Yes, a pub needs a TV licence if any screen on the premises shows live TV on any channel, Sky and TNT included, or anything on BBC iPlayer. It's £180 a year from 1 April 2026, the fine for not having one is up to £1,000, and the licence for the bar doesn't cover the flat upstairs, which needs its own. A screen that only plays your offers, a quiz or recorded clips isn't watching live TV, so on its own it doesn't need one.
The top result for this question is a Morning Advertiser piece from 2004. Since then, Sky has become a business contract nobody confuses with a licence, half of us stream sport, and plenty of pubs now have screens that never show a broadcast at all. So here's what TV Licensing actually says today, read for a pub.
What needs a licence in a pub
TV Licensing's page for hospitality businesses is short and clear. Venues need a TV licence "to watch all TV channels, pay TV services like Sky", and live TV on streaming services. The licence is about what's being shown, not what's on the wall.
| On the screen | Licence needed? |
|---|---|
| Live Sky Sports, TNT Sports or any live channel | Yes |
| Freeview, BBC One, the racing on ITV | Yes |
| Live sport streamed online, as it's broadcast | Yes |
| BBC iPlayer, live or catch-up | Yes |
| Catch-up and on-demand on other services | No |
| Your offers, menus and event posters on a loop | No |
| A quiz, bingo or scores system, or recorded clips | No |
| Radio or a playlist through the speakers | No TV licence (you need TheMusicLicence) |
The on-demand line is the one people don't know. TV Licensing's hospitality page says pubs "do not need a TV Licence to watch on demand programmes on any streaming services", except iPlayer, which needs the licence.
Sky is not your TV licence
This is the one that catches new licensees. Your Sky or TNT commercial contract pays for the right to show their channels in a pub. It's priced on your rateable value, it costs hundreds a month, and none of it is a TV licence. TV Licensing names "pay TV services like Sky" as something you need a licence to watch. You need both: the commercial subscription for the content, the TV licence for receiving live TV at all.
I've broken down what Sky and TNT cost a pub separately. Next to those bills, £180 is the smallest TV cost you'll have, which is exactly why it gets forgotten when the direct debit fails or the licence is still in the outgoing tenant's name.
The flat upstairs needs its own licence
This is the bit nobody tells you at handover. TV Licensing's guidance for pub landlords says one licence generally covers the business's TVs on a single site, but "the licence does not cover any residential accommodation on-site or within the premises." If you live above the pub and watch live TV up there, that's a second licence. Same for a manager's flat or staff accommodation.
So a pub that shows live sport downstairs and has a licensee watching the telly upstairs needs two licences, £360 a year at the 2026 rate. The reverse trap is just as easy: a licensee with a home licence for the flat, showing the match in the bar, has licensed the wrong room.
Pubs with letting rooms
If you've got rooms with TVs in them, TV Licensing charges by "units", meaning rooms where TV receiving equipment is installed or used, and its accommodation page says the majority must be let for less than 28 nights in a row. For up to 15 units you pay one fee. Above 15, you pay one fee for the first 15 and an additional fee for every extra five units or fewer.
| Rooms with a TV | Fees | Cost a year |
|---|---|---|
| 1 to 15 | 1 | £180 |
| 16 to 20 | 2 | £360 |
| 21 to 25 | 3 | £540 |
Two honest caveats. TV Licensing's business pages still show the fee as £169.50, which was the old standard fee, while the government confirmed the standard licence rose to £180 from 1 April 2026, so check the figure when you buy. And whether the bar and the rooms sit under one accommodation licence or two separate ones depends on how your premises is set up, so ask TV Licensing before you assume. Most pubs with a handful of rooms are nowhere near 15.
What it costs, and what not having one costs
The standard licence is £180 a year from 1 April 2026, up £5.50, and the government has said it rises with inflation each April until the BBC's Charter ends at the end of 2027. On a £5.34 pint a pub keeps about £2.45 after VAT and the beer, so £180 is about 74 pints a year. Less than two a week.
The penalty is the bigger number. TV Licensing says a landlord or manager showing live TV without a licence "risks prosecution and a fine of up to £1,000". It has a long habit of reminding landlords before big tournaments like the Six Nations, which is when it knows the screens are on. A £1,000 fine is 408 pints of profit, for a £180 piece of paper.
When a pub doesn't need one at all
Plenty of pubs don't show live TV. Micropubs, food-led pubs with no sport, places that dropped Sky when the bill went up. If nothing on the premises shows live TV or iPlayer, the hospitality rules above say there's nothing to license. A screen running your offers, a quiz on the TVs, phone bingo or a reel of short clips isn't receiving a broadcast.
Here's the idea I'd pass on, because I haven't seen it anywhere else. If you've cancelled Sky to save money, don't leave the screens blank and don't quietly put the free channels back on to fill them. Free live TV still needs the licence, and a dead screen earns nothing. Put your own content on it instead: next week's events, the Sunday lunch price, a quiz the room can play. That's no TV licence, no subscription, and screens that sell something. It's why I built the screen system for my own pub, StockTap TV, around a quiz, offers and scores rather than a broadcast. Whatever you use, the rule is the same: the moment one screen shows live TV, you need the licence.
The other licences around your screens are a different set of rules. Showing a film needs a film licence, which I've covered in can a pub show a film, music needs TheMusicLicence, covered in what the music licence costs, and what you can show at 3pm on a Saturday is in the 3pm blackout guide. If you're weighing up what to put on the TVs instead, what offers on pub TVs cost has the numbers.
Common questions
Does a pub need a TV licence to show Sky Sports?
Yes. A Sky commercial contract isn't a TV licence. TV Licensing says hospitality venues need a licence to watch all live TV channels, including pay TV like Sky.
How much is a TV licence for a pub in 2026?
£180 a year from 1 April 2026 for a standard licence, which covers the business's TVs on one site. Living accommodation on the premises needs its own licence.
Does the pub's TV licence cover the flat upstairs?
No. TV Licensing says the business licence doesn't cover residential accommodation on site. If you watch live TV in the flat, it needs a separate licence.
Do I need a TV licence for screens that only show adverts or a quiz?
Not for those screens on their own, because they aren't showing live TV or BBC iPlayer. If any other screen on the premises shows live TV, the premises needs a licence anyway.
What's the fine for a pub without a TV licence?
Up to £1,000, plus prosecution, according to TV Licensing's guidance for pub landlords.
Sources
- Hospitality venues need a licence for all TV channels, pay TV like Sky and live TV on streaming services; no licence for on-demand except BBC iPlayer; fees by units, one fee up to 15, an additional fee per extra 5 units, £169.50 shown: TV Licensing, hospitality, checked 31 October 2026.
- Accommodation units definition and the 28-night rule: TV Licensing, hotels, hostels, mobile units and campsites, checked 31 October 2026.
- Any pub showing live TV must be licensed, residential accommodation not covered, fine of up to £1,000: TV Licensing, pub landlords urged to check TV licences.
- £180 from 1 April 2026, up £5.50: GOV.UK, cost of TV licence fee set for 2026/27, 6 February 2026. CPI rises each April to the end of the Charter in 2027: TV Licensing, how much does a TV Licence cost.
- £2.45 gross profit on a £5.34 pint: my electricity cost per pint guide. Pints and per-room totals are my own arithmetic.