Will this madness never end?

Licence-free

It's been a long time coming. But the winds of change are finally set to blow throughout the People's Republic of Portland Place.

After decades of extorting the British public, in exchange for increasingly manky old rope, the BBC's licence fee will be abolished in 2027. Unsuprisingly, the announcement has met with criticism from stars who do very well from being on the payroll.

Match of the Day host Gary Lineker criticised the move by the culture secretary, Nadine Dorries, which emerged in briefings over the weekend and could force the corporation to close services and make redundancies. Lineker told his 8 million Twitter followers the BBC was revered, respected and envied around the world. “It should be the most treasured of National treasures. Something true patriots of our country should be proud of. It should never be a voice for those in government whoever is in power,” he wrote.

Tom Wall, The Guardian

Lineker trousered a cool £1.36 million in the year to March 2021, down from the previous year's £1.75 million. In real terms, 8553 licence fees were put to no better use than him waffling on about twenty-two, highly-paid tosspots kicking a ball around a field. So, no conflict of interest there, then. (rolleyes)

What're we gonna do next?

Anyone who enjoys the BBC's output should be able to support it. But those who find its agenda-driven morality programming and ideological messaging unpalatable, shouldn't have to pay for services that they don't use and don't want.

Recently, with the advent of streaming, viewers have been able to opt-out of the licence fee and forego all terrestrial TV. But that's neither fair to the other, ad-funded broadcasters, nor to those who want to watch terrestrial programming other than the BBC's. The only question is what will replace the current funding model?

The BBC has already been preparing for the end of the licence fee, with proposals including…funding the broadcaster with a grant from general taxation – although this could undermine its editorial independence and leave it even more at the whim of government anger.

Jim Waterson, media editor, The Guardian

Another problem with government funding is that it's only a revision of the licence fee, except that the public would then be involuntarily funding the BBC through their income tax instead. The BBC would still have neither obligation nor incentive to improve its service.

It's obviously a touchy subject among the comrades of the PRPP. The BBC's coverage is a little coy. It doesn't explicitly state that the licence fee will be eliminated in 2027, only that it will be frozen for a couple of years; it will then rise with inflation until 2027; and that other potential funding mechanisms exist.

I think that you're expected to read between the lines. Either that, or read news outlets other than the world's most trusted international news broadcaster™. (wink)