Brilliant News: Half a Million Households Ditch BBC TV Licence Fee

Brilliant news yesterday, with the BBC's latest Annual Report confirming that half a million households abandoned the TV licence fee last year.

Under current legislation a TV licence is needed for those properties where equipment is installed or used to receive TV programmes, at their time of broadcast, on any TV channel. A licence is also needed to watch or download BBC on-demand programmes via the iPlayer.

TV licence revenue is used almost exclusively to fund the BBC. In a glaring conflict of interests, the BBC is also responsible for administering and enforcing the fee that its very existence depends on. It does this under the guise of TV Licensing..

According to the report the BBC raked in around £3.66 billion in TV licence revenue in the financial year 2023/24, with around half a million fewer households stumping up the £169.50 annual fee.

The BBC also published the salaries of its highest paid "talent":

• Gary Lineker, £1.35m
• Zoe Ball, £950k
• Hugh Edwards, £475k
• Greg James, £415k
• Stephen Nolan, £405k
• Fiona Bruce, £405k
• Lauren Laverne, £395k
• Alan Shearer, £380k
• Nick Robinson, £345k
• Naga Munchetty, £345k
• Mishal Husain, £340k
• Laura Kuenssberg, £325k
• Sophie Raworth, £325k
• Vernon Kay, £320k
• Justin Webb, £320k
• Scott Mills, £315k
• Sara Cox, £315k
• Clive Myrie, £310k
• Amol Rajan, £310k

These figures represent payments made directly by the BBC. They do not include any payments made via a third party like BBC Studios, which encompasses "talent" like Claudia Winkleman, Bradley Walsh, Michael McIntyre, Paddy McGuinness and Alexander Armstrong.

Hugh Edwards seems to have done particularly well, given that he disappeared from the airwaves in July 2023 after news emerged that he'd paid a vulnerable young man for intimate photographs of himself. It is, however, likely that the BBC had to honour contractual arrangements with Edwards, despite his seedy behaviour.

The newly installed Labour Government has already taken the knee for the BBC, by signalling its continued support for the TV licence fee.

We remind readers of the many legal alternatives to paying the £169.50 fee.

We would urge everyone to ditch the TV licence and starve a BBC deviant.

If you've found this article useful please consider liking us on Facebook, following us on Twitter or downloading our free ebook.

Further anti-BBC reading:

• Is The True Or Did You Hear It On The BBC?, by David Sedgwick (aff. link)
• The BBC: Myth of a Public Service, by Tom Mills (aff. link)

Strictly Come Dancing: The Next BBC Abuse Scandal?

BBC flagship entertaining programme Strictly Come Dancing is under intense scrutiny after allegations that some of the professional dancers are abusive towards contestants.

I say flagship, but it's relative really. It's just another BBC sack of shit in my eyes.

Anyhow, last week professional dancer Graziano Di Prima was dismissed from the show over unspecified allegations of "gross misconduct". Show insiders reported concerns about the Italian's manner with contestant Zara McDermott. It has now transpired that Di Prima kicked McDermott. He has admitted and apologised for the transgression, which was apparently caught on video.

A second Strictly pro dancer, Giovanni Pernice, was ditched from the show at the end of the 2023 series after one of his contestants, Sherlock actor Amanda Abbington, withdrew from the series early on medical grounds. She then requested video footage of her rehearsals with Pernice, with a view to allegedly seeking legal advice.

Former BBC journalist Fi Glover, who worked at the Corporation for almost 30 years, told The Sun that the BBC compels Strictly contestants to sign confidentiality agreements prior to their participation in the show.

Glover, now a Times Radio presenter, said: "They sign a contract that means that they show Strictly in a very positive way.

"I think it's been incredibly difficult for contestants to say things that we now realise they should have been able to say - which is that they were made to feel uncomfortable. And in these cases which are now emerging, there was really nasty physical and verbal abuse going on."

The Reverend Richard Coles, who was a contestant in the 2017, said that a Strictly insider once told him the show had a "dark heart".

Coles added: "I've spoken to contestants and also professionals about it. And I think no one has been surprised that this stuff has surfaced."

Reading around, it appears a lot of people had suspicions that verbal and physical abuse was going on behind the scenes of Strictly Come Dancing.

For all it was being discussed in hushed voices in darkened BBC corridors, it would appear that no-one has been brave enough to report their concerns to bosses for fear of the consequences. Now where have we heard that before?

It may well be the BBC's second abuse scandal of the twenty-first century.

If you've found this article useful please consider liking us on Facebook, following us on Twitter or downloading our free ebook.

Further anti-BBC reading:

• Is The True Or Did You Hear It On The BBC?, by David Sedgwick (aff. link)
• The BBC: Myth of a Public Service, by Tom Mills (aff. link)

Taking the Knee for the BBC: Labour Government Commits to TV Licence Fee

The BBC is breathing a sigh of relief as the recently installed Labour Government has pledged to retain the TV licence fee until at least 2027.

Speaking during his recent trip to the NATO summit in Washington, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said: "There's going to be some more thought between now and [2027], but we are committed to the BBC and we are committed to the licensing arrangements."

Under current arrangements the BBC is funded almost entirely by the TV licence fee. Every year it receives the best part of £4bn on a silver plate, regardless of how woeful its content or sordid its scandal.

Legislation requires that the £169.50 annual fee is paid by households receiving "live" broadcast TV programmes on any TV channel. It is also needed to watch or download BBC on-demand programmes from the iPlayer.

The previous Conservative Government blew hot and cold on the future of the TV licence, but was actively exploring alternative revenue streams for the BBC.

A BBC spokesman said: "We remain totally focused on offering value to the public and will engage with the Government on funding at the appropriate time."

If you've found this article useful please consider liking us on Facebook, following us on Twitter or downloading our free ebook.

Further anti-BBC reading:

• Is The True Or Did You Hear It On The BBC?, by David Sedgwick (aff. link)
• The BBC: Myth of a Public Service, by Tom Mills (aff. link)