How much more will TV licence cost after April? Searches for ‘cancel TV licence’ explode ahead of price hike

The digital marketing experts at Baldwin Digital studied Google Trends data, noticing a large spike in interest for TV licence cancellations. Searches for ‘cancel TV licence’ jumped by 142%, compared to the average search volume among UK residents over the last 30 days.

This interest comes as the annual price is set to rise from £169.50 to £174.50 from 1st April. Similarly, searches for “TV licence cost’ peaked over the same period, in line with interest in cancellations.

Mark Baldwin, director and founder of Baldwin Digital Ltd, commented on the findings, saying: “With streaming platforms dominating the media landscape, many households are already spending lots of money to access their favourite shows. Over the last few years, the reach of traditional TV has fallen, especially among younger generations, prompting households to assess the value of the national TV licence.

“However, while cancelling your TV licence may serve as a quick, cost-cutting measure now, households using Netflix or Disney+ should be warned that they may be forced to pay a licence fee on top of their subscription in the future, with the UK government failing to rule out the possibility.”