POLL OF THE DAY: Should wealthy Britons pay more for BBC licence fee? - YOUR VERDICT
Former BBC chairman Richard Sharp said everyone should be able to access BBC content
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A former BBC chairman has suggested that the license should be means-tested so that lower-income households pay "less than those people who are well off".
Richard Sharp said everyone should be able to access BBC content - and subsidised accordingly.
The 68-year-old added that the corporation offers much more than rival platforms such as Netflix.
In an exclusive poll for GB News membership readers, an overwhelming majority (83 per cent) of the 542 voters thought wealthy Britons should not pay more for the BBC, while 16 per cent thought they should not. Only one per cent said they did not know.
In response to whether the licence should be means-tested, Sharp said: "I personally am of the view that one of the great things we need to be concerned about is the future changing nature of the media industry.
"What you’re increasingly going to have is consolidation – we saw that with Warner Brothers, Paramount, failing to get together – and then you’re going to have a very strong price control from the oligopolistic players.
"In which case, there is an element where people will be left behind in their opportunities for free media consumption.
"So, I do think the BBC has to be well-enough funded, but in a way that also provides the opportunity for people to get a rich media consumption, who are on lower incomes.
"Naturally, that leads you to a view – it’s a personal view, it’s up to the politicians and government of the day to decide – I do believe there is an opportunity to have some limited differential in terms of how consumers pay for it.
It comes after director-general of the BBC, Tim Davie announced plans to consider a licence fee reform
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"Where the lower incomes still have the opportunity to benefit from the BBC at a lower threshold."
It comes after director-general of the BBC, Tim Davie announced plans to consider a licence fee reform.
Davie has enquired about wealthier Britons paying a higher fee, however Conservatives said this would not happen under a Tory Government.
The BBC proposed an increase in the licence fee of almost £15, but it was blocked by the Government after it warned the firm to be "realistic" about what the public could afford.
The BBC’s deficit is set to surge to £492m in the upcoming financial year - more than twice the £220m shortfall in 2022/23.
Next month the annual fee for a BBC license will increase by £10.50, to £169.50.