BBC iplayer now linked to licence?

Looks as if BBC has linked its Iplayer login to the TV licence. Our licence expired three days ago and we now get the 'network error' notice when we tried to log in -- not that we bother much with it, and given the Beeb's woke content and increasing repeats we're thinking of going to streaming anyway.

Edited by Malwaremike (Sun 03-Aug-25 18:12:37)

How do they do the linking? Have you had to type in your TV licence serial number somewhere?

More likely you have a fault, as that would have been a big change reported widely.

No, never typed licence number. I think the block maybe linked to my IP which hasn't changed for ages, BBC presumably logs IP on occasions where I have signed in for iPlayer and links it to licence. Hopefully it is network issue as you suggest, but going from iplayer to commercial channels, Youtube etc all work fine.

In reply to a post by Malwaremike:

BBC presumably logs IP on occasions where I have signed in for iPlayer and links it to licence.

That just won't work.. too many networks use CG NAT where thousands of customers are behind a single IP. Unless they had a login system that asked for your licence number, they have no way of doing this.

Try rebooting your router box, if you are on dynamic IP (most people are) this might give you a different one and fix the problem.

In reply to a post by Malwaremike:

Looks as if BBC has linked its Iplayer login to the TV licence. Our licence expired three days ago and we now get the 'network error' notice when we tried to log in -- not that we bother much with it, and given the Beeb's woke content and increasing repeats we're thinking of going to streaming anyway.

It's not linked to the license, they have no way of achieving that, and you've misdiagnosed a fault you're having with something else that you probably want to believe is true.

In reply to a post by Malwaremike:

Looks as if BBC has linked its Iplayer login to the TV licence. Our licence expired three days ago and we now get the 'network error' notice when we tried to log in -- not that we bother much with it,

Where did you get that idea from?

In reply to a post by Malwaremike:

and given the Beeb's woke content

why place such a comment, were you expecting a reaction.

Watching iPlayer has required a TV license for quite some time, so I'm not sure why you seem surprised?

What utter rubbish, you are just linking a problem to what you want it to be rather than the actual cause

Edited by MattJessop (Mon 04-Aug-25 11:56:56)

@jchamier
Turned off router overnight and iplayer came up instantly this am. Looks as if it was a fault as you suggest. Since FTTP service has become so fast and reliable compared to my early dial-up days ( remember Toucan and its amazing 2MB) that I have taken it for granted, forgetting that there's a vast network behind it. Thanks everyone for your help and advice.

It's also very much not in the BBCs interest to try and paywall the iPlayer based on license payment, as it's then gone a long way to creating a ready-to-go subscription model that they are keen to avoid at all costs.