Bad News for BBC: More than Two-Thirds of Brits Want End of TV Licence Fee

More than two-thirds of Britons want the BBC TV licence fee scrapped, according to a recent poll on the subject.

The online poll, conducted by Savanta ComRes on behalf of the Christian Communications Partnership, sought the views of 2,018 adults and was conducted between 18th-20th December.

It found that 67 percent of respondents backed the idea of scrapping or substantially reforming the annual £154.50 charge, which provides the BBC with the vast bulk of its income. Just 15 percent of respondents disagreed.

In another body blow to the BBC, the proportion of respondents saying they trust the impartiality of its reporting stood at only 69 percent. The proportion claiming to trust the impartiality of ITV journalism stood at 74 percent, which immediately casts into doubt the BBC's claim that the TV licence fee is needed to protect its journalistic integrity.

Half of respondents said they would prefer to source news from commercial broadcasters, instead of being forced to pay for it via the TV licence fee.

The Government is currently conducting a review into how the BBC is funded, with the Prime Minister exploring the possibility of either decriminalising or abolishing the TV licence fee.

Savanta ComRes chairman Andrew Hawkins said: "The changing patterns of news consumption make UK broadcasting look set to evolve massively over the next five to ten years.

"The General Election showed that trust is at a premium but also that the BBC no longer has a monopoly on it.

"Commercial operators have significant opportunities to capitalise on the huge shift in trust towards their brands.

"Somehow the broadcasters and regulators will need to find a way of enabling the sector to evolve while maintaining trust in the integrity of news delivery.

"It all points to a major shake-up of news delivery."

A BBC spokesman trotted out its usual canned bullshit: "Research consistently shows that the public values the BBC and the licence fee is the most popular method of funding the BBC - it means the BBC is there to serve everyone.

"This poll appears to have asked people whether they'd like the licence fee scrapped or reformed without explaining that would mean losing programmes and services they love."

Funny that research conducted by the BBC always confirms the popularity of the TV licence fee, yet independent research always paints a very different picture.

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Edit (29/12/19): Step into your DeLorean and read tomorrow's article, which gives details of another poll strongly in favour of axing the TV licence fee.