you can watch iPlayer where ever you like

ImissTerry · 01/01/2018 08:57

Yes, you are covered to watch iplayer away from your home so long as you have a tv license.

Original poster
WellAlwaysHaveParis · 01/01/2018 08:58

If you don't pay for a TV licence yourself but live with relatives who do pay for a TV licence, is that okay?

OP posts:
OrinocoDugong · 01/01/2018 08:58

Yes and the rules are available in a number if places online so it's surprising you couldn't find it.

If your home address has a TV licence then you are covered to use devices to access bbc content when you are away from home so long as the device you are using is not connected to a mains power supply at the time. If you are using a device that needs mains power supply to access the content then the premises you are in needs an independent licence.

tempuser123 · 01/01/2018 08:58

If you have a TV licence you can watch iPlayer where ever you like

This isn't strictly true.

www.tvlicensing.co.uk/check-if-you-need-one/topics/bbc-iplayer-and-the-tv-licence

If you already have a TV Licence for your address, you are already covered to download or watch BBC programmes on iPlayer when you’re on the go, provided the device you’re using isn’t plugged into the electricity mains at a separate address. If the device is plugged in at a separate address, you need to be covered by a licence at that address.

ivykaty44 · 01/01/2018 08:59

Cotton

So if you have a tv licence and you go to a friends house and she doesn’t have a tv licence I thought you couldn’t watch bbciplayer ion your mobile device...

ivykaty44 · 01/01/2018 09:00

So the licence covers the address but not someone else’s address if plugged in

Original poster
WellAlwaysHaveParis · 01/01/2018 09:02

Orinoco the rules that I looked up online were not very clear at all. None of them mentioned the bit about plugging a device into a mains supply.

OP posts:
OrinocoDugong · 01/01/2018 09:02

www.tvlicensing.co.uk/faqs/FAQ129

So for example a 19 year old whose official residence is their parents house could watch BBC programmes on their handheld phone (when not currently plugged into a charger) while at university covered by their parents licence - but if they used a chrome cast device or similar linkup to access the same content via the same phone but project it onto a large screen TV that is plugged in to power, then they are breaking the law.

NaughtToThreeSadOnions · 01/01/2018 09:05

Well I can answer this, as my parents don't have a TV lincence and I didnt want to miss 2016 Doctor Who while staying with them.

I asked my very well researched sister, you can watch iPlayer anywhere under your lincence as long as you don't plug your device in while your using iPlayer.

S

UnicornRainbowColours · 01/01/2018 09:06

When I was a live in Nanny I used to watch player on their licence. I think as long as the home is covered your ok.

OrinocoDugong · 01/01/2018 09:07

Sorry I didn't mean to be rude I'm just intrigued about where you might have looked/what keywords you might have Googled that meant you didn't get to discover tvlicensing.co.uk

HopelesslydevotedtoGu · 01/01/2018 09:11

If you are watching on your phone using the bus' WiFi I think you would need your own licence
If the bus had a communal screen for everyone to watch that would be covered by the bus company's licence

Mummyoflittledragon · 01/01/2018 09:13

Orinoco
Are you sure charging counts as plugged into the mains? It’s getting its power from a battery at all times. Therefore is never plugged into the mains.

OrinocoDugong · 01/01/2018 09:20

UnicornRainbowColours When I was a live in Nanny I used to watch player on their licence. I think as long as the home is covered your ok.

This is sometimes true and sometimes not. If a room has no lock on the door and any resident could come and go whenever hindered only by respect for the privacy of the room occupant, and you all share the same cooking and washing facilities then a single TV licence for the whole property is fine. If a nanny has locked door, an en-suite bathroom and a microwave in their room for snacks they could be considered as having a separate dwelling and need a licence of their own.

tempuser123 · 01/01/2018 09:52

Are you sure charging counts as plugged into the mains? It’s getting its power from a battery at all times. Therefore is never plugged into the mains.

When it is charging it is plugged into the mains though it may not be powered by the mains.

The rules only refer to be plugged into the mains.

WhatALoadOfOldBollocks · 01/01/2018 10:23

It's all as clear as mud then and not remotely ambiguous Grin

TimeIhadaNameChange · 01/01/2018 10:40

How bizarre! So say I was at a friend's house babysitting and take my iPad with me. They don't have a licence but I do. I'm ok to watch iPlayer until my battery dies, but then I'd have to wait for it to charge before I could watch the rest of the programme. There's something really quite odd about that!

GladAllOver · 01/01/2018 10:46

The problem is that the licence was created when there were no portable TV devices. It isn't really possible to keep it up to date with all the new devices.
The system will have to change.

tempuser123 · 01/01/2018 10:46

Rules seem clear to me.

If the device that you are using is connected to the building that you are in then that building needs a license associated to it.

If your device is truly mobile, and though it is in a building it doesn't have to be, then the user of the device needs a license.

Yeahsureokay · 01/01/2018 11:55

Our local soft play centre has a sign that specifically mentions how you are not allowed to watch BBC iplayer on any device whilst plugged in to their electricity mains. We guessed it was because they do not have a tv license but I had no idea before reading that, it just never occurred to me that you would no longer be covered by your own license.

(I could think of more convenient places to watch BBC iplayer, but still.) Smile

Swipe left for the next trending thread