22 Tuesday May 24 2022 | the times
News
The BBC has said that it is ready to give
up the licence fee but warned ministers
that there is “jeopardy” in changing the
broadcaster’s funding model.
Tim Davie, the BBC’s director-
general, said he was “open-minded”
about alternatives, so long as they do
not cut off audiences.
“We care most, not about the funding
mechanic, we care most about our
values and the fact that we are available
to all as an impartial, independent me-
dia operation,” he told a Lords inquiry.
Richard Sharp, the BBC’s chairman,
said that the corporation was prepared
BBC chief ‘open-minded’ on end to licence fee
to face “existential” questions and
would play a leading role in the govern-
ment’s forthcoming review of its fund-
ing before the existing licence fee deal
ends in 2027.
The comments mark a change of
tone from the BBC, which has clung to
the £159 licence fee as the most appro-
priate way of supporting its services.
As revealed by The Times this month,
Sharp said the BBC board had begun
examining alternatives to the licence
fee. “The board hasn’t ruled out any-
thing,” he said. “The BBC faces an exis-
tential question and the board has
taken very seriously that charge to look
at all options.” Giving evidence to theLords’ communications and digital
committee, the BBC said that ministers
should not look at the £3.8 billion fund-
ing model in isolation.
Davie, 55, argued that the govern-
ment should first decide on the BBC’s
purpose. “The primary question is what
are we trying to do with public service
media?” the director-general said.
“Then the funding mechanic flows out
of that.”
Sharp, 66, warned that abolishing the
licence fee could have “unintended
consequences”. He said: “When you
have an existing system, you can see its
flaws. When you make a change to a
new system you have to be incrediblythoughtful to evaluate the benefits of
what you currently have.”
Sharp urged Nadine Dorries, the cul-
ture secretary, to carry out an “evi-
dence-based” review, has faced criti-
cism from Damian Green, the former
work and pensions secretary, for an-
nouncing her ambition to abolish the li-
cence fee before the review has begun.
Dorries is preparing to appoint an inde-
pendent chairman to oversee the
review, with terms of reference to be
published in the coming weeks.
Options under consideration include
a Netflix-style subscription, a television
tax that can be linked to household in-
come and government grants. The BBChas floated the idea of linking the li-
cence fee to a household bill, such as for
supplying broadband, making it easier
to collect and cheaper to enforce.
BBC executives appeared to oppose
the idea of a subscription model, insist-
ing that the corporation should be free
to all. Davie pointed out that six million
licence-fee payers had a weak broad-
band connection, and three million had
no access to high-speed internet.
He said “we’re miles away from” the
point where the broadcaster could
move to being an internet-only BBC.
“Any transition needs to be incredibly
well planned,” he added. “The stakes
are incredibly high.”Jake Kanter Media Correspondent
Quentin Letts
Ye olde Beeb chiefs cut
through the, um, clarity
S
ome of us hoped Charles
Moore would chair the
BBC but it turns out that
the fellow who bagged the
job, Richard Sharp, is a
rare comic genius, likely to give
hours of pleasure to the viewing
public. Sharp turned up at a Lords
committee to discuss the future of
the Beeb. The hearing’s star
should have been the director
general, Tim Davie, and, yes,
Davie was his usual energetic self,
saying “yeah?” after every darting
tickle to morale. He would have
been a fine zumba instructor. But
Sharp is in a different class.
Stodge personified, he makes
the late Duke Hussey look like Ali
G. He occupied his chair with a
puddingish posture, hands
clasped, eyes mournful.
The voice? Clement Freud’s
younger brother. For a few
minutes he uttered not a word.
Just sat there not twitching an
inch (sorry, 2.54 centimetres).
When he did finally speak, it
was astonishing: a moving carpet
of the most perfect, untreated
corporate tommyrot, lava from a
slow-burping volcano.
The BBC, parped Sharp, was “a
centuries-old institution”. Ye olde
BBC, broadcasting to serfs since
Tudor days. “It has potential for
multi-generational value in the
future. It influences the eco-
system.” Dry cough, and on he
staggered. “It is a public service as
well as delivering public services.
It’s a public service to who we are
as a nation. It is not a singular
yardstick that measures value for
an individual through their
lifetime, but of course there are
pockets that don’t view us as
intimately as we’d like.” With this
he raised one basset hound
eyebrow, savouring the
completeness of his maxim.
He was heard without
interruption by the Lords
communications and
digital committee.
Lords committees do
not interrupt as
much as their
Commonscounterparts. Normally this is a
relief. In the case of Sharp, it was
deadly. The longer he spoke, the
more Lady Bull (crossbencher)
twitched her dormouse snout. She
was too polite to ask the crasher
what on earth he was on about. Bull
is better known as the former
ballerina Deborah Bull. I barely
recognised her with her clothes.
Davie, below, in his few
moments, gesticulated and gushed,
proclaiming his faith in the BBC’s
future despite government threats
to scrap the licence fee. “We’re in
the game, we’re in the game,” he
cried. That vulgar word “money”
was avoided. Instead we heard of
“the funding mechanic”.
To Davie’s right was Claire
Sumner, his director of policy. She
was greatly pleased with the
“societal impact” the BBC had
during the Covid lockdown.
Through the open windows
wafted the tuba poop of a Thames
barge and a faint pong of river
weed. Or was it the economic
stagnation the BBC’s Covid hysteria
created?
Lord Griffiths of Burry Port
(Lab), a one-time “Thought for the
Day” preacher, was incautious
enough to reactivate the chairman
of the British Boring Corporation.
Sharp declared that we should
think of the BBC as “a national
mutual”. By way of explanation he
added: “Why that’s relevant is not
just prescriptive. It forms the values
we have. Our values lead to what is
distinctive in aggregate about the
value prescription we represent to
the nation and the world.”
To which Griffiths, charitable
Methodist that he is, replied: “Well,
I find that very useful.” And there
came a ripple of appalling laughter
from the sketch-writing seats.
Lady Buscombe (C) dared to
suggest that the BBC people should
speak in language “the listeners
can understand”. Sumner thought
about this and said: “In terms of the
debate I think we should be in
terms of actually being really
clear in terms of what we mean
and as you say kind of cut
through some of the, um,
clarity, as it were.”
Cut through the
clarity! Sharp looked at
Sumner with pride. He
could not have put it
more muddily
himself.Political Sketch