The UK’s Culture Minister Lisa Nandy has said expanding the licence fee to include the likes of Netflix, Amazon Prime and Disney+ is one option being considered as part of the broadcaster’s Royal Charter renewal process.
Speaking to MPs at the Culture, Media and Sport Committee, Nandy said she has been speaking to multiple stakeholders about the future of the broadcaster, including both Tim Davie, the former director-general, and Matt Brittin, who took over last month, as well as members of the public and colleagues in parliament.
“The Treasury and I have had a number of discussions about this, some of which have been very pleasant, and some of which have been slightly more robust,” she revealed. “But I think there is a shared belief across government, including the Prime Minister and the Chancellor, that the BBC is one of the most important institutions in this country, alongside the NHS. If the NHS is responsible for the health of our people, I think the BBC is responsible for the health of our democracy and our nation.”
Discussing the future of funding the BBC, Nandy floated the idea that viewers who watch both the BBC and streamers could pay the licence fee, while those who only watch streaming services might pay a smaller charge.
“It’s been suggested to us that you could have a staggered approach where you might pay a small additional amount if you had a streaming service rather than the full licence fee, or you could expand the scope to everybody who’s got one, you could ask them to pay extra as part of their subscription,” she explained. “But you could then task the BBC with having targeted concessions for people who needed them or who used BBC services less. You could also potentially just cut the cost of the licence fee for everybody if you were to expand the scope, so there’s a whole range of options on the table.”
Nandy again ruled out a levy on streamers, which has been used in other countries, warning that any such tax would “deter investment” and harm the UK’s broadcasting ecosystem, including the BBC.
“There are also options around commercialisation,” added Nandy, “I instinctively think that there are limits to commercialisation. There comes a point with commercialisation where the BBC ceases to be the BBC, so I think that has to be approached with caution. But I do know that there’s more that the BBC could do to exploit its commercial revenue.”
Nandy was keen to stress that all options are being considered, but no final decision has been made. “Every time I get into any kind of discussion about the licence fee or how the BBC is funded, it sparks a whole range of news stories that the government has come to a conclusion and has a secret plot to enact it,” she told MPs. “We haven’t. We’re genuinely having an open conversation with the public, with Parliament, and with the BBC about this.”
