BBC licence fee to be abolished in 2027 and funding frozen

[SteveRW]

None of those things will be affected.

If cuts would have to be made and that they could be force to close some services, then I suggest that CBeebies should be closed and all of its programmes moved on to the main CBBC Channel.

Yeah let’s merge Radio 4 with 1Xtra while we’re at it, given that’s another 2 services with some obvious overlap of content.

Or, get rid of 1Xtra and go back to how the BBC used to be - make all Radio stations universal for everyone. why would you want a radio station that only appeals to 18-34 year olds when you would rather have 14 - 80 year olds listening?

[TMD_24]

Its also on the front page of the mail on Sunday. Apparently naddine thinks the bbc is bias against the government

Or in alternative words, reporting on stories that I don't like.

This is gonna obviously affect some services and the BBC has already had to make plenty of savings from their news service so I suspect others will be coming.

[JAS84]

The original, much more detailed report was from the Mail on Sunday:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article...-2024.html

I see it mentions that 19-34 year olds don't watch the BBC... well why is BBC Three coming back then? :?

[London Lite]

A tragedy for PSB broadcasting in the UK, but not a surprise considering the terse relationship between the BBC and the Conservative Party.

[AxiosBrit67]

The original, much more detailed report was from the Mail on Sunday:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article...-2024.html

I see it mentions that 19-34 year olds don't watch the BBC... well why is BBC Three coming back then? :?

The reason behind BBC Three's return is this:

the BBC submitted its annual general plan for 2020–2021. It stated that the broadcaster was considering reinstating BBC Three as a linear channel with a doubled budget, citing that its content "now has the potential to reach a wider audience on a linear channel, as well as the key demographic which will continue to watch online. Many programmes receive critical acclaim according to the plan, such as Fleibag, Normal People, and of course RuPaul's Drag Race UK

Source: BBC Three's Wikipedia.

Additionally, experimental BBC Three turn become online has been failed, resulting decline of audience.

[Transmission]

Those articles are deeply worrying. I don't see why the government is hellbent on attacking public services like the BBC.

Perhaps something has been happening over the last few weeks that the government is unhappy with the reporting on and would also like to distract from . Can't quite put my finger on it...

[Aaron.TV]

Before people get carried away, this will depend heavily on who wins the next General Election - not sure why the Guardian article doesn’t mention that tbh.

Whoever is leading the Conservatives by then will probably make abolishing the licence fee a manifesto commitment, Labour will probably pledge to retain it, and then people can make up their own minds up at the ballot box.

[Roger Darthwell]

Before people get carried away, this will depend heavily on who wins the next General Election - not sure why the Guardian article doesn’t mention that tbh.

Whoever is leading the Conservatives by then will probably make abolishing the licence fee a manifesto commitment, Labour will probably pledge to retain it, and then people can make up their own minds up at the ballot box.

Exactly.....I am not as alarmed at this news, Nadine Dorries said that the licence fee will be abolished in 2027, now 5 years is an eternity in politics, literally anything could happen, so the Conservative Party may very well be voted out of power by that point

[Newshound47]

I doubt a subscription BBC would be profitable. Netflix itself is not a profitable business. Plus how would people who use freeview and don’t understand the internet even be able to access it? And their a core part of the BBC’s audience. Subscription radio is of course not technically possible atm except for the internet.

[Cassia Tuna]

For reference, here's the original tweet:

https://twitter.com/NadineDorries/status...2228240387

[DeMarkay]

[mention]SteveRW[/mention]

You cannot be suggesting that the BBC scrap a radio station that was established specifically for reaching and serving the Black community, which has been on air for almost twenty years?

I would much rather the BBC merge Radio 1, 1Xtra and Asian Network into a single service reaching its specific audiences together or 1Xtra and Asian Network merging together as they share similar audiences and genres of music.

Edit: If Steve’s post was sarcasm, apologies.

[Newshound47]

I wonder if a privately owned subscription model is where Channel 4’s sell off will end up - rather than the channels continuing under private ownership

[Keith]

The freezing of the licence fee is given inflation a cut in real terms. I wonder the cuts will be within the BBC to fill the gap.

The threat of scrapping the licence fee in 2027 does very much rely on the assumption that the Conservatives will still be in power in a few years time. Given recent events (and not wanting to get too political) that's a fairly big assumption.

It does feel like a case of punishing the BBC for reporting on stuff they don't like, which has seen them drop in the polls. A cynic may even suggest this news is a distraction attempt. It's possible that if Labour come into power, or even a change of Conservative leaders/PM that some or all of this won't happen. Maybe even the licence fee freeze may be partially reversed.

[James2001]

This is retalliation for them daring to report on partygate and other government scandals, we have a government that hates critisism and scrutiny.

[boddington]

Bye bye BBC, then. Very sad.