Latest news with #licencefee
Daily Mail
12 hours ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
STILL a turn off! Fewer than one in eight watched BBC Scotland...despite it costing £200m
Fewer than one in eight adults watched the BBC Scotland digital channel each week last year - despite it having cost licence-payers more than £200million since its launch. The channel reached only 13 per cent of the population, the same figure as the previous year, and was watched for only an hour and 33 minutes a week by the average viewer. According to the latest BBC annual accounts for 2024/25, the cost of the channel, paid for by the licence fee, rose from £40million a year to £42million in the past year - and the cost per 'user hour' for the BBC Scotland channel and BBC Scotland content on iPlayer was 45p. Earlier this year, BBC Scotland's flagship news show Reporting Scotland: News at Seven was launched on the digital channel, replacing The Nine, which was axed after a row over low viewer numbers and too many repeats, with the new show attracting fewer than 30,000 viewers for its first episode. Last night Scottish Tory culture spokesman Murdo Fraser said: 'BBC Scotland bosses must address why Scots are not getting value for money when it comes to this channel. 'Given the sums involved they must ensure that they are investing in high-quality content that resonates with and reaches a far wider audience in Scotland.' News at Seven, a 30-minute show airing every weeknight on the BBC Scotland channel, aims to complement Reporting Scotland, the BBC One news programme which is screened at 6.30pm. It is presented by Laura Maciver and Amy Irons, who take turns fronting the show. The total cost of the BBC Scotland channel since its launch in 2019 is £204million. The Nine - which at one point reached just 1,700 people - ended last year along with entertainment news programme The Edit and weekly news review Seven Days. Last year media commentator and former BBC editor Professor Tim Luckhurst said: 'The number paying the licence fee has declined and the BBC faces financial challenges that can only be met by making staff redundant. 'For BBC Scotland to spend millions of pounds on a channel that attracts a tiny minority of the population in these circumstances is unreasonable. 'The BBC Scotland channel should close immediately - it costs money the BBC cannot afford.' The BBC was contacted for comment on funding for the digital channel. Meanwhile, the annual report said the BBC as a whole had screened 'content reflecting all of Scotland', including dramas Shetland, starring Ashley Jensen, Rebus – with Richard Rankin in the title role - and Granite Harbour, as well as documentary series Murder Trial, Inside Barlinnie [prison], and Sir Alex, about Sir Alex Ferguson, Britain's most decorated football manager. Award-winning The Agency: Unfiltered returned for a third series searching for Scotland's top influencer and attracting younger audiences. The report said 'Scotland-produced audio content' performed well on BBC Sounds and BBC Sport with Sportsound at six million plays. BBC Radio nan Gàidheal launched a 'celebration of new Gaelic song and composition', Òran Ùr. The report said 56 per cent of adults in Scotland consume BBC Scotland content on average per week, down from 57 per cent the previous year. Muriel Gray, chairman of the Scotland committee of the BBC, said: 'During the year, the committee has discussed and reviewed a number of critical areas, including major news changes introduced by BBC Scotland in January, BBC Radio Scotland's audience performances, the role of television drama in driving iPlayer growth, and the renewal of the BBC's partnership with MG ALBA.' In January, the BBC's new boss in Scotland claimed people may not be paying for a TV licence because of the cost of living crisis and the wide choice of programmes across streaming services. Ms Valentine, who became Director of BBC Scotland in October, defended News at Seven when she appeared before MPs at the Scottish Affairs Committee in the Commons. A BBC spokesman said: 'Fluctuations in recorded spend can be due to several factors including variations in the transmission dates of scripted content and special content, for example related to the Euros. 'This is reflected in the accounts. 'The BBC Scotland channel is the top performer after the leading 5 channels - BBC1, BBC2, ITV1, C4 and C5 - and audiences also watch the channel's content on the iPlayer. 'The cost per user hour for the channel has fallen year on year and in 2024/25, and BBC Scotland content had 1million weekly active users on iPlayer..'
