4,503,766 licences (1955)
television receiving licences at 31 March (≈ TV-owning households)
No current source auditAll sources · source collection
UK television receiving licences (annual counts, from 1946)
BBC / TV Licensing (compiled by terramededia.co.uk) · 2024
Population measured
UK television receiving licence holders at 31 March each year (one licence required per household operating any TV set)
Source notes & limitations
Annual count of television receiving licences, at 31 March. A TV licence was mandatory for any household operating a television set, so the count is a close proxy for TV-owning households (slight undercount from evasion). Combined sound-and-television licences were introduced 1 June 1946; colour TV licences from 1968. terramededia.co.uk compiles the BBC / TV Licensing administrative series (URL resolves HTTP 200, verified 2026-07). The count is NOT a household percentage and is not directly comparable to the post-1972 GHS household-% diffusion series without a household-count denominator.
Where this source appears
2 records across 2 decades and countries. Documented gaps are included; a source cited for a gap does not establish a value.
0 of 2 records have a current source audit. A transcription check reads a declared numeric field from a pinned local source file; a calculation replay reads its operands and applies the declared method and rounding rule. A source audit does not independently validate the source or every claim in a record. The date is the last successful local audit; the build checks that its bindings still match.
UK · 1950s
UK · 1960s
13,253,045 licences (1965)
television receiving licences at 31 March (≈ TV-owning households)
No current source audit