BBC licence fee to be abolished in 2027 and funding frozen

[muriel_volestrangler]

The BBC licence fee will be abolished in 2027 and the broadcaster’s funding will be frozen for the next two years, the government has said, in an announcement that will force the corporation to close services and make further redundancies.

The culture secretary, Nadine Dorries, is expected to confirm that the cost of an annual licence, required to watch live television and access iPlayer services, will remain at £159 until 2024 before rising slightly for the following three years.

She said this would be the end of the current licence fee funding model for the BBC, raising doubts about the long-term financial future and editorial independence of the public service broadcaster under a Conservative government.

Dorries said: “This licence fee announcement will be the last. The days of the elderly being threatened with prison sentences and bailiffs knocking on doors are over. Time now to discuss and debate new ways of funding, supporting and selling great British content.”

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2022/jan/16/bbc-licence-fee-to-be-abolished-in-2027-and-funding-frozen

Nice of her to wait until the BBC's centenary year to announce her attempt to kill it off. The Mail's gleeful source ("an ally of Dorries&quot 'added that “the days of state-run TV are over” and praised the growth of US-run private sector companies such as Netflix and YouTube'. Yeah, because Netflix and YouTube do such a good job of educating and informing the the public. Their news operations are legendary - or, rather, mythical. The Mail wants its news rival (one that shows how biased and unreliable the Mail is) dead.