The Guardian
14 hours ago
- Business
- The Guardian
BBC to look at overhauling licence fee as 300,000 more households stop paying
A further 300,000 households have stopped paying the licence fee, as the BBC said it was looking at overhauling the payment to secure the corporation's future 'for the long term'. As the broadcaster continues to battle the rise of YouTube and streaming services that have split audiences across numerous platforms, its annual report revealed 23.8m licences were in force at the end of the year, down from 24.1m in 2023-24. The drop means a loss of about £50m in revenue for the corporation. It comes with the government and BBC bosses starting discussion of the future of the BBC and its funding as part of the process to renew its charter. Both sides have suggested changes to the licence fee. However, BBC senior executives have set red lines around any move to a subscription or ad-based service as used by their streaming competitors. The pace of change within the media world is so great that Samir Shah, the BBC chair, said in the report it was a 'moment of real jeopardy for the sector'. 'The fight is on, and it is vital we now think very carefully about the kind of media environment we want for the UK,' he said, adding he was searching for 'the best future funding model for the BBC'. 'I have already set out some views on this and the board will be saying more over the coming months,' he said. 'But all of us are clear that we want to make sure we protect the BBC as a universal service and help it not just to survive, but thrive, for a generation and more.' Licence fee income increased slightly year on year, totalling £3.8bn in 2024-25. However, the small rise was down to the 6.7% inflationary increase in the fee to £169.50 a year. 'The current collection method remains fair, effective, and good value for money,' the report said. 'As we approach the end of the charter, we will proactively research how we might reform the licence fee to secure the benefits of a well-resourced, universal BBC of scale for the long term.' The BBC annual report also showed that, for the last time, the former Match of the Day presenter Gary Lineker remained the highest-paid BBC star last year before he left the corporation in May. His earnings were about £1.3m. The next highest paid was Zoe Ball, with earnings of just over £500,000 last year. After scandals including the departure of the disgraced presenter Huw Edwards, Shah said much work had been done to improve the culture in the BBC. 'Our staff are dedicated, hard-working and treat each other with respect,' he said. 'However, there are pockets in the organisation where this is not the case. There are still places where powerful individuals – on and off-screen – can abuse that power to make life for their colleagues unbearable.' Following the Guardian's disclosure that the BBC is considering a major outsourcing project involving the help of big tech, Tim Davie, the corporation's director general, said his plans would 'require the BBC to continue to deliver reform, and to accelerate the rapid organisational transformation that has been under way in recent years'. 'We have already used gen AI to increase the value we offer audiences with initiatives such as adding subtitles to programmes on BBC Sounds, translating content into different languages on BBC News, and creating live text pages for football matches,' he said. He added that the BBC had maintained 'its near-universal reach in the face of fast-changing audience behaviours and the pressures of a highly competitive global media market'. The BBC has been trying to boost its finances and its commercial arm recorded a record revenue of £2.16bn, driven by growth in the BritBox product that lets overseas customers watch BBC content. The licensing of the Bluey brand was also a money spinner. Despite younger audiences moving away from traditional TV, the BBC argued it was performing strongly among them compared with other traditional channels. Among under-16s, it is only behind YouTube in terms of most-used UK media. It is level pegging with Netflix and ahead of Disney. Among 16- to 34-year-olds it is only behind YouTube and just ahead of Facebook and Instagram.
The Sun
18 hours ago
- Business
- The Sun
BBC looks at licence fee overhaul as whopping 300,000 fewer Brits sign up for £174.50 a year cost
THE BBC is looking into a licence fee overhaul with hundreds of thousands of households refusing to pay up. The broadcaster's annual report released today says competition from streaming services has created a "moment of real jeopardy for the sector". 1 An estimated 300,000 households have stopped paying. The report revealed 23.8m licences were in force at the end of the year, down from 24.1m in 2023-24. The drop means a loss of about £50m in revenue for the corporation. It comes as BBC Director-General Tim Davie was shown to have been given a £15,000 annual pay rise despite a string of controversies. And departing Match of the Day host Gary Lineker ended his time with the Corporation by topping its pay league for the eighth consecutive year, raking in £1.35million. Key points in the BBC Annual Report Gary Lineker has topped the list of highest earners for another year He was followed by Zoe Ball, who remains second best-paid at the Beeb despite her dramatic pay cut More than two thirds of the broadcaster's top 20 earners received pay rises BBC Breakfast star Naga Munchetty received a boost to her pay, but co-host Charlie Stayt's salary stayed the same Disgraced presenter Huw Edwards did not feature on the list after his exit from the broadcaster Meanwhile the number of people paying for a TV licence fell by around 300,000 last year - almost two per cent in all BBC boss Tim Davie breaks silence on MasterChef future as John Torode asked to quit over 'racist remark' BBC Chair Samir Shah says in the annual report: 'The fight is on, and it is vital we now think very carefully about the kind of media environment we want for the UK.' He added they were searching for 'the best future funding model for the BBC'. Shah said: 'I have already set out some views on this and the board will be saying more over the coming months,' he said. Masterchef meltdown as BBC asked John Torode to RESIGN over 'racist remark' before Gregg Wallace sacking 'But all of us are clear that we want to make sure we protect the BBC as a universal service and help it not just to survive, but thrive, for a generation and more.' Licence fee income increased slightly year on year, totalling £3.8bn in 2024-25. However, the small rise was down to the 6.7% inflationary increase in the fee to £169.50 a year. 