The TV Licence saga took another dramatic turn this week, with BBC Director-General Tim Davie warning of a looming “crisis” and finally showing his hand on what might replace our controversial £174.50 annual fee.
Speaking at the Deloitte and Enders Media and Telecoms conference in London, Davie didn’t hold back about the decade of “grinding cuts” the broadcaster has endured, making his strongest case yet for a complete funding overhaul.
“If we currently drift in the way we’re doing now, we will be in crisis,” he told attendees, in what’s easily his most dire warning to date about the Beeb’s future.
Rich Pay More, Poor Pay Less?
After months of careful dancing around the subject, Davie has finally come clean about what might replace our current one-size-fits-all licence fee.
“I do not want the same system exactly to go out again,” he admitted. “I think there is reform in terms of the scope of the licence fee and how progressive it is because the market’s changing.”
In plain English? He’s suggesting wealthier households should pay more than poorer ones – think council tax bands for your telly.
This marks a shift from his speech at the Lowry Theatre just last month, where he rejected Netflix-style subscriptions but was vague about what might come next.
Despite pushing for change, Davie’s still insistent on one key principle: “I do want universal funding and I want proper investment, and not the begrudging, grinding cuts to the BBC, which we’ve had for the last ten years.”
Where’s All The Money Gone?
The BBC pulled in about £3.7 billion from the licence fee last year, and we’ve just seen another price hike of £5 in April, taking it to £174.50.
But despite these increases, the Beeb claims its income has plummeted by a whopping £1 billion in real terms since 2010. That’s a serious chunk of change.
What’s behind this financial squeeze? It’s a perfect storm of problems:
- That two-year price freeze we had
- Record numbers of people simply not paying up
- Inflation eating away at their budget
- The cost of free licences for some pensioners
TV Licence dodging has shot up to 11.30% – the highest since 1995 – meaning the BBC is missing out on roughly £466 million each year.
Even more worrying for the broadcaster, the number of households legally declaring they don’t need a licence has jumped by half a million in just twelve months, reaching 3.3 million homes.
That’s a lot of people deciding they can live without BBC content (or any other live broadcasts).
“It’s The People Who Don’t Care That Worry Me”
Perhaps the most telling part of Davie’s words at the event, was his admission that he’s genuinely worried about people switching off from the BBC altogether.
“My neighbours talk to me in the pub about who’s going to host Match of the Day,” he said, “but it’s the ten people on the other side of the room who don’t care that I’m more worried about.”
And he’s right to be worried. The stats for young viewers are particularly grim – British youngsters aged 16-24 now spend just 5% of their viewing time with BBC content, compared to 34% on YouTube and TikTok.
When was the last time your teenager voluntarily chose BBC content over a YouTube video? Exactly.
What’s The Government Saying?
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy, who previously called the current licence fee “deeply regressive,”, also spoke at the event – and now seems to be taking a more collaborative approach with the broadcaster.
She’s aiming for a “sustainable” charter agreement and wants “a BBC that can maintain the trust and support of the public in difficult times.”
This is quite a shift from her January comments, when she hinted at thinking “quite radically and creatively” about alternatives.
She’s also ruled out funding the BBC through general taxation, which would have turned it into a political football.
Nandy also expressed support for initiatives like the BBC’s fact-checking service BBC Verify, suggesting the government still sees value in the broadcaster’s role as a trusted news source.
What This Means For Your Wallet
Don’t panic just yet – the current system remains in place until December 2027, so your £174.50 annual fee isn’t changing tomorrow.
But make no mistake – major changes are coming. The one-size-fits-all TV Licence we’ve had for decades looks increasingly unsustainable.
What’s looking more likely is some form of income-based system – pay more if you earn more, pay less if you’re struggling – either directly, or as part of a new system.
The BBC previously suggested that a subscription service could cost up to £580 per year for the full package – more than triple the current licence fee. No wonder they’re now looking at other options…
With Davie now warning of an existential crisis without reform, expect the TV Licence debate to dominate headlines for months to come.
But one thing’s certain – the universal TV Licence as we’ve known it for decades is living on borrowed time.
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The BBC used to produce comedies that challenged convention but now the shows are not funny, woke and political correctness prevails ! . Shows are now produced to appease 1% of the population.
I agree with many of the comments above. The BBC news isn’t newsworthy. The comedy isn’t funny. Just ticking boxes and vastly overpaying celebs and newsreaders. I could lose the BBC tomorrow and not give a damn.
The BBC have burned so many bridges. They are not impartial, they pay ridiculous salaries for presenters, they are out of touch with young people and older people alike. The programmes are all about box ticking, that prove time and time again don’t sit well with the general public and are failures in ratings. Aside from some excellent documentaries (though spattered with wokeness of course) they are irrelevant. And to FORCE people to pay for all the above is criminal in itself.
Disgrace when they pay the salaries they do for part time news readers and others who are a vast overhead.
They focus to much on the US when they should focus on their first character of the BBC. They send presenters all around the world when they have people in country anyway.
Completely mismanaged and out of touch with reality.
