Andrew Allison, Head of Campaigns for The Freedom Association chatted with David Stephenson, TV Editor of the Sunday Express. They explored what the future will look like for the print media in the UK and the BBC. Does the TV licence fee have a future? Will the BBC have to explore alternative funding models? Spoiler alert: the answers to the last two questions are no and yes respectively!

Click HERE to watch it 

Click here to become a member of The Freedom Association.​ Click here to make a donation to help us in our work. 

By Andrew Allison, Head of Campaigns

The new chairman of the BBC, Richard Sharp, has described the licence fee as the "least worst" way of funding the BBC and has said that he opposes decriminalisation. He also thinks that the licence fee is "terrific value". That depends on how much BBC content one consumes. I seldom listen to BBC radio. The same can be said for BBC television. We mostly watch programmes on Netflix, which, for us, at £5.99 a month really does represent terrific value. 

When I was a child, the BBC's main rival was ITV. How things have changed. The BBC's main rivals now are Netflix and Amazon Prime. Netflix, for example, spends millions of pounds per episode on series' such as The Queen's Gambit - a drama about a young female chess player. The BBC cannot compete, and when it comes to 2027 (the year its Royal Charter is due for renewal) may eventually realise that the licence fee restricts its creative output. 

I have said it before and will say it again: the licence fee is an analogue funding solution in a digital world. When it comes to 2027, live television schedules as we know them may not exist. The BBC needs to get real to ensure its survival. 

We have just launched a new campaign video. Click below to watch it. And please share it with your family and friends.