THE BBC licence fee should be scrapped – and could be replaced with a compulsory levy on people’s energy bills, the broadcaster’s new director-general has suggested.
Matt Brittin, who took over at the head of the BBC in May, made the comments about the future of the licence fee as he spoke to MPs on Westminster’s Culture, Media and Sport Committee on Wednesday.
The standard TV licence costs £180 per year and is legally required to watch or record television on any channel or service, watch live on streaming services or to use BBC iPlayer.
The BBC and UK Government have been looking at how to reform the fee to adapt to people’s evolving habits, with more and more on-demand services taking over from standard TV broadcasts.
Brittin told MPs: “The BBC is locked into yesterday’s model of consumption. The licence fee is payable on linear television and iPlayer when the world’s moved on.”
He went on: “Obviously the BBC’s independence and future depends on having universal, sustainable, and scale funding, and I think that’s really important.”
Brittin said the BBC is making progress but “it needs to go further”, adding: “It’s held back by that straitjacket of the current licence fee mechanic, and obviously that’s no longer fit for purpose.”
The previous Tory government had ruled out a universal general household levy to replace the voluntary licence fee, but BBC chair Samir Shah said that the corporation was “open” to looking again at it as an option;
Brittin suggested that a universal licence fee could be added on to other bills – and if 100% of households paid it (rather than the current 80%), then the £180 annual total could be cut.
He said: “It’s universal, collection can be simple, in different places it’s done through utility bills – you can imagine broadband or mobile or electricity could be ways to do this. That gives you universality, which is one of the things we need.”
The BBC director-general further said he thinks the use of commercial advertising, similar to other television channels like ITV, would have “a devastating impact on the economy”.
He also addressed the idea of a subscription model as used by streaming services such as Netflix or Disney+, calling it “compelling in terms of extending [the licence fee scope] to reflect the reality of today’s audiences”.
Elsewhere, MPs also asked Brittin about the “emails of doom” earlier this year when the BBC announced it would cut 2000 jobs as it aims to reduce costs by 10% over the next three years.
The corporation announced 550 job cuts in news, nations and TV and radio content last month as part of the first stage in its savings plan.
Brittin said: “I came in with the need to save 10% of cost already announced, and I’ve been working with the team when we made the first set of announcements. There will be more to come about how that restructuring happens.
“My job is to do two things: come in and make sure that we are operating within the envelope we currently have, argue for a better funding solution for the future, and to reshape the BBC for the future.”
He was also questioned about whether he will “play it safe” as the director-general, particularly if the corporation faces controversy with him at the helm.
He said: “I think no programme or presenter is bigger than the corporation, particularly a corporation that is funded by the public, and that’s why I think the bar is rightly high for the BBC.
“I think the scrutiny is a high level of scrutiny – sometimes it’s very polarised from people with a commercial interest in how they’re covering the BBC, but I accept that responsibility.
“I come into this with my eyes wide open.”
