BBC Licence Fee Could Be Extended to YouTube and Netflix Under Labour Plans
Millions of Britons who have abandoned traditional television could be forced to pay the BBC’s annual licence fee simply for watching YouTube, Netflix or Amazon Prime Video.
Fancy watching a few football bloopers or someone falling off a ladder on YouTube? You could soon be paying for the privilege of helping fund Gary Lineker’s BBC pension.
The Independent reported that the Labour government is reportedly considering expanding the licence fee to cover on-demand streaming services as part of a major overhaul of BBC funding.
Paying the BBC to produce hits like the “first of its kind black, queer dating” podcast called Swipe Your Sign use services that are not related to the BBC?
Proposals could appear in a government White Paper ahead of the BBC’s Royal Charter expiring at the end of 2027.
An unnamed senior Whitehall source has also reportedly claimed that extra money raised would be used by the BBC to tackle “misinformation” said to have fuelled the rise of Reform UK.
Nigel Farage’s party said that this means that Labour is “planning on taking more of your money to suppress Reformers”
“They can’t beat us by fair means so they are looking to abuse the BBC licence fee. A Reform UK government will scrap it,” it said.
That alleged purpose has not been independently confirmed, and the government has not announced such a policy.
The changes could bring an estimated three to four million additional households into the licence fee system.
Currently, Britons must purchase a TV licence to watch live television, including live programmes streamed online, or use BBC iPlayer. Watching on-demand Netflix or YouTube videos alone does not require one.
The proposed expansion has already prompted opposition.
A parliamentary petition created by Alec Burns,which has about 7 thousands signatures, calls on the government not to extend the licence fee to streaming services saying they “believe this is a wholly unacceptable proposal.”
Its organisers argue that households already facing rising living costs should not be required to subsidise a broadcaster they may never watch.
The controversy comes as the BBC faces declining licence fee revenue and growing competition from online platforms, but also a backlash over its progressive agenda which incudes an incessant coverage of drag shows and drag queens.
The BBC spends £196 million on programmes meeting diversity criteria. It own rules means that it cannot make a show with adhering to strict DEI training rules to all members of the production team, both cast and crew, “to embed an inclusive culture throughout the production lifecycle.”
That means that a show like Kenneth Clark’s groundbreaking 1969 masterpiece Civilisation will never be made on the BBC again.
Which is all on Youtube ironically.