
THE beginning of the year the abolition of the TV licence fee was not on the agenda.
Since then, however, there have been a number of developments, the first being Tory MP Andrew Bridgen’s popular proposal to decriminalise nonpayment.
This opened a wider debate, one which the BBC does not wish to have, on the future of the fee itself.
Support for its abolition has come from former and current BBC employees. People such as ex-Crimewatch presenter Nick Ross and top writer/producer Armando Iannucci have called for the fee to be replaced by subscription.
Michael Portillo, the former Tory Cabinet minister turned pundit and TV presenter, has also had a change of heart.
Even Shadow Culture Secretary Harriet Harman said earlier this year that other methods of funding should be considered. Public support is growing too and that is what really matters.
In a ComRes poll published in the summer 51 per cent of those questioned wanted the licence fee scrapped. The fi gure was at its highest in the 45-54 age group with 61 per cent in favour of abolition.
Just because the BBC does not want to debate the fee does not mean that the public doesn’t. It does and, as technology moves forward at a relentless pace, more and more people are seeing the fee as something of an anachronism and not fi t for purpose in our multi-channel, multi-platform world.
There is simply more content to watch, more ways of accessing that content and this means fewer people tune into the BBC on a regular basis.
If you hardly ever use a service you tend to unsubscribe but you cannot unsubscribe from the BBC if you want to watch television from any provider.
Indeed you have to enter into a contract with the BBC – against your will – before you can enter into a contract with a broadcaster such as Virgin or Sky.
As much as I do not like the way the BBC has its tentacles everywhere, often to the detriment of other broadcasters, I am not saying that everything the BBC produces is of poor quality. It clearly is not.
Sherlock is an example of a programme screened by the BBC that is very popular around the world.
Top Gear and Doctor Who fall into that category too. So the idea that the BBC would cease to exist if the licence fee were removed does not hold water.
It has bankable products and should be working much harder to make more money from them throughout the world.
THE BBC is also one of the largest news gathering services in the world.