The UK media industry is losing out badly to the towering success of the USA.
The BBC is a great force against change. It seeks to freeze UK media in a top down take on what they think we need. Meanwhile the audience moves swiftly into an exciting competitive world of downloads, podcasts, on line videos,movies on demand and citizen journalists getting live clips of events as they happen. As a result the UK is slumping in the media rankings. The BBC slumbered and grumbled as Netflix surged from nowhere to have a turnover already six times the UK ‘s state broadcaster. They watched in denial as Amazon Prime and Disney sold subscriptions to their UK viewers who still have to pay the licence fee if they want to watch any live tv.
There are now more than 18 m Netflix users, 15 m Amazon Prime and 10 m Disney watchers in the UK. When asked what people look at first, 26% say Netflix, 25% BBC and 10% fast rising You tube. This means the revenue, the profits and the investment are surging in the US as the UK state company sees its market share, purchasing clout, ability to attract talent and to win audiences badly squeezed by more fleet of foot and now much more powerful rivals.
The BBC looks to the licence fee for its revenues. More and more people are deciding they can live without live tv, allowing them to watch downloads without paying the tax. The BBC needs more money to spend on technology, new market outlets and on programmes, only to find Comcast, Amazon, Netflix and Disney generate 30 times as much turnover as the sinking UK challenger. We should be in a panic about this collapse. The BBC is now a minnow in the world of fast growing US media giants. 30 years ago Netflix and Amazon Prime Videos did not exist. They have already both dwarfed the BBC.
The BBC has a commercial international company with a pathetically small turnover of £2 bn.This has access to the BBC back book of recordings, but lacks sufficient cut through in the global market . It should be allowed to raise substantial new share capital from private investors with a Golden share blocking foreign take over. It should spend the money raised on expanding its technical and global reach and adding new content. It should not have recourse to public funds. Currently it receives no cash subsidy and is profitable.
The BBC’s free website service impedes the establishment of competitors who need to charge to cover costs. This needs to be split between a factual and promotional website about the BBC and its offerings, free to users, and a site setting out BBC journalist and commentator takes on life behind a paywall like its competitors. The BBC domestic service model says it is advert free, yet it increasingly uses its remaining home market power to self promote energetically. A recent generic controversial advert has added to the stream of plugs for individual programmes and promotions of BBC people.
Debate about the BBC usual revolves around bias and editorial decisions. Defenders point to the Charter and to the understanding that government that automatically has great influence over funding and personnel should not use that influence to affect comment and coverage of the government. It is true the BBC does give a hard time to Labour, Conservative and Reform interviewees to demonstrate some fairness over parties. Critics allege deeper long term bias in the approach to climate change theory and net zero policies , where they have been a fan, to pro government bias over covid lockdowns, and an unwillingness to question the Bank of England and great quangos like the Environment Agency and Ofwat when they get things wrong. There is a perpetual reluctance to challenge the EU and pro EU soundbites. Coverage of the EU is thin and often uncritical.
My case today is all this political debate caused by the BBC being a state owned and directed broadcaster is getting in the way of growing and using the UK’s great cultural and news gathering potential. It means many do not look at the worrying loss of UK market share. The licence fee model cripples growth and requires a different approach to cost control and economic riskiness of ventures, as taxpayers rightly expect prudence in how their tv tax money is spent. The licence fee money will diminish as technology and US success undermines the numbers of people paying it.
Given the political sensitivity we need to examine new models. Offering everyone a share in a mutual BBC that paid a licence fee could create a people’s BBC. Licence fee shareholders could be guaranteed to keep at least 51% of the total share capital to protect from foreign takeover.A licence fee shareholder could just have one share all the time they had a licence, preserving it as a mutual . Alternatively there could be a single initial grant with people free to buy and sell the shares. There could be a block on anyone buying more than say 10% of the Corporation. The BBC would retain its Charter and requirement to be impartial.
It should be set the task to review new sources of revenue and to have a planned phase out of the licence fee. It could go on to raise new capital and add new revenue schemes .It should charge for web access, and could have a variety of subscription and advert based services.
There would be a taxpayer grant to cover World service and related news broadcasting in support of a UK cross party foreign policy which would be pro democracy, free speech and impartial news.
Without BBC reform the nation will adopt more and more US services and the Corporation will have to cut and cut again as licence fee income falls.
Sent fro
August 9, 2026
I don’t watch the BBC. I don’t pay a TV licence.
I am strongly against the pernicious idea of a new general tax to fund the BBC instead of a licence fee. That’s effectively saying you will still pay for it whether you like it or not.
August 9, 2026
I agree Peter. The idea of a fee being added to our utility bills appalls me. This would make the BBC even more insular.
Really it’s beyond redemption as it has enjoyed decades of the population being coerced into funding it, paying salaries many times the actual value.
Newsreaders on upwards of a quarter of a million together with weather presenters. DJs on even more.
This is not confined just to the BBC, all Europe’s state broadcasters are way behind the curve pumping out sime absolute rubbish. This has a lot to do with the socialist mindset that treats enterprise as a dirty word.
The BBC is beyond redemption.
August 9, 2026
I can still listen to BBC for free, though they expect you to register if you want to do so via a computer ( I refuse to do this).
I rarely listen to the radio. I thought the ‘World at One’ was bad – in particular Sarah Montague who seems rather dim.
Listening to the ‘Today programme’ Nick Robinson seems capable even if you disagree with him. It’s also true of Kuenssberg.
Then one day it was Amol Rajan. I thought he had left. I could imagine him sitting there with his earring, possibly chewing gum between announcements. Today sacked Stourton for being too posh. Rajan was the way forward. To make it worse, Rajan was teamed with my new bete noir Johnny Dymond, who I thought was only allowed out on World at One. While he is not as dim as Montague, he has the annoying habit of stressing every other word, so he is virtually impossible to listen to. I was already in the habit of switching off during ‘Thought for the day’. I will not be hurrying back.
August 9, 2026
For as long as I can remember, JR has wanted to break up the BBC, which is a national institution revered around the world. The usual accusation is “bias” and objections to paying the licence fee. Which is 50p/day for excellent news coverage and all that programming.
Not to mention court attacks by foreign presidents alleging untruthfullness and reputational damage
As such, I would regard any recommendations here for change as highly suspicious. Selling off the BBC to foreign media firms would certainly result in the BBC no longer representing British culture reflecting the political views of the new shareholders. I’ve watched GB News, it is the most biased, boring and dreadful channel ever.
The licence fee should be given a modest increase each year for the next five years.
August 9, 2026
BBC is rubbish in terms of NOT making TV that is original, creative, interesting. The license fee is robbery.
If we continue with BBC, it should only exist to create the kind of TV commercial TV can’t.
The license fee should be slashed from £180 down to £100.
And if it fails to change, slashed from £100 to £50.