500,000 households cancel TV licence putting BBC future in jeopardy

Comments

• like@feddit.uk ⁨1⁩ ⁨hour⁩ ago

  I still think the BBC is worth preserving but I’ve no idea how it should be done

  Direct gov funding seems out of the question as independence is required for reputational reasons at least

  Extending license regs so you need one to watch youtube/netflix/etc an obvious non-starter (hopefully)

  Expanding commercial operations so they can sell access to archives through iplayer, overseas subscriptions, Huw Edwards merch etc might be ok but unlikely to raise the billions required to operate

  At this point is it saveable?

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  • cristian64@reddthat.com ⁨25⁩ ⁨minutes⁩ ago

    I wouldn’t say “gov funding”, as the money comes from tax payers. It has to be publicly funded. As long as the entity is managed democratically, I think it’s worth preserving.

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  • anothermember@feddit.uk ⁨48⁩ ⁨minutes⁩ ago

    The problem is that TV is a slowly dying format, so any attempt at saving the BBC is an uphill struggle even with the best will for it. Which I think is a shame, I think it’s culturally important. It needed to have evolved quicker and sooner, but how exactly I don’t know.

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  • resipsaloquitur@lemmy.cafe ⁨34⁩ ⁨minutes⁩ ago

    They have a streaming service. They can charge for it.

    Doesn’t seem that complicated.

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  • AnarchistArtificer@lemmy.world ⁨40⁩ ⁨minutes⁩ ago

    I wonder if it would be possible to do direct government funding but via legislation that states that it needs a supermajority or something to be repealed

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• agentTeiko@piefed.social ⁨1⁩ ⁨hour⁩ ago

  I mean you’re not going to pay for telly if you can’t afford food or AC.

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  • bl4ckp1xx13@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨1⁩ ⁨hour⁩ ago

    AC is not a thing here. Our houses were built when the climate was correct, and we needed to keep heat in.

    That’s why we complain about heatwaves that bring us the same temperatures as the US experiences, we don’t have respite.

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    • agentTeiko@piefed.social ⁨9⁩ ⁨minutes⁩ ago

      I know AC is not a thing hence the need to pay to put it in. I know central Air is out due to no ducts but my uncle had AC installed in his conservatory last year and it was not cheap.

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  • tal@lemmy.today ⁨1⁩ ⁨hour⁩ ago

    I’m pretty sure that a lot more Brits presently have a television than air conditioning.

    searches

    www.ons.gov.uk/…/2025

    In 2025, there were 29.0 million households in the UK

    en.wikipedia.org/…/Television_licensing_in_the_Un…

    In March 2024, there were 23.9 million licences, of which 3,600 (0.015%) were monochrome (black and white).

    So about 82% of households have a TV.

    theguardian.com/…/air-conditioning-uk-homes-heatw…

    An estimated 4m homes have an air conditioner, double the figure from three years ago.

    And about 14% have air conditioning.

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    • SouthEndSunset@piefed.blahaj.zone ⁨49⁩ ⁨minutes⁩ ago

      I don’t know anyone with AC. I don’t know anyone without a TV.

      Do consider, a TV starts at around a few hundred quid. AC, for a single unit installed, is £3.5k.

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• kfml9m5s@sh.itjust.works ⁨1⁩ ⁨hour⁩ ago

  Just put adverts and stop scamming people with hidden “taxes”

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  • Lumidaub@feddit.org ⁨24⁩ ⁨minutes⁩ ago

    You really don’t want them to become dependant on advertisers.

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• TIEPilot@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨hour⁩ ago

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