'The current collection method remains fair, effective, and good value for money,' the report said. 'As we approach the end of the charter, we will proactively research how we might reform the licence fee to secure the benefits of a well-resourced, universal BBC of scale for the long term.' 'Inappropriate behaviours' Today's report also features a column by Dr Shah in which he references the "profoundly shocking revelations" involving disgraced News At Ten anchor Huw Edwards. He announced in October the Beeb's board had commissioned an independent review into its "workplace culture". It came in the wake of Edwards, as well as "several further cases of inappropriate behaviours and abuses of power", Dr Shah wrote. In his column, he added: "The first thing to say is that the BBC is a wonderful place to work. "Our staff are dedicated, hardworking and treat each other with respect. "However, there are pockets in the organisation where this is not the case. There are still places where powerful individuals - on and off-screen - can abuse that power to make life for their colleagues unbearable." It comes after former MasterChef host Wallace launched a scathing attack on the broadcaster and threatened his "next move" yesterday after he was sacked. The one-time greengrocer turned TV personality, 60, was axed after an investigation upheld 45 out of the 83 allegations made against him. The bombshell inquiry, carried out by law firm Lewis Silkin for production company Banijay, unveiled a litany of complaints against him. Most of them involved inappropriate sexual language and humour and a further 10 were made about other people - two of which were substantiated. Davie was also asked today about whether Wallace's co-host John Torode would remain on the show, after the presenter confirmed on Instagram he had a standalone allegation of racist language upheld in the same report. The director-general said: "There has to be follow-up, so the BBC, in some ways, we're quite simple on this, if someone is found to not live up to the values we expect, the independent company, Banijay, in this case, to take action and report back to us on what they have done. "These aren't BBC employees, but we absolutely expect action to be taken, that's the first thing I'd say." 'Get a grip quicker' Last week BBC bosses were told to "get a grip quicker" after the live stream of punk rap duo Bob Vylan's Glastonbury set was left on air despite controversial comments which some interpreted as antisemitic. Ofcom boss Dame Melanie Dawes insisted there is a risk the public lose faith in the corporation if coverage isn't pulled swiftly and investigations are lengthy. The broadcaster had apologised after the band's lead singer chanted 'death, death' to Israeli defence forces during their festival set last month. The regulator also stepped in to launch a probe into Beeb doc Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone, which faced backlash when it was revealed the narrator was the son of a Hamas official. The BBC previously admitted to breaching their own editorial guidelines by failing to disclose this to viewers. An independent probe into the documentary was commissioned by the broadcaster earlier this year. The broadcaster spent £400,000 of licence payers' cash making the doc, which was branded a propaganda show for the evil terror group Hamas, The Sun revealed in February. In a shocking revelation, the main narrator of the heart-tugging, supposedly factual exposé - 13-year-old Abdulla Eliyazour - was the son of senior Hamas official Dr Ayman Al-Yazouri.
The Guardian
21 hours ago
- Business
- The Guardian
BBC to look at overhauling licence fee as 300,000 more households stop paying
A further 300,000 households have stopped paying the licence fee, as the BBC said it was looking at overhauling the payment to secure the corporation's future 'for the long term'. As the broadcaster continues to battle the rise of YouTube and streaming services that have split audiences across numerous platforms, its annual report revealed 23.8m licences were in force at the end of the year, down from 24.1m in 2023-24. The drop means a loss of about £50m in revenue for the corporation. It comes with the government and BBC bosses starting discussion of the future of the BBC and its funding as part of the process to renew its charter. Both sides have suggested changes to the licence fee. However, BBC senior executives have set red lines around any move to a subscription or ad-based service as used by their streaming competitors. The pace of change within the media world is so great that Samir Shah, the BBC chair, said in the report it was a 'moment of real jeopardy for the sector'. 'The fight is on, and it is vital we now think very carefully about the kind of media environment we want for the UK,' he said, adding he was searching for 'the best future funding model for the BBC'. 'I have already set out some views on this and the board will be saying more over the coming months,' he said. 'But all of us are clear that we want to make sure we protect the BBC as a universal service and help it not just to survive, but thrive, for a generation and more.' Licence fee income increased slightly year on year, totalling £3.8bn in 2024-25. However, the small rise was down to the 6.7% inflationary increase in the fee to £169.50 a year. 