“The BBC cannot provide content that pleases everyone all the time,” said the House of Lords Communications and Digital Commitee’s Report, which nonetheless noted the BBC’s various diversity initiatives as a positive.
“Yet we continue to hear that the BBC is not representing widely held perspectives in the UK, which often do not divide neatly along party political lines. “The legitimacy of a future funding model risks being undermined by dissatisfied audiences and declining viewing share.”
The call came a few days after the BBC’s Annual Report, which contained alarming audience figures showing that average viewing to BBC TV fell by one hour per week last year and less than three-quarters of the UK population is now using the BBC, down by 3 percentage points.
UK Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries ordered a review into the BBC’s licence fee model – for which the majority of British citizens pay an annual £159 ($188) levy – which could end with that model being replaced when it expires in 2027, although the collapse of Boris Johnson’s government has left the review up in the air.
The Lords passionately called for the BBC to “use the debate on its future funding to embrace its challenges and seize the opportunity to generate momentum for change.”
“This will require confident and clear proposals from the BBC,”The report said so.
The BBC New Broadcasting House’s biggest brains are applying this thought. Director General Tim Davie stated that his team will soon publish the principles of a future financing model.
Alternatives
The Lords considered several options for the licensing fee and decided that a hybrid subscription fee/subscription model, or progressive household tax would be the best.
The former would “offer an opportunity for the BBC to maintain a broad range of quality programming without regular rises in the licence fee,”The committee stated that audiences have the option of choosing to view certain genres, while core shows are still universally available.
It was flagged “significant commercial risk with no guarantee of success,” however.
The universal household levie was discussed in the meantime. “viable alternative”To make it fair, the levy would have to be tested for means. The report proposed linking the levy and council tax, which is paid both by homeowners and renters.
The UK government will now examine the Lords’ independent review and respond to the results, although it is difficult to know when this will take place due to the current government chaos and upcoming summer recess.