Broadcaster has say on licence fee
PERMANENT SOLUTION WAS EARMARKED FOR
VETERAN broadcaster Andrew Neil has said he expects the BBC licence fee to remain in place because it is ‘the easy way out’ for the broadcaster and the Government.
The 72-year-old worked for the BBC for 25 years until 2020, fronting various political programmes. He said the funding system was both a ‘wonderful asset’ and a ‘straitjacket’ for the corporation.
Appearing before the Lords Communications and Digital Committee, Mr Neil suggested the BBC service should be split into ‘core’ public service broadcasting and a separate subscription service for high-end drama and ratings winners such as Strictly Come Dancing.
He said: “The easy way out, the most comfortable way out, is to continue with the licence fee, and I suspect that is what will happen again – it usually is.
“And that is fine and it will be trebles all around in Broadcasting House and the politicians will have dodged a bullet by doing something more controversial.
“But the BBC is one of the great national assets and it is also one of the things that defines us to the rest of the world, along with the monarchy, the universities, our military, our science and so on.
And we are right to be proud of it and the public service of that is very important.”
Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries announced earlier this year that the BBC’s licence fee will be frozen for the next two years.
The minister said she wants to find a new funding model before the current deal expires in 2027 as it is ‘completely outdated’.
Mr Neil said the UK needed to define what public service broadcasting means and then continue to fund that publicly.
Also included in his list were
BBC Radio 3 and 4, arts coverage, the BBC orchestras and local radio, as well as some of the ‘riskier’ drama series.
Major national events such as the Cenotaph, Last Night Of The Proms and major sporting events would also fall into this category.