BBC director pushes for higher licence fee after ‘grinding cuts'

Telegraph

2 days ago

The BBC director general has called for a higher licence fee after taking aim at a decade of 'grinding' cuts.
Tim Davie said he was open to reform of the fee and its enforcement, but made it clear that he wanted more money from the public to enable investment.
He said: 'I do want universal funding and I want proper investment and not begrudging, grinding cuts to the BBC, which you've had in the last 10 years, which have just not helped.'
The call for investment amounts to a demand for a higher licence fee, which makes up two thirds of the BBC's income. The BBC received around £3.7bn from the fee last year, which currently stands at £174.50.
It will rise in line with inflation until the end of the charter period in 2027. However, bosses have warned that previous cuts have left a black hole in the corporation's finances that have forced the BBC to wield the axe on programming and jobs in a scramble to cut £700m in costs.
The public service broadcaster said that its income from the licence fee dropped by 30pc in real terms between 2010 and 2020 after a series of freezes and cuts to the levy.
Mr Davie's comments come as the BBC is locked in discussions with ministers over the future of the licence fee.
The upcoming settlement is viewed as pivotal in deciding the broadcaster's future as it struggles to compete with new US streaming services and faces calls for the licence fee to be scrapped.
The BBC's declining income has been compounded by a fall in viewer numbers as audiences increasingly ditch the broadcaster in favour of rivals such as Netflix and Disney.
The number of UK households paying the licence fee dropped by roughly half a million last year, with younger viewers in particular turning their backs on the broadcaster.
The crisis has fuelled calls for the licence fee to be replaced with a different system such as a subscription service.
Speaking at the Deloitte and Enders Media and Telecoms conference in London, Mr Davie said his major concern was a 'mainstream weaponisation where people don't care' about the BBC.
He said the broadcaster would be wrong to 'assume' that the public cared about its future and had to prove its worth to the country.
He defended the BBC by saying it was not just a vehicle for programming but also 'venture capital for the UK', pointing to its ability to drive investment in cities such as Birmingham and Manchester.
Lisa Nandy, the Culture Secretary, has previously branded the licence fee as 'unenforceable' and ruled out funding the BBC through general taxation.
Speaking in London on Tuesday, Ms Nandy said the Government wanted to 'support a BBC that is empowered to continue to deliver a vital public service, funded in a sustainable way'.