The BBC under threat from the government

We usually avoid the licence fee debate here and for good reason - we're better than Digital Spy after all and I think there is a huge appreciation here for what the BBC can offer, along with criticisms of it's faults.

However I don't think this should go unmentioned - if reports are to be believe the BBC as we know it would be gone within 7 years.

Cunningham and Murdoch's @thetimes continue to brief against BBC yet their new broadcasting minister @JWhittingdale and new @CommonsCMS lead @julianknight15 both said in the past week its technically impossible to put BBC TV behind a paywall without stopping access for millions pic.twitter.com/RXQpB8Q5FT

— Back the BBC 📺📻📡📱 (@back_the_BBC) February 15, 2020

Essentially they want to axe the licence fee and make it subscription based, but seemingly still government controlled. TV channels would be axed, the website scaled back, all but Radio 3 & 4 sold off and more money put into World Service. They'd also ban BBC staff from having lucrative second jobs.


Destroy the BBC and you destroy the British television landscape. If anything now is the time Britain needs to show it's strength and look after it's valuables - the BBC is the envy of the world and one of the best showcases we have for Britain. It needs to be protected, and politicians need to stop subjecting it to lazy threats for easy votes.

I know the mood tonight is already sombre given the Caroline Flack news, but the government's determination to crush the BBC is so, so depressing. The worrying thing is - it is fast becoming a reality.

The reports are probably not to be believed to be fair, I’m sure there will be loads of stories like this, threatening this and that over the next few years with the gravest of outcomes.

The BBC need to get the public back on side though, including all those on social media who are still banging on about political bias, they need to start a pro-BBC promo campaign to remind people of what they do and what people get for their money.

I wonder if a potential compromise could involve the system adopted in the Netherlands and several other European countries: scrap the license fee but have public broadcasting funded through general taxation? After all, everyone watches television these days, whether by using a TV set, a smartphone, a computer, or some other device.

Why Radio 3 - that has a big commercial rival like Radio 5 Live does.
Plenty of people either don't want or don't understand the technology needed for a subscription service and By 2027 I doubt it be easy to get anything without the internet.

Usually I'd agree but we've already seen actions over the last decade which I certainly never thought would come to fruition and an increasingly militant attitude at the top of British politics to anything that is deemed to be a threat to their power.

There's also a sizeable chunk of the UK population who would be delighted to see the end of the licence fee - and, by extension, the BBC as we know it.

This government knows exactly what they're doing in this regard, being able to count on the support of many in the UK.

How would “selling off” radio stations work? Could Global or Bauer really own any of them?

I really hope the BBC is able to remain as it is, with the current model continuing, but I’m doubtful.

Although I suspect Colin would be very surprised when he went to tune into Strictly and realised he couldn't because he didn't have a subscription.

I’d expect in that case the CMA would grow some and give other groups a chance.

Thinking on it, would it really be selling off the radio “station” or the frequency it broadcasts on? I can imagine Global would love to get hold of a National FM range to place Heart or Capital on.

Country Music Association?