BBC can only survive if it abandons license fee, says Jacob Rees-Mogg
SIR Jacob Rees-Mogg has said the BBC must become commercial if it wants to survive.
Speaking on GB News, he said: “Is it too late to say this once great institution? Could this be the scandal that topples the BBC?
“For years, sceptics have said that the BBC has adopted a narrow, metropolitan worldview and has become increasingly detached from the majority of the country that it purports to serve.
“The BBC has consistently denied these claims, insisting it has no institutional ideology and no monolithic culture. But this series of mistakes, controversies and upheld complaints, has weakened denials and damaged public trust.
“When an organisation, funded by the license fee, a tax paid by the public under threat of legal penalty, makes high profile editorial errors, it’s much more consequential than a small human error made in other newsrooms.
“It compromises confidence in the very notion of a national broadcaster. More importantly, it must be asked, is it now clear that the license fee mode is suffocating the BBC by protecting it from competition, innovation and accountability?
“The BBC of 30 years ago was a global titan of broadcasting, admired worldwide for its standards and reputation. But guaranteed funding has dulled its incentive, allowing for cultural drift and internal reform becoming harder in competitive markets.
“If the BBC were ever to regain trust, it must embrace commercialisation, effectively ownership by license fee payers through elective subscription or membership, where the audience choose to support it voluntarily, where revenue depends on performance, and where impartiality isn’t just an ambition but an economic necessity for improvement.
“And importantly, commercialisation doesn’t mean abandoning what the BBC excels at. Despite its crises, the BBC has some remaining strengths; assets such as the iPlayer already give the BBC a chance to thrive in a competitive market if it is willing to adapt and if it welcomes commercialisation, rather than hiding behind a taxpayer funded income.
“So the question is not, is it too late to save the BBC? The real question is, is the BBC willing to save itself?”
