BBC claims that the fee freeze would change its content output

The BBC’s Director-General, Tim Davie, has warned that the freeze to the television license fee recently announced by UK’s Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries would mean a substantial change to the corporation’s output. If the publicly-funded broadcaster became even largely subscription-based, rather than wholly so, “it will not do what it does today,”  he told BBC Radio 4’s “Today” programme.

A couple of days ago, Nadine Dorries confirmed the TV license fee will remain at £159 until 2024, and then rise in line with inflation for the following four years. The plans for the new license fee settlement cover a period of six years and will take effect from April 1, 2022 until March 31, 2028. By law, each household in the UK has to pay the license fee (with some exemptions) if they, for example: watch or record programmes as they are being shown on any TV channel; watch or stream programmes live on any online TV service; or download or watch any BBC programme on BBC iPlayer.

A number of alternatives to the license fee have been discussed by BBC directors, including a subscription service similar to that used by streaming giants such as Netflix, the introduction of advertising, or a broadband levy. Apparently, nothing is off the table as bosses are struggling on how to make ends meet after the levy is frozen. In fact, according to insiders, several television channels and radio stations owned by the corporation are now under threat, such as BBC2, CBeebies, Radio 5 Live and BBC News.

Financially speaking, Davie declared that the licence fee settlement will leave the public broadcaster with a shortfall of £285 million in 2027/2028 and needing to save around $1.5 billion across the next five years. “Inevitably, if you don’t have £285 million you will get less services and programs,” he said, acknowledging that the settlement is “disappointing” and his preference was for an inflationary rise each year.

“Once you are trying to serve a subscription base and a commercial agenda, it is a completely different situation, because suddenly you are doing things that are there to make profit and make a return to a specific audience,”  Davie declared. “I think the debate is more centered around: ‘do we want a universal public service media organization at the heart of our creative economy, which has served us incredibly well?’ And if we want that, we have to support a publicly-backed and not a fully commercialized BBC,”  he added.

Later, the BBC issued an official statement signed by both Davie and Richard Sharp, Chairman of the BBC, to make clear the company's position on this matter. “We actively look forward to the national debate on the next Charter and, of course, all options should be considered. The BBC is owned by the public and their voice must always be the loudest when it comes to determining the BBC’s future,"  they said.