licence fee
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BBC's license fee study muddies the debate it tries to solve
WIth the BBC's funding firmly in the government's sights, the broadcaster has published a new study attempting to highlight its value. With help from research agency MTM, the Beeb removed access to its TV and radio broadcasts, as well as its websites, from 70 households in order to find out whether they would be missed and whether British families would still be prepared to pay for a licence fee after a brief hiatus. While some are claiming the report is a victory for the BBC, its findings aren't as simple as they initially look.
BBC told it'll have to give free TV licences to over-75s
What a week it's been for the BBC. Only a few days after it announced 1,000 job cuts as part of a new round of restructuring, the broadcaster has now been told it must fund free licence fees for over-75s. In the Commons today, Culture Secretary John Whittingdale confirmed that the new measure will be phased in from 2018, with the Beeb absorbing the whole cost from 2021.
BBC warned that the licence fee may soon come to an end
The licence fee that funds most of the BBC's programming has long been a contentious issue in the UK. For some, it's a safeguard for the broadcaster's most valuable work, while for others it's an increasingly outdated and unfair tax, penalising those who only want to watch other channels. Today the UK's Culture, Media and Sport Committee weighed into the debate, declaring that it doesn't see "a long-term future" for the licence fee in its current form. It admitted there were few viable alternatives for the fee in the near-term, but emphasised the current model was becoming "harder and harder to sustain."
