BBC Director General Tim Davie has said yesterday’s licence fee settlement will leave the public broadcaster with a shortfall of £285M ($390M) in 2027/2028 and needing to save around $1.5BN (£2.1BN) across the next five years.
The corporation still has to separately make around $1BN (£1.4BN) in savings but, while still hefty, the figure will slightly calm existential fears that the BBC would have to drastically reshape in order to meet the new settlement, which will see the licence fee frozen for the next two years before it rises with inflation from 2024 to 2027.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s TodayDavie stated that the BBC might soon close all linear channels. “needs to reshape for a digital age, I’m excited about re-engineering the BBC and we’re not going to put aspic around our linear services.”
“Inevitably, if you don’t have £285M you will get less services and programmes,”He acknowledged that the settlement was a good thing, he said. “disappointing”He preferred an annual inflationary increase and that was his preference.
The deal plus the pre-existing savings targets leave the BBC with a £2.5BN ($3.4BN) savings figure over five years. Licence fee income each year tends to be around £3.5BN ($4.8BN).
“We can still offer extraordinary value,”Davie. “I won’t make specific recommendations yet and we will have to take stock, but everything is on the agenda.”
As UK Culture Secretary Nadine Dowries prepares to launch an inquiry into future funding models for the BBC after 2027, he rejected calls for a subscription model BBC. “nothing off the table,”According to Dorries, yesterday’s announcement was made in parliament by her.
Dorries, a strong supporter of Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s, caused chaos when she tweeted news about the settlement on Sunday along with a link. Daily Mail article and claim that the licence fee would be eliminated after 2027.
She was reprimanded in the Commons yesterday by Speaker of the House Lindsay Hoyle and Davie used this morning’s interview to describe her tweet as an “interesting way of doing things.”
He indicated that he was surprised by her behavior, even though she made it clear that the BBC and government had almost completed negotiations on the licence fees.
“It’s a question for government in terms of how they present this but my view is that we are being listened to,”He continued to speak.