00:00The way we pay for the BBC has remained largely unchanged for decades, but with more people watching streaming services
00:08instead of traditional television and fewer households paying the license fee, there's a growing pressure to find a funding model
00:16that can survive in a very different media landscape.
00:19One proposal now attracting attention could see the current system replaced by a charge linked to council tax.
00:28Although ministers insist no decision has yet been made and several options remain under consideration.
00:35The BBC is in a really difficult bind. It's losing sort of viewers on the TV channels or to the
00:40TV channels and radio is not what it used to be.
00:45Of course, radio sort of requires, particularly the department, lots of news of entrance as it were.
00:51And if I sort of speak from experience, you know, certainly when I was growing up, the radio was never
00:55off.
00:55And of course, listening to the breakfast show on Radio One in those days, that was a sort of a
01:00staple.
01:01People don't sort of use the media in the same way that people get their news to the Internet.
01:06They listen to whatever music they want to. So it's a very different sort of landscape.
01:12And of course, the BBC, it's a behemoth of this organization, employs many, many thousands of people, of course, high
01:19wage bill, a lot of sort of fixed assets.
01:22So it doesn't have that sort of agility of the sort of the newer entrance into the market.
01:27So the difficulty it's got is, of course, if you're losing sort of viewers and listeners, then, of course, where
01:33is it?
01:33Where's the money going to come from? And of course, we know currently that's the sort of license fee.
01:37But of course, the license fee is something you have to sort of practically go out and purchase.
01:41So any sort of calls for it to be done through an add on to the general taxation, particularly at
01:48the sort of the present moment, I think that's going to go down sort of really badly with the sort
01:52of the Burnham administration.
01:53Now, whatever he sort of may think about the BBC, he's not going to sort of put more money onto
01:58sort of taxes to sort of to fund the BBC.
02:00The current television license costs one hundred and eighty pounds a year and remains the BBC's main source of income.
02:08But the corporation says the existing model is under increasing pressure as viewing habits change and more people choose on
02:17demand streaming instead of live television.
02:20Fewer households are paying the license fee than in previous years, raising questions about how the BBC should be funded
02:27in the future.
02:28One idea being discussed is replacing the license fee with a household levy collected through council tax or a similar
02:37system.
02:38Supporters argue that could reduce evasion, lower collection costs and create a fairer model, with the possibility of people in
02:47higher value properties paying more while others pay less.
02:51The proposal has been discussed as part of the wider charter review, though the government has also publicly ruled out
02:59creating a straightforward household tax in that form, saying a range of other funding options remain under consideration.
03:08Also, of course, of course, the BBC, I always think it must be doing something right because it gets criticised
03:12by the left and criticised by the right.
03:14But the right believe that there's a lot of sort of positive people who sort of do very well at
03:19the BBC.
03:19I don't know the individual salaries, but of course, there are people who are on very good salaries and of
03:24course, particularly the star presenters who are paid millions of pounds.
03:28So there probably needs to be a lot more slimming down within the BBC and cost cutting.
03:33But of course, by sort of so doing, your ability to provide sort of choice becomes compromised and that's difficult.
03:40But I think this is the problem with the BBC is that it maybe tries to do too many things
03:44to too many different people.
03:46And of course, you know, the old adage goes, you can only please some of the people some of the
03:50time.
03:50So perhaps we're going to see sort of a smaller BBC.
03:55But I still think the sort of how to fund this this massive organisation is going to become highly problematic.
04:01But of course, what we don't want to do, we do need to have some sort of connection between the
04:05people who pay whatever they pay through whatever mechanism and the sort of the output insofar as it's regarded as
04:12public service broadcasting.
04:14Because of course, what we don't want it to do is to become an adjunct to government.
04:17We've seen what happens in America when, as I say, somebody is in control and they want to use the
04:22sort of the immediate and malign effect.
04:25So in a sense, you know, I subscribe to the old values of the BBC.
04:28It's been around for so long, a century.
04:30It's a wonderful organisation in many ways, still seen as the sort of the bastion of sort of truthfulness across
04:35the world.
04:36And if you like the gold standard.
04:37But I think the BBC of old, it's it's not going to exist for much longer.
04:42And who knows what the future will be.
04:44So some really tough decision to be taken.
04:45Supporters say the BBC remains a vital national institution.
04:51Critics argue viewers should no longer be required to pay for a service many no longer use frequently.
04:58Whatever replaces the current system, the decision is likely to affect millions of households.
05:04For now, the debate continues with ministers.
05:07The BBC and viewers all weighing up what a fair and sustainable funding model should look like.
05:14It's not bad.
05:14?
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