Loked at another way
Twaddle about hassles linking up licences to iplayer subscription users as they only recently started forcing iPlayer users to have username / password (or not at all if you use the correct tricks to access iPlayer in "old mode")
They could easily have made iPlayer logon based on your actual licence (though there are some issues there, e.g. some residential ("old folks") homes covered with a communal licence so not a licence per accommodation unit, and in these cases one licence covers many, many people so some licences would be special in needing to allow masses of concurrent users.
They dont want this as it would reduce licence revenue e.g. student watching iplayer in student digs needing a TV licence (if device plugged in), even though they spend half the year at home & (if they have parents), parents typically paying a licence already so BBC get an extra licence purchase (huge push at start of academic year to "force" students to buy TV licences where they do not mention teh device plugged in caveat).. or ideally students watch without a licence, using home licence, and just unplug device from mains if TV licensing folk visit
Why not just keep the licence and have a licence based online access to old TV archives, job done, no extra costs, need to allow > 1 concurrent user per licence as assume > 1 person per licence & viewing tastes differ (e.g. 4, covering an "archetypal" (but outdated these days) 2 parents, 2 kids scenario
.. although the simplest solution is to fund BBC from general tax anyway, as it's a government mouthpiece anyway so its news coverage has a distinct pro government bias - it does not act with true editorial independence (lots of subtle pressures in the remit of govt, e.g. making BBC pay for "free" licences of over 75s, lots of ways govt can pressurize BBC to say the "right" thing, otherwise more financial damage will ensue..)
Biting the hand that feeds IT
