The cost of the annual TV licence fee will increase from £154.50 to £157.50 on 1 April, the BBC has said.

The government is responsible for setting the licence fee and announced in 2016 it would rise in line with inflation for five years from 1 April 2017.

The new licence fee works out as £3.02 a week or £13.13 a month.

The price change will not have an impact on the free over-75s TV licence.

The BBC provides nine national TV channels plus regional programming, as well as 10 national radio stations, 40 local radio stations, news and sport websites, and the iPlayer.


The licence fee increase comes as BBC News announced it would be cutting 450 jobs.

The move is part of a bid to save tens of millions of pounds.

In the last financial year 95% of the BBC's controllable spend went on content for audiences and delivery, with 5% spent on running the organisation.

Match Of The Day host Gary Lineker said last week that buying a TV licence should not be compulsory.

He said that if you made purchasing the licence optional, "you would lose some people, but at the same time you'd up the price a bit".

Licence fee payers will receive a reminder or a payment plan reflecting the new amount when their licence is next due for renewal.

Those buying or renewing a licence after 1 April 2020 will pay the new fee.

Those already buying a licence on an instalment scheme which started before 1 April 2020, such as monthly direct debit or weekly cash payments, will continue to make payments totalling £154.50 until their licence comes up for renewal.

TV Licensing will be advising licence fee payers due to renew in March to pay on time so they will pay the current rate of £154.50.

Those buying a new licence before 1 April 2020 will also pay the current rate.

There are many ways to pay for a television licence, including small weekly cash payments and monthly direct debit.