Scrap the BBC or do equal costs for everyone. It is discrimination to charge one set of viewer more than others more because they may have managed their finances over the years.
I watch quite a lot of BBC programmes, mainly dramas and reality. I also listen to a lot of BBC radio. Saying the “nobody wants the BBC” is a huge generalisation. Whilst their news coverage has become biased, their general programming is pretty good. I lived abroad for a while and really missed BBC programmes. Their drama productions are still high quality and I love Race Across the World. Strictly is a national institution. What It Feels Like for a Girl on BBC3 is ground-breaking. I could go on but I’ll probably be flamed for being pro-BBC.
No flames, generally agree with you.
Nobody wants the BBC and if they choose to do so, then they will choose it on their terms, not the BBC.
I just cant understand how this corporation can be so bias and arrogant.
Its not all about ‘Can’t Pay, Won’t Pay’, its all about choice and if they think they can win this round by incorporating into everyones council tax, I’m hoping that people in this country to have the sense to stand up and refuse to pay.
Exactly, if you won’t pay, we’ll force it on you, that’s the danger and I wouldn’t put anything past this present government, as for some strange reason, they seem to think that the BBC is something special and should be saved at all cost, how wrong are they? It’s simply an outdated dinosaur and I personally wouldn’t miss it in the slightest.
Totally agree. We have to be able to decide if it’s for us or not and shouldn’t become a stealth tax!
1. “Nobody wants the BBC”….. to use your own words, that’s “arrogant and biased. Also quite untrue
2. If you don’t use it you don’t have to pay. You have a choice.
That’s incorrect, even if you don’t watch or listen to any BBC content but watch a live broadcast on Disney or Netflix etc you have to pay. That’s one of the issues with the current licence set up.
OK, so IF we do need a trusted source then reduce the BBC to a government funded news and current affairs channel only. We certainly wouldn’t miss the rest of the grossly expensive output.
The only way I can get bbc is via iPlayer.
Ariel and satellite are not available as I have trees outside of property.
So not impressed I will need to pay £600 just for iPlayer
Today’s BBC Isn’t fit for purpose. So many bias presenters against Britain and United Kingdom. Unlike The BBC who stood for a British Values of 1950’s,1960’s,1970’s 1980’s. Where real talent was aplenty. Repeats were rare. I wouldn’t watch today’s BBC if they paid Me to listen or watch. The current BBC is not a trusted reporter of News. So many talentless presenters in one rotten basket. None of my family or long term friends have any need to listen or watch BBC Garbage. I have bought DVD’s and VHS Original Recording media, that is better value than BBC TV. Simply close the BBC down forever and replace with GB TV and Talk TV where truth is the norm. ITV are heading the same way. Biased Reporting and Wokery has no place in my life.
Who are the BBC?
I still love how anyone not paying for a TV licence is considered guilty by default with the term “dodging”.
It’s that more and more people are not watching broadcast TV in general so they don’t require it. Obviously the BBC don’t like this so they are trying to find ways to make everyone pay regardless.
It is an outdated system that in order to watch any linear channel you must pay them for the privilege even if they have nothing to do with what you are watching taking something like Pluto TV as an example. It made sense in the early days of TV sure but now when there is so much choice it simply doesn’t.
Absolutely agree, totally outdated and when the BBC boss mentions crisis, the crisis is for the BBC, not the general public.
So what if you live in an affluent area post code but you are only on a state pension? Does this mean you are taxed with the rich for the licence fee ?
The BBC have competed in the race to the bottom with the volume of channels and low quality output. For radio and TV they have list their way, imho.
News: who knows where that will end up.
I see parallels with the airline industry: For many, they don’t see why they should pay the high prices of the national carrier when they can fly with a budget airline, even if the quality is lower and the price, with additions, adds up. The difference is they don’t have to pay a licence fee to the national carrier.
Not sure I’d like to see a sliding scale of fees based upon affordability.
We’re heading towards a paying more, and I suspect many will regret that.
£580 a year, no wonder they don’t want subscription, can I just add, even if they left it at £174.50 they still wouldn’t want subscription as it would spell the death of the BBC overnight and for good reason, it’s an outdated dinosaur, that for some reason with it’s history, we are supposed to remain loyal to it, well, times have changed and that goes for their licence tax, like we’re not taxed enough already in this country.
BBC are no longer the British broadcasting company. They are not for Britain. They are biased. You cannot trust their reporting as fair and true.
The programmes are not funny, interesting or unbiased or even truthful.
I grew up with BBC. I no longer watch it. They look after their own, no matter how corrupt. They are not value for money as they spend outrageous amounts of our money on the wrong people and wrong things.
Here here, totally agree, an outdated dinosaur.
You are so right!!
My thoughts exactly.
I for one, will be cancelling my licence and investing the same amount in a streaming service that contains something I want to watch.
BBC is fine for the talentless Nancy Boys whom it just loves to employ for huge salaries producing tripe that I do not want to watch
Very true.
BBC are so biased and woke it’s unbelievable.
The outdated dinosaur who I haven’t trusted for years.
Time it went for good.