BBC licence blunder

As of August 1, the BBC will scrap the universal free TV licence for the over-75s, introduced by Gordon Brown, and means-test it instead. Responsibility for funding the concession was passed to the BBC by George Osborne. But it is a decision that misreads the popular mood. In the middle of a pandemic, to go after one of the country’s most vulnerable groups only illustrates how out of touch the corporation has become.

Instead, the BBC should be focusing on cutting its coat according to its cloth. There are plenty of savings that could be made in programming and star salaries, for a start. The success of the likes of Netflix and Amazon, meanwhile, has shown that people are perfectly prepared to pay for highquality programming that they want to watch.

In making this move, the BBC is taking advantage of the fact that the over-75s are its most loyal audience. Where younger viewers increasingly refuse to own a TV, or watch BBC iplayer, thus escaping the penalty, older consumers have been watching and listening all their lives, and are unlikely to abandon the corporation now. They will dutifully pay up, despite the fact that BBC programming increasingly seems aimed at chasing younger viewers.

Simply forcing more people to pay the licence fee is not the solution to the BBC’S long-term future. Instead it should focus on what it does well – producing high-quality drama, for example – and introduce a system whereby people are encouraged to pay for what they want to consume.

A sceptical public is unlikely to understand why this is happening now. It is yet more proof that the BBC’S antiquated and often arrogantly managed model cannot be sustained in the 21st century.