The number of TV licences fell by 82,000 in the last five months, taking it to its lowest number since 2014/15.
In a Freedom of Information response to The Times to BBC confirmed that the number of TV licences in force currently stands at 25,525,000, which is down from 25,607,000 in November.
Under the current legislation a TV licence is required for every property where equipment is used to receive TV programmes. The rules apply irrespective of the channel a person is watching, even though the TV licence fee is used exclusively to fund the BBC.
Additionally, from 1st September 2016, a TV licence is required for any property where equipment is used to receive BBC on-demand programmes via the iPlayer.
The BBC generates almost £4 billion a year from the TV licence, which it collects and enforces under the guise of TV Licensing.
The Corporation is increasingly concerned at the number of viewers turning to on-demand streaming services, which do not legally require a TV licence.
Ofcom, the broadcasting regulator, has previously warned that the BBC risked losing a generation of viewers after finding that fewer than half of 16-24 year olds watched normal TV programmes in an average week.
Meanwhile the proportion in that age range subscribing to on-demand services like Netflix and Amazon Prime Instant Video - which cost far less than an annual TV licence - is increasing all the time. There are now almost 13.5 million UK households that subscribe to at least one video on-demand service.
According to reports, the BBC had hoped that its coverage of the coronavirus crisis would reinforce its status as an essential public service. However, the Corporation has attracted Government criticism after several recent examples of political bias and inaccuracy in its news reporting. Viewers are also deeply disappointed at the dismal selection and quality of the BBC's non-news offering.
As things currently stand, the BBC expects to lose £125 million in TV licence receipts by the end of this year.
Trying to sugar the pill, a BBC spokesman told The Times: "The BBC is the most used media organisation in the UK. Ninety-one per cent of the adult population - and eight out of ten young people - use the BBC every week.
"Whilst the number of licences in force has been around 25 million for the past ten years, it has risen in recent years but of course there will always be fluctuation and March's figures will include the fact that some people have found it more difficult to pay during lockdown. Audiences are coming to the BBC in their millions as we have seen during recent weeks with record audiences for iPlayer."
In its response to an ongoing Department for Culture, Digital, Media and Sport review, the BBC warned that it could lose up to £1 billion in TV licence revenue if evasion of the fee was decriminalised.
Oh dear, what a pity, never mind!
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2 comments:
However, the Corporation has attracted Government criticism after several recent examples of political bias and inaccuracy in its news reporting. Viewers are also deeply disappointed at the dismal selection and quality of the BBC's non-news offering.
This is the crunch though really, because there are problems with the obvious political bias of the BBC's News and Politics coverage (pro-EU, pro-Left, pro-BAME, pro-LGBT+), which is severely at odds with the rest of the country outside the London bubble.
This might not be so bad if the non-News coverage was exemplary, but it is not, it is infected by exactly the same problems as the news coverage. The nation doesn't give a damn whether the comedians on the Beeb are black or white, rich or poor, gay or straight, but what they do demand is that they are funny.
Same goes for Sports. Shoehorning women into sports coverage so that they are "balanced and diverse" would be fine if they weren't so bloody clueless.
As for Drama, similarly shoehorning ethnic diversity / LGBT+ types into historical dramas and documentaries doesn't come across as diverse, it comes across as trying to rewrite history at best and at worst pure propaganda.
If anything, this gradual abandonment of the TV License is just the beginning of the landslide, it will only get worse as the millennial types (who don't really watch TV) grow up and the oldies die off.
If I was the incoming BBC Director General I'd be worried. Fortunately, I've got more chance of being named the next Pope.
Well Said Mr Galt.
As one of the oldies that are about to die off, I couldn't agree more.
There was a time I would have defended the BBC and its TV Licence to the hilt but those days are long gone. The constant promotion of minority interests to the exclusion of the majority will have a backlash. The backlash could very well be the demise of the BBC in its entirety.
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