In the UK there are over 50 different timeshift TV channels available to viewers.
A timeshift TV channel, just as the name implies, is a TV channel that shows an exact rerun of programmes aired on its parent channel a fixed amount of time earlier. The following are some well-known examples of timeshift TV channels:
- ITV+1
- ITV2+1
- ITV3+1
- ITV4+1
- Channel 4+1
- Channel 5+1
- E4+1
- Film4+1
- Dave ja vu
We were recently engaged in a conversation with a reader who was querying whether the receiving of timeshift TV channels required a TV licence, as the programmes, in his opinion, were not being broadcast "live" over the airwaves.
Sadly the legislation does not work that way. Even though the programmes on ITV+1, for sake of argument, have been previously broadcast an hour ago, a person would still need to be covered by a valid TV licence to legally receive them. When they are broadcast on the +1 channel they are effectively being broadcast "live" once again.
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6 comments:
Still doesn't explain the theory behind why a licence is needed to view these time shift programs. Unless they themselves are simply transmitted "live" later on.
NB: Thinking about it further, I can see the difference now. Catch up can be viewed whenever someone wants, unlike a time shift program.
So, if someone posts a link on social media of a BBC news video, for example, and it plays on the social media page, in a box, does this make you liable for a licence?
Pleepsit Pants - that is certainly the way we see it.
We have approached the BBC for comment, but they have so far ignored our request for clarification. Their refusal to respond may well indicate that (a) they don't know themselves, or (b) we're absolutely correct in our interpretation.
You need a license to watch or record ITV because you're watching or recording the content from ITV as it's broadcast. Similarly you need a license to watch or record ITV+1 because you're watching or recording the content from ITV+1 as it's broadcast. The fact that the content from ITV+1 happens to be a repeat of the content from ITV, one hour earlier, is irrelevant - it's live content on ITV+1 right now.
Chris
I'm sorry this is off topic but I thought you might find it interesting?
Across the UK, Beeb staff missed an astonishing 91,992 days because of illness - costing licence fee payers £12.5m.
It means around 250 years' worth of working days were lost due to illness in just 12 months.
Figures released after a Freedom of Information request revealed staff at BBC Northern Ireland missed a total of 4,818 days in the 12 months to April - equivalent to 13 years.
The average number of days lost per person here was 7.9 - well above the average number of sick days across the BBC as a whole, which was 5.1.
It is also near double the UK average for the whole labour market which, according to the Office for National Statistics, in 2014 stood at 4.4 days.
Based on the £12.5m UK-wide cost of absenteeism, the Northern Ireland sickness bill would work out at around £654,000.
The BBC said its sickness absence had dropped by 14% in the last five years.
Source; Belfast Telegraph
Thanks for that information Bernard, as I hadn't previously picked up on it.
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