A couple of weeks ago we published news that the BBC, at no doubt considerable expense, had commissioned a report exploring ways of reducing the cost of the over-75 TV licence fee.
Gordon Brown, then Chancellor of the Exchequer, introduced the "free" over-75 TV licence back in 1999. Until very recently the entire cost of providing these licences - some £750m a year - was covered by the Government.
Times and Governments have changed and the current Government wants to offload the expense of providing over-75 TV licences onto the BBC. The BBC, so the Government believes, should be taking a bit more responsibility for keeping its finances in order.
The BBC will be entirely responsible for funding the over-75 TV licence from 2020/21, so is desperately seeking ways of saving a few quid.
Frontier Economics, which took three years to produce the report, came up with four ideas:
- Completely scrap the over-75 TV licence, saving around £750m a year after wind-up costs;
- Replace the "free" TV licence with a 50% concession for eligible households, saving around £400m a year;
- Increase the age threshold for eligibility to either 77 (saving around £105m a year) or 80 (saving around £270m a year);
- Means-test eligibility, saving up to £540m a year depending on the criteria.
Quite why it took three years to come up with four suggestions of the bleeding obvious remains unclear.
The BBC claims it will have to axe channels and services if the over-75 TV licence continues in its present format. It highlights the that the average BBC One viewer is now in their 60s, so many viewers of the "flagship" channel are making no contribution towards it. We think the aged audience is testament to the tired old dross being served up on BBC One, but there you go.
In our opinion the BBC should be retaining the over-75 TV licence fee in its existing format. If that means the BBC has to cut some of its more shitty televisual and radio offerings then so be it. Let's face it - there are plenty of them to choose from.
We would encourage you to complete the consultation to that effect:
https://bbcconsultation.traverse.org.uk/
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4 comments:
I don't have paedophile Licence, and will never have one, I have hundreds of DVD's and subscribe to Amazon and Netflix at £6.59 & £5.99 a month, in that I get films, music & free delivery on selected items. That might work out at a bit more than the Paedo tax every month, at £12.84, but I don't get adverts on there, even if they show an item that was previously on ITV.
I agree with you Mr. Blogger, the BBC is rolling in cash (£5 billion per year last year) and doesn't need to pick the pockets of the elderly. No farmer would allow a pig to fill its own trough, and the BBC porker should be put on a diet as quickly as possible.
I'm 79 this year. I think the content of radio and tv programs in general are poor and repetitious on all channels. Not worth £150 a year. I would pay half that amount though, just for the news and documentaries, which are all I ever watch. My wife, an Irish woman, bless her, is ten years younger than me and loves the comedies and detectives, while I read my Kindle Game Of Thrones series. Books are definitely better than radio and tv...in my opinion. I would vote for a 50% reduction for the over 77's, regardless of whether we're rich or poor.
Tom Parker
A Yorkshireman living in Northern Ireland
I am now aged 81 and today received my next over 75 tv licence by post , but now instead of being issued as before automatically , for 3 years, this one goes from 1.2.19 to 31.1.20 only. They say I will receive written notice when this is due to expire and will explain then how I should renew it. I quite agree with other comments that the BBC is so full of rubbishy repeats, and Christmas 2018, all we seemed to get throughout the holiday period was animated programmes for the younger viewer whatever time of day it was. Nothing for the more mature watcher. At the same time they pay ridiculous salaries to their top staff and performers, Has anyone any idea of when the decision making on the future TV licence fee is going to be decided.
Maureen Lintin from Bristol
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