The BBC under threat from the government

One section of the article on the tortoisemedia website which has been covered in other newspapers is...


This is an idea I've suggested on these forums in the past, which seems increasing likely to happen when the current BBC charter comes to an end (or just before then). The term 'TV licence' doesn't reflect the BBC content that's now available online and on-demand (or via radio) for free.

I think eventually in the not to distant future the TV licence will either be renamed or incorporated into part of the council tax or a utility bill. In terms of utility bills electricity would probably be the easiest and cover most BBC outputs, whereas a levy on broadband might not include those who only access the internet/iPlayer via their mobiles.

Hmm. It would certainly make thing easier in terms of direct debits etc but wouldn't the BBC take a hit financially?

Tying it to Council Tax could make sense and would make collection easy.

But if its tiered in the same way Council Tax is (bands A-H where A is two thirds of D and H is two thirds higher than D), that may not be popular with people who live in band H properties who would pay more. Default for everything else that's been tacked onto council tax over the years is to apply the same formula to it, who's to say that wouldn't happen with the licence fee?

Of course solution to that is, say, £150 regardless of band...

Either way I suppose, but the good thing about Council Tax is the same reductions could apply for the TV License, so exemptions for certain groups, a reduction for single person households etc. Linking it to bandings is either fair or unfair depending on who you talk to.

Just saying, I'd be happy to pay more.

Wouldn't surprise me if Wolverhampton is one of the local offices to close given the proximity to Birmingham. They use the Newhampton Arts Centre, not sure if they share the studios with community station WCR, but there is a relationship with them going way back.

There were suggestions from the BBC recently that they'd be open to the idea of a levy on broadband bills as a means of funding.

Guardian: TV licence fee could be replaced by broadband levy, says BBC

This strikes me as quite a logical option, given the inevitability that IP will become the primary means of delivery of BBC services in future. It'd probably also be easier and cheaper to administer across a handful of broadband providers than via hundreds of local councils.

In the same way that ISPs have adjusted their prices towards all in one pricing for line rental and BB, I'm sure they'd come up with deals that include the TV licence fee.

£16 a month on broadband though IMO is as tough a sell as paying the licence fee direct.

Where this could get awkward is with mobile data. Adding such a levy to fixed broadband, where the typical household only has one subscription is ok, but for example my current mobile deal on Three includes unlimited data and can be used for tethering.

How does such a system make sure that I don't pay twice, but somebody using a mobile hotspot as their primary internet connection doesn't get a freebie?

I suppose each contract could have a smaller fee on it. Rather than each household paying £154 a year, you could be charging individuals a smaller fee.

Presumably there are more mobile/broadband-paying customers in the UK than there are licence-fee paying households. I think there are roughly 25 million licensed households. But there were 79 million mobile subscriptions in the UK in 2017. About 90% of households have broadband which is (very, very roughly) say another 25 million.

So rather than charge 25 million homes, £154 a year.
You could charge 104 million contracts about £38 a year, which is £3.20 a month on top of your phone bill and broadband.
An easier pill to swallow.

Ultimately if anything like this happens, there will be people who currently do not pay for the TV licence who would end up having to pay, and they would be furiously vocal about it.