BBC News and BBC World to merge

[headliner101]

Say for the sake of argument that the a BBC-friendly government (or someone willing to raise its budget) gets elected tomorrow.  Assuming there are enough MPs ready to support funding rises for the public broadcaster, how soon could that be voted on or implemented?

Funding settlements for the BBC happen over several years. If the government decided that the current settlement was too low and the BBC needed more funding immediately then it could happen, but I think it is more likely when the BBC’s Royal Charter runs out at the end of 2027 whether or not the licence fee is abolished.

I’m not an expert, but even if there was a snap General Election and a different government was elected, they would not raise the licence fee given the current cost of living crisis. The only thing I could see that might have an impact if the government thought that the UK could have more influence abroad by providing more funding for international services. Even if this did happen, extra funding wouldn’t, I believe, stop the BBC News/World News merger - extra funding might be used to stop BBC Four or CBBC leaving linear TV instead.

Say for the sake of argument that the a BBC-friendly government (or someone willing to raise its budget) gets elected tomorrow.  Assuming there are enough MPs ready to support funding rises for the public broadcaster, how soon could that be voted on or implemented?

No party is going to raise the licence fee during the cost of living crisis. I could imagine a policy where to help the poorest in society more people are moved out of the licence fee resulting in less money at the end, so reading between the lines, it isn’t as clear cut as what I imagine you are suggesting

Sure a licence fee rise during the CoL crisis is suicide.  But I am assuming normal circumstances when more people could afford it.  I’m just asking how soon funding arrangements could manifest.

But thanks for clarifying that even if (for the sake of argument) legislation to raise BBC funding is approved tomorrow, it’s unlikely to be sufficient to save News 24 in its current form.