Culture Secretary Nicky Morgan has said the BBC needs to “move with the times” or risk going the way of failed video rental store Blockbuster.
Baroness Morgan launched an eight-week consultation into whether the failure to pay the Licence Fee should be decimalised.
In 2018, more than 120-thousand people were convicted of evading the charge, which Baroness Morgan described as heavy handed.
The review would consider whether non-payment of the Licence Fee should be classed as a civil offence, such as the non-payment of a parking fine.
Were decriminalisation to lead to further non-payment of the Licence Fee the BBC could face a major impact on its already tight finances.
The BBC issued a robust defence, reminding the Culture Secretary of the SeeSaw project of ten years ago: “The BBC tried to set up a Netflix service a decade ago while they were still sending DVDs in the post, but was prevented from doing so by regulators.”
Baroness Morgan said the broadcasting system had changed considerably over the past five years, when the fee wasn’t required to view the BBC iPlayer. But the move could be seen as a response to remove the free Licence Fee for the over 75s – a concession introduced by Labour in 2000 and the burden placed on the BBC by the Conservatives in 2015.
“A detailed Government-commissioned review found the current system to be the fairest and most effective. It did not recommend change – in part because the current system is effective in ensuring payment with very few people ever going to prison… We have a settlement agreed with the Government and any substantial changes to the BBC’s income should be considered as part of the next licence fee settlement,” said the BBC.
Conversations are currently taking place with regulator Ofcom, which is conducting a review of Public Service Broadcasting.
The government has already agreed to Ofcom’s recommendation give prominence to the PSB catch-up and streaming services within TV guides.
