BBC Faces £90m Funding Gap as TV Licence Fee Rises Less Than Expected

UK Government to Review BBC's Funding Model Amid Changing Viewing Habits

The UK government has announced a rise in the BBC's TV licence fee by £10.50 to £169.50, a 6.6% increase, which is less than the BBC had anticipated.
The lower-than-expected increase is expected to create a funding gap of around £90m for the BBC, impacting its content budgets and potentially the wider creative sector across the UK.
The government is also launching a review of the BBC's funding model, with Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer suggesting that linking the TV licence to watching live TV will become 'increasingly anachronistic' as viewing habits shift towards digital and on-demand media.
The number of households paying the licence fee has dropped by 437,000 over the last 12 months, partly due to the number of elderly people who are unaware that they now have to buy a licence.
The BBC's funding was £3.70bn in 2013 and £3.74bn in 2023. If the licence fee had increased with annual inflation, the corporation would have an extra £1.16bn in funding from the fee alone.