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Should the BBC television licence fee be replaced with a compulsory £11-a-month charge on household internet bills?
The UK TV licence fee, currently £180 a year from April 2026, funds the BBC but evasion has risen above 12% with only 80% of households paying. A Social Market Foundation report proposes replacing it with a compulsory £11 monthly Home Internet Levy added to fixed broadband bills, raising the same revenue from 95% of households at £132 a year while saving collection costs.
11 Opinions
The BBC licence is an anachronism. While there is a need for a Public broadcaster, it should be much reduced and prevented from spending millions on events commercial channels are keen to host. Very few young people watch live TV. Streaming services like Netflix, Amazon and YouTube are now the norm. Personally I don't know anyone that still watches live TV outside a couple of people who are in their 90s. BBC drama should be hived off and funded commercially Live TV is dying!
Why should I pay a license fee when I don't watch TV or even streaming platforms / YouTube / etc? I can't remember the last time I even looked at something that the BBC touched, its wrong to force me to pay for it
The TV license should be scrapped. When was the last time you saw an official new show on the BBC, it's all remakes of old shows and terrible news coverage.
The BBC does more than provide the UK with TV programmes. Even though I understand the reluctance to pay extra for the internet, particularly if you don't watch or use the BBC, it would be unfair to those who do, to lose it.
The BBC is respected overall for producing quality content (or should be). But if people don’t value it enough to pay the licence fee then an alternative to the licence fee may be needed or else the BBC budgets need to be constrained. But taxing the internet is not a solution. Internet usage has very little to do with the BBC. Why should the BBC benefit from money that they do little to raise?
No more taxes, abolish TV licence sell BBC to highest bidder.
Any method to properly finance, alongside managerial reform to sort out the current shitshow, would be an improvement on the current situation.
I will not pay the BBC anything till they a neutral
The BBC is currently facing a crisis of legitimacy. The focus should be on restoring professional, impartial coverage as opposed to activist-led content. Restore legitimacy and serve the entire nation, not just the liberal elite., Then we can discuss funding., Otherwise you will jst fuel discontent with the BBC.,
No. This would further antagonise anti-bbc people as well as anyone neutral on the issue. Having broadband does not equal watching BBC programmes.