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BBC Licence Fee Could Be Cut



The BBC licence fee could be cut under the Government's public spending austerity drive, the Culture Secretary has warned.

Jeremy Hunt attacked the corporation's "extraordinary and outrageous" waste in an interview with The Daily Telegraph.

He said the BBC needed to recognise the "very constrained financial situation" the country is in.

Mr Hunt continued that he could "absolutely" see viewers paying less than the current £145.50 a year after next year's negotiations with the Government.

"I think that's the discussion that we need to have," he told the paper.

"The BBC should not interpret the fact that we haven't said anything about the way licence fee funds are used as an indication that we are happy about it."

The review process begins next year and a lower levy could be in place for 2012, the paper reported.

Mr Hunt added: "There's a moment when elected politicians have an opportunity to influence the BBC and it happens every five years. It is when the licence fee is renewed.

"The BBC will have to make tough decisions like everyone else. There are huge numbers of things that need to be changed at the BBC.

"They need to demonstrate the very constrained financial situation we are now in."

Recent figures showed that BBC Director General Mark Thompson and the Executive Board's total pay packet went up.

Total remuneration for the BBC Executive board went up in 2009-10 to £4.769m from £4.601m in 2008-09.

Overall, the number of BBC staff increased slightly from 17,078 to 17,238.

Chairman of the BBC Trust Sir Michael Lyons outlined plans to slash pay, saying every pound the BBC takes from licence fee-payers must be shown to have been spent well.

SKY NEWS

I sacked my tv license off for a few years and I tell ya the barstard don't leave you alone. Letters through the door at least once a month.

I told them I watched everything online and just used the TV as a monitor for my computer and dvds. They seemed happy enough with it.

It's stupid having the pay for something you might never use. I'm sure that most people would be happy sacrificing the BBC channels if it just meant no license fee.

So what? never paid it and never will

Nobody likes paying out for a TY licence, at least if you wish to watch it for 365days, 24 hours a day, you can and with no stupid adverts, compare this with other entertainment costs, the last time i went to see Pavarotti, £80 for me and £80 for the wife for about an hour and a half, look at the price of football matches or a day at a test match, though i would like it to come down, its not as bad as other rip offs.

It's just outdated. With subscription packages, people should be able to choose what channels they want to pay for.

I understand having the license fee 50 or so years ago when there was little choice, but it's unnecessary now.

If it was pay as you go tv, then i would be paying around £5 for a WHOLE year.

Well my Daughter is currently watching Toy Story 2 on BBC1 although we have it on DVD, it justs seems different when its on TV rather than DVD.

I can't understand that either. I have BluRay movies but when they are on TV, i'll watch them. Mad eh?

I have always belived in freedom of choice, So could we not incorporate the BBC with the other subscription services, thefore implementing a fair choice for all?

The BBC is there to set a competitive quality standard, if you want lower quality of television and have more frequent and longer adverts then that's what you'll get if you get rid of the BBC.

Its a concept that seems to work, if you compare it against American TV.

The licence is a tax and getting rid of the BBC is a separate issue from getting rid of the licence, although this may not be true the other way round - if they got rid of the licence then they would probably get rid of the BBC.

I'd pay it if I watched it. Don't agree money is being used to pay high wages, Jonathan Ross was taking the equivalent of 100,000 TV License payments every year, no-one is that entertaining.
I think the BBC is the last bastion of quality on TV, you can have 100 channels and there's NOTHING on any of them, at least they make an effort.

The whole on line thing really outdates the license now.

Lets face it, yoyu can watch pretty much everything online now, or you can get it via satellite, or cable, which if you pay their subscription, why should you also pay for a regular TV license?

It was just a revenue maker for whoever introduced it, and though Im not sure about totally scrapping it, there should be a serious reduction (so its just a token payment) when all other methods of watching are taken in to consideration.

This years tv licence was worth every penny just so I didn't have to watch Gaydrian Child on ITV for the world cup final...