The cost of the TV Licence is rising by £5.50 to £180 a year.
Cue predictable mock outrage from certain right wing newspapers.
The Daily Express (cost £2 on weekdays) was, perhaps, the most vocal.
The licence fee – which after the increase works out at just under 50p a day – is apparently yet another cost for hard-pressed family budgets.
You don’t need to believe the BBC is perfect to think that 50p a day is remarkable value for money.
The Times on Saturday costs £4 – or 8 days of viewing and listening.
The daily fee is cheaper than a pint of milk or bar of chocolate. The weekly cost is less than that of a coffee at many coffee shops.
Of course, there is a principle. We choose to buy newspapers or decent cups of coffee. We pay a licence fee for being in possession of a television – even if you never watch BBC TV, listen to BBC Radio or use the iPlayer and other online services.
I have yet to meet a person who doesn’t use BBC services at all who is neither making a point nor mildly eccentric. I even met someone recently who told me they refused to watch the BBC while they were tuned to Bargain Hunt. Don’t ask.
And all of us who support public service broadcasting can talk until we are blue in the face about how the BBC is one of the building blocks of society.
Think about all that would be lost if all TV and radio output was simply designed to get ratings or deliver an audience to advertisers.
Think of all the jobs in creative industries across the UK. The work given to countless people -musicians, actors, writers and others who don’t work in broadcasting as such.
Of course, there is a big issue to discuss. Are there realistic alternatives to the TV Licence?
We all know there is no realistic chance of the current government going for either commercial funding or subscription for existing BBC services. Direct funding from general taxation is already, rightly, ruled out on principle.
The government is essentially doing blue sky thinking about alternatives.
The idea of a household levy charged along with the council tax is an attractive one with merits.
There would be some link to ability to pay and it would be harder to avoid.
But there are difficulties. For a start, the council tax is not levied in Northern Ireland.
We know there will be another rise in the licence fee next year in line with inflation. Hopefully, inflation will be close to the Bank of England’s 2pc target by then.
Then what? I simply cannot see how an alternative to the licence fee can be agreed and implemented as early as 2028.
For the same reason, I cannot see any realistic way of switching off Freeview by 2033 or 34. Not unless the government spends a fortune on internet access and some sort of TV adapter for the vulnerable.
Ultimately any decision to switch off Freeview is for the government – not the BBC or any other public service broadcaster.
It is very important that the government should give an unambiguous statement soon.
Switching off Freeview can only be contemplated when only a small number of people are using it.
Two bets.
The TV Licence will still be with us in 2028 even if it may be modified.
And Freeview will be around for a long time too -even just for resilience and the vulnerable.
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PICTURED: image from TV Licensing video. COPYRIGHT: TV Licensing.
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