Speaking to BBC Politics Live, the former Chair of the Culture Select Committee claimed the British Broadcasting Corporation should look at “additional subscription” platforms to replace the infamous TV licence fee. He said: “The way people consume television is changing rapidly. Last year, the number of people paying the BBC licence declined for the first time in ten years. For younger audiences, people under the age of 35, they watch more Youtube every day than they watch all of the main channels combined.

“The problem the BBC has at the moment is that if revenue for licence fees started to decline because people are shifting to watch television and consume content in other ways.

“And production costs are rising massively because of the impact of Netflix and Amazon, that presents a big challenge for the BBC.”

He added: “In the future, the BBC has got to look at how it brings in more commercial revenue to sustain the programming that it currently offers.”

He suggested the BBC should look at “additional subscriptions that people could take on for all the programming”.

It comes as Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he is “looking at” abolishing the BBC TV licence fee and called into question its status as a publicly funded broadcaster.

In December the Prime Minister threatened to take the BBC’s licence fee away after suggesting the payment was a general tax that could no longer be justified when other media organisations have found ways of funding themselves.

Mr Johnson is unable to change the existing funding model until after 2027, as the broadcaster’s royal charter currently guarantees the existence of the licence fee until this date.

But separate negotiations on how much the BBC can charge will commence from 2022 onwards, giving the Government an opportunity to limit the corporation’s funding.

The Prime Minister has also looked into the possibility of decriminalising non-payment of the licence fee, especially considering over 75s will have to pay the sum from June.

BBC broadcaster John Simpson has accused Boris Johnson’s Government of “limbering up” for a “major attack” on the corporation.

The long-standing journalist, who has spent all his working life at the BBC, believes the Tories want “payback time” because Boris Johnson and his colleagues “feel bruised and damaged by the broadcasters”. 

Mr Johnson’s threat, that was made on the campaign trail of the December 2019 general election, followed the BBC’s to scrap free TV licences for over 75s, a move that has been widely condemned.

Mr Simpson, the BBC’s world affairs editor, told the Radio Times he believed the Tories are “limbering up” to launch a major attack on the BBC.

He said: “For possibly the ninth time in my 53 years with the BBC, a British government is limbering up to launch a major attack on us.

DON’T MISS:
BBC blunder: Viewers left baffled as programme goes out in SILENCE [VIDEO]
Len Goodman in furious rant over BBC licence fee plans [INSIGHT]
BBC licence fee: Eight in 10  fee scrapped [ANALYSIS]

“The BBC offers the biggest, easiest and most juicy target of all, because of the licence fee.

But the BBC broadcaster said the “licence fee is the BBC” and expressed concern the corporation wouldn’t be able to survive if it was scrapped.

He said: “There isn’t enough advertising money around to fund ITV, Channel 4, Sky and the BBC as well, and there won’t be enough people willing to pay subscriptions.

“There’ll still be plenty to watch on television, but most of it will be American-made.

“And the BBC’s news services, which most people rely on in this country, and which play a big part in maintaining Britain’s image around the world, will dwindle away.”

Source: Read Full Article