Mark Thompson, BBC director-general, asked staff to volunteer to be in audiences for live recordings after the corporation was affected by the new Licensing Act, which came into force in November.
It requires entertainment licences for any sitcoms, music and dance shows and even dramas if they are being recorded in front of an audience made up of the public.
The change in law meant that that members of the public who had tickets to see 'Top of the Pops' being recorded were turned away.
The BBC issued a statement saying: "A new law came into force recently which requires some public entertainment to be licensed. The BBC always seeks to operate fully within the law.
"Contrary to advice originally received, it now appears that the BBC needs a licence for certain audience shows. We are in the process of obtaining this. While we do so, the majority of BBC programmes will be entirely unaffected but we may need to make some changes to a few studio shows involving audiences."
Thompson wrote to BBC staff in an email yesterday asking for their help in making up the audience for 'Top of the Pops', which was recorded last night.
"We can, however, use audiences drawn from members of staff only, and we're therefore inviting you to attend the programmes affected -- from 'Strictly Dance Fever' to 'Top of the Pops' -- which need recording during the time it will take us to resolve the situation."
Other programmes to be affected are 'Friday Night with Jonathan Ross' and the 'National Lottery Jet Set' until the licences are obtained, according to reports.
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