Government Launches Consultation & Review On “Alternatives” To BBC Licence Fee

The government has launched a consultation into the future of the BBC and its TV licence fee.

The Culture Secretary released a statement today outlining the government’s plans for the BBC and how the fee could be scrapped in the future.

The BBC recently increase the annual fee by £3 a year. It now costs £157.50 opposed to £154.50.

A public consultation will is to be launched to investigate alternatives to the BBC licence fee and whether non-payment should be decriminalised.

The BBC recently made hundreds of job cuts in the news department in a bid to save tens of millions per year.

Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, Nicky Morgan hinted that the TV licence could be ditched by 2027. The government is set to review “alternatives” to the BBCs funding model.

More excellent news.

The Government has just announced an eight week consultation into 'alternative funding models' for the BBC and decriminalising not paying the fee.

Boris is picking fights with all the right people.

The BBC wouldn't survive two weeks without our cash!

— Rupert Lowe (@RupertLowe10) February 5, 2020

She said today: “After the negotiations for the next licence fee settlement, the mid-term Charter review will take place between 2022 and 2024. This will look at the BBC’s governance and regulatory arrangements.

“And ahead of the next Charter Review process we will undertake a detailed look at the future of the TV licence model itself.

“The licence fee will remain in place for this Charter period, which ends in December 2027. However, we must all be open minded about the future of the licence fee beyond this point.

“This thinking began with the current Charter, which enabled the BBC to consider how alternative funding models, like subscription, could supplement licence fee income.”

Morgan compared Netflix and Blockbuster in her statement and implied that if the BBC does not change the way it is funded in the future then it may no longer be there.

She said: “When Netflix launched in 1997, Blockbuster was the heavyweight of video rentals, with almost 3,000 stores around the globe. And so three years later, when Netflix came to Blockbuster and proposed a 50 million dollar merger offer Blockbuster felt confident in turning them away. Now Netflix is worth 65 billion dollars – 1,300 times the offer they made to Blockbuster at the start of the millennium.”

Voters reacted to the consultation saying: “BBC licence fee gone in seven years as well as the entire corporation gone in seven years. That’s the ideal scenario for British citizens.”

And: “Why not scrap it now?”

* Article feed supplied by Political UK