BBC to start charging US-based consumers for news and TV coverage

Cameras outside BBC headquarters in London. Senior BBC figures believe there is an opportunity to raise more commercial income in the US. Photograph: Vuk Valcic/Alamy

The BBC is to begin charging US-based users for unlimited access to its news content and rolling televised coverage, as it searches for new ways to ease the pressure on its finances.

In the first scheme asking users outside the UK to pay a direct subscription for its news content, US users will be offered the chance to pay for a “premium experience”, including unlimited news and feature articles and a livestream of the BBC News channel.