BBC viewing among young people is “dangerously close to the brink” as audiences switch to streaming services, according to an internal document.
Leaked data shows that less than half of people aged 16 to 34 now watch any of its main broadcast television channels — BBC One, BBC Two and BBC Four — in an average week.
The reach of these channels among young viewers has fallen from 51.9 per cent to 46.6 per cent in a year. Only 40.7 per cent of people in the age group now watch BBC One each week, according to the document obtained by the trade magazine Broadcast.
BBC executives see the flight of young audiences as an existential crisis, undermining the moral case for a universal licence fee.
How long can you justify a system whereby everybody who has a TV has to pay to fund a particular set of TV and radio channels, that is the question.
Not another 'off the cuff' post!
ReplyDeletePlease keep to Labour's agenda.
I think the case for reform of the licence fee is becoming unstoppable.
ReplyDeleteHow it is reformed is another matter: decriminalisation, mutualisation of the BBC, abolition of the BBC, conversion to subscription service, sell off to the private sector, advertising and sponsorship on the BBC (actually we already have EU sponsorship don't we) or direct state funding (no doubt the latter is the favourite of the Corbynistas) are all on the table now.
My favoured recipe is a mix of mutualisation, privatisation, conversion to subscription and some direct state funding (the latter to protect the World Service, regional broadcasting and broadcasting for special interest groups such as people with disabilities).