PETITIONOpenPetition · petition.parliament.uk
Rename ‘BBC licence fee’ to ‘BBC subscription’
We call on the Government to rename ‘BBC license fee’ to ‘BBC subscription. The public must be in no doubt that payment to watch the BBC and live TV is voluntary and the word 'licence' implies a legal requirement, which is not the case if they are not watching BBC or live tv.
Last fetched 03 May 2026 · petition.parliament.uk
Signatures
90
signatures
Government response threshold (10,000) · 90/10,000
Debate threshold (100,000) · 90/100,000
Background
The general public has the legal freedom to purchase, as they see fit, broadcast media from any source. If that is subscriptions to a streaming service, it should never include the term 'licence' which may confuse the public into thinking there is a need or legal requirement to pay it when they neither watch BBC nor live TV.