The latest episode of Digital TV Europe’s podcast TV Watch is now available to stream wherever you get your podcasts. At the end of July, the French Parliament delivered on a key manifesto promise of president Emmanuel Macron – to abolish the country’s licence fee. The €138 fee, much like in the UK, serves to […]
The BBC has outlined plans to cut £285m ($375m) from its budget by 2027/28 as the effects of a frozen licence fee and “super-inflation” impact its spending strategy. The UK pubcaster unveiled its Annual Plan on Wednesday and said the “disappointing” decision to keep the £159-a-year charge frozen for two years, before tracking inflation, would […]
UK pubcaster the BBC faces having its funding frozen for the next two years in a move that will severely impact its ability to compete with its media competitors. The corporation, which broadcasts dramas such as Vigil and entertainment formats including Strictly Come Dancing, is currently chiefly funded through the £159 ($215) per year licence fee – along […]
Streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon should be legally required to provide viewing data for British-made shows to UK broadcasters and the country’s media regulator Ofcom, according to a group of UK lawmakers. The British Parliament’s Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee (DCMSC), has said that UK broadcasters including the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 […]
Shifting from the licence fee and towards a subscription model for funding the BBC would come at a heavy cost for the British public, the broadcaster has said. In its Value for Audiences report, the BBC claims: “If one was to purchase the range of media offered through the licence fee, then a bundle of […]
The UK government has shelved plans to decriminalise non-payment of the licence fee that funds public broadcaster the BBC, but with the caveat that such a move will “remain under active consideration while more work is undertaken to understand the impact of alternative enforcement schemes”. The decision not to decriminalise non-payment comes after a consultation […]
More than a quarter of a million Brits have not renewed their licence fee this year, it has been revealed. The BBC Television Licence Trust has published its annual report, revealing that the number of licence fees sold by the end of March was down by 256,000. The news is perhaps unsurprising given the growth […]
The BBC is open to the idea of replacing its licence fee funding model with a household bill-linked scheme, but has warned that proposals to decriminalise non-payment to the existing mechanism will result in cuts to programming. In its submission to a government consultation on the plans that began earlier this year, the BBC said […]
The BBC will delay licence fee changes for over-75s until August. The public broadcaster had previously announced controversial plans to introduce a means-tested licence fee for over-75s which would have seen up to 3.7 million pensioners lose out on the free benefit. However, amid the coronavirus which has seen Brits urged to stay indoors, the […]
The British government has drafted a ‘blueprint’ to scrap the licence fee, reports the Sunday Times. According to the paper, government officials want to drastically alter the makeup of the broadcaster through the licence fee change and downsizing its other assets. Citing senior aides to the prime minister, the paper says that officials are “not […]
