00:00 For the past two years, everyone reading, watching, listening to or using any number
00:07 of the BBC's TV channels, radio stations, iPlayer platform, BBC Sound Service or online
00:14 websites will have been able to do so for the reasonable price of just ÂŁ13.25 per month,
00:21 but that could be set to change. Rumours are circulating that the licence fee, frozen for
00:26 the past 24 months, could rise by ÂŁ15 in April from ÂŁ159 to ÂŁ173.30. The rise, which
00:36 is in line with inflation, comes amidst widespread BBC cost cutting, with the broadcaster looking
00:41 to shear ÂŁ500 million off its budget due to the impacts of inflation and the relative
00:47 shortfall caused by the aforementioned licence fee freeze. With the Culture Secretary, Lucy
00:53 Fraser, branding the proposed rise 'unsustainable', while others decry the underfunding of a service
00:59 which brings unbiased and well-researched news to millions, we went out to ask a local
01:04 Lancastrian what he made of the proposed price hike.
01:07 So, the BBC apparently are going to increase the licence fee annually to about ÂŁ173.59,
01:16 about a ÂŁ15 increase. Do you think it's worth it?
01:20 No, not really. All the good stuff that was on the BBC was on BBC3 and they scrapped that
01:25 years ago, so no point really buying it really.
01:28 Do you have a TV licence yourself?
01:30 No, no, I don't watch any TV.
01:32 Is it all just streaming?
01:33 Yeah, everything's on streaming now, so might as well just pay for that.
01:37 So you've got no plans to start paying licence fee?
01:40 No.
01:41 Don't think you'll ever do it?
01:42 No, I don't watch TV. Nothing good on anymore.
01:45 What about stuff like BBC News coverage, stuff like that, supporting coverage for things
01:50 like democracy?
01:51 I don't really watch the news either, so I'm not too bothered myself. Other people will
01:57 be, but not me.
02:00 I know it's hard for you to judge specifically yourself, but generally the BBC serves quite
02:05 a lot of people, obviously, like everyone in the country. Well, lots of people in the
02:08 country, but people like yourself, a lot of people watch it. So do you think it's worth
02:13 the money? If you're paying about ÂŁ160 a year for that kind of service, it's weather,
02:18 sports, news, everything, radio. Do you think it's worth it? Is it quite good value?
02:23 I'm not really in a position to comment on if it's worth it, if it's any value or not,
02:29 because I don't watch it.
02:30 You don't even use it, yeah.
02:31 So I wouldn't know if it's any good or not.
02:34 Fair enough. How many other TV subscriptions do you subscribe to? Do you have Netflix,
02:38 Disney, that kind of stuff?
02:40 Yeah, there's Netflix, Disney, Amazon.
02:42 Quite a few?
02:43 Yeah, quite a few streaming services.
02:45 So it's more about the entertainment side of things rather than the news?
02:48 Yeah, there's a lot of stuff that gets put on YouTube now for free anyway, like old telly
02:52 and stuff. You can watch full episodes of that on there. So there's not, I don't know,
02:59 I don't really feel the need to pay a TV licence fee to get the entertainment I want.
03:02 Fair enough. Great stuff, thanks a lot.
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