'The current collection method remains fair, effective, and good value for money,' the report said. 'As we approach the end of the charter, we will proactively research how we might reform the licence fee to secure the benefits of a well-resourced, universal BBC of scale for the long term.' The BBC annual report also showed that, for the last time, the former Match of the Day presenter Gary Lineker remained the highest-paid BBC star last year before he left the corporation in May. His earnings were about £1.3m. The next highest paid was Zoe Ball, with earnings of just over £500,000 last year. After scandals including the departure of the disgraced presenter Huw Edwards, Shah said much work had been done to improve the culture in the BBC. 'Our staff are dedicated, hard-working and treat each other with respect,' he said. 'However, there are pockets in the organisation where this is not the case. There are still places where powerful individuals – on and off-screen – can abuse that power to make life for their colleagues unbearable.' Following the Guardian's disclosure that the BBC is considering a major outsourcing project involving the help of big tech, Tim Davie, the corporation's director general, said his plans would 'require the BBC to continue to deliver reform, and to accelerate the rapid organisational transformation that has been under way in recent years'. 'We have already used gen AI to increase the value we offer audiences with initiatives such as adding subtitles to programmes on BBC Sounds, translating content into different languages on BBC News, and creating live text pages for football matches,' he said. He added that the BBC had maintained 'its near-universal reach in the face of fast-changing audience behaviours and the pressures of a highly competitive global media market'. The BBC has been trying to boost its finances and its commercial arm recorded a record revenue of £2.16bn, driven by growth in the BritBox product that lets overseas customers watch BBC content. The licensing of the Bluey brand was also a money spinner. Despite younger audiences moving away from traditional TV, the BBC argued it was performing strongly among them compared with other traditional channels. Among under-16s, it is only behind YouTube in terms of most-used UK media. It is level pegging with Netflix and ahead of Disney. Among 16- to 34-year-olds it is only behind YouTube and just ahead of Facebook and Instagram.
BBC News
21 hours ago
- Entertainment
- BBC News
BBC annual report: Stephen Nolan among best paid presenters
Stephen Nolan is again among the BBC's best paid presenters, according to the corporation's just-published annual was paid between £405,000 and £409,999 directly from the licence fee in is similar to his salary from 2023-24 and includes pay for his presenting work on BBC Radio Ulster, BBC Radio 5 Live and for Nolan Live on BBC Nolan was the seventh highest paid on-air presenter in 2024-25, though some like Gary Lineker and Zoe Ball have since left the BBC. BBC Northern Ireland's director Adam Smyth, meanwhile, was paid between £178,000 and £184,999 in BBC is required to publish a list of individuals, both on-air and off-air, who receive more than £178,000 from licence fee revenue in a Smyth's salary was below the £178,000 threshold for disclosure in the annual report in 2023-24. Other earnings The BBC, though, does not have to disclose the salaries of stars who are paid through production companies for programmes made for the the 2024-25 pay figures do not include what Mr Nolan earns for other TV programmes made for the BBC by his independent production same arrangement applies to some other well-known presenters on the instance, neither Graham Norton nor Michael McIntyre appear on the BBC's list of top earners as their BBC TV programmes are made for the corporation by independent production hit shows like MasterChef are also made by independent production companies so their presenters salaries are not disclosed in the annual inquiry ordered by MasterChef's production company Banijay recently found that 45 allegations about Gregg Wallace's behaviour on MasterChef were upheld, for which he fellow MasterChef presenter John Torode has also said he is the subject of an allegation of using racist language, but said he had "no recollection" of any of it. Who is the BBC's top earner? As the pay disclosed in the BBC's annual report is for the 2024-25 financial year, Gary Lineker is still listed as the BBC's top earner on around £1,350,000 a Lineker left the BBC in May on-air figures to earn more than Stephen Nolan from the licence fee in 2024-25 are Zoe Ball - who has also since left the BBC - Alan Shearer, Nick Robinson, Fiona Bruce and Greg Smyth's predecessor as BBC Northern Ireland director, Peter Johnston, was paid between £215,000 and £219,999 in Johnston is now the corporation's director of Editorial Complaints and recently carried out a review which found that a BBC documentary about Gaza breached editorial guidelines on accuracy by failing to disclose the narrator was the son of a Hamas official. What else does the annual report reveal about the BBC in Northern Ireland? The BBC's annual report also gives some detail about the corporation's performance in Northern in Northern Ireland spent almost seven hours a week watching BBC TV or the iPlayer in 2024-25, higher than the viewing time by adults in England and average, 64% of adults in Northern Ireland consumed BBC Northern Ireland content per week across BBC TV/iPlayer, BBC Radio and BBC is the highest level of consumption of nations and regions content in the UK and also makes Northern Ireland the only UK nation up the BBC spent less in Northern Ireland than it collected from the licence fee in the received around £100m of licence fee income from Northern Ireland, but spent £97m on content made in or for Northern Ireland.
