As the renewal of the BBC’s Royal Charter edges closer, the debate over how the BBC is funded in the future is critical.
Some believe that the licence fee in its present form cannot survive in a media ecology in which consumers are taking their viewing more and more online.
In this RTS discussion, our high-powered panel will feature former BBC DG Lord Tony Hall; ex-Sky COO and Chair of a number of Boards, Mike Darcey; Caroline Dinenage MP, Chair of the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee; and media economist Mark Oliver. We will be asking them to weigh the arguments and discuss the merits, or otherwise, of reform or replacement of the licence fee, the pros and cons of mutualisation (an idea supported by Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy), and interrogate which of these and other models represents the best case for maintaining the BBC’s independence, public purposes and role in the UK creative economy.
