Scrapping TV licence could harm society, says BBC boss

SCRAPPING the licence fee could harm British society, suggested the BBC’s director-general yesterday in what will be seen as a warning to Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries.

In response to the Government’s plans to look at alternative funding for the broadcaster, Tim Davie said ministers needed to consider the kind of broadcasting environment they wanted.

Mr Davie said: ‘Let’s listen to the public. Let’s be led by the data and really think carefully about what kind of media market we want in the UK.

‘What are we? As storytellers, as a democracy... my biggest thing is the stakes are very high about what kind of society we live in.’

He added: ‘We are not trying to be Netflix, we are trying to be the BBC.’

Mr Davie also told the Deloitte Media and Telecoms conference that the current two-year licence fee freeze means the broadcaster would ‘shut a few things’ and ‘reduce volume’.

His comments come after the Government revealed in the recent white paper that it will review the BBC’s funding.