Moreover, it must do so in a country where political opinion is deeply polarised. Each passing week sees a new row about impartiality, threatening the BBC’s long-standing reputation as a trusted voice at the heart of the national conversation.
On top of all that, the licence fee is under threat. A new Charter that settles future funding is being negotiated with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and is due to be delivered by the Government next year. The fee that has funded the BBC for more than a century is increasingly seen as outmoded in an age of subscription TV. And it certainly struggles to cover the costs of the BBC – consequently, the Corporation is currently looking to make £500 million of savings over the next two years in order to make ends meet. When he began work last month, the new director-general, Matt Brittin, had barely put his feet under his desk before announcing that the BBC faced "tough choices".
When Tim Davie resigned last year after the row about Panorama’s editing of a Donald Trump speech, Radio Times ran an appeal for your views. We asked how you felt about the BBC. Did it have a future in the digital age? How should it be paid for? What did you love about it – and what wouldn’t you miss? And to tell us plainly whether you trusted it any more.
For decades the BBC enjoyed a rather cosy characterisation as "Auntie". To many that description may feel out of date. But it remains remarkably appropriate in one way. The picture Radio Times readers paint suggests the BBC is like that relative we all know, the one who entertains and informs us, who can be relied on to be there when we need them, who might embarrass and possibly bore us on occasion, but above all else is part of the family – and whose demise we would mourn enormously.
You answered – and in no uncertain terms.
People in power, including journalists and politicians, should be really careful what they wish for because once the BBC is gone, it won’t ever be replaced and we shall all be worse off. I for one would never forgive a political party that took it down.
I don’t agree with woke nonsense about not saying "women" when that is clearly what you mean [in November the BBC upheld 20 impartiality complaints after presenter Martine Croxall altered a script she was reading live on the BBC News channel, which referred to "pregnant people"]. We shouldn’t all have to change our use of the English language to salve the feelings of a few people. A bit of common sense is needed all round.
Sarah Roberts Alrewas, Staffordshire
I fervently hope a new top management team can find a way to restore the BBC’s reputation and return them to their Reithian ethics. We need public service broadcasting. So many broadcasters are solely interested in maximising profits for their shareholders or pushing the political agenda of their owners. A public broadcaster should aim to give us news that has been fact-checked, is as fair and unbiased as possible and gives us a trustworthy picture of what is actually happening in the world.
Social media seems to be dangerously divisive and full of fake news. It would be disastrous if this were all we are left with should the BBC fall. I am watching developments with trepidation.
By attacking the BBC and potentially bringing it down, we run the risk of ending up at the mercy of the largely unregulated AI-driven abyss of misinformation and fakery.
Yes, mistakes have been made, but who else would do better? If we throw out the BBC, who do we trust to uphold what defines us as a nation?
I still trust in the BBC. Please support our BBC. Please fight for our BBC. Please save our BBC.
So, you asked us to tell you plainly:
Does it have a future? Not in its present form.
Are there services you couldn’t live without? All that is required is quality programming and less celebrity-based content.
Most importantly, how should the BBC be paid for in future – through the licence fee? No.
Via subscription? No.
The BBC is losing revenue and viewers as a result of its own misguided approach to content and funding, and if it does not change the way it operates quickly, it will become irrelevant as a broadcaster, as there are many other services out there offering a far higher-quality experience.
Chris Wilson Hastings, East Sussex
SPEAKING TRUTH TO POWER
BBC television remains first class even if new programmes are rather thin on the ground. Unfortunately, BBC News is bringing the wider BBC into disrepute, be it doctoring film or political bias. I realise accusations come from all sides but its reporting of Gaza has been completely one-sided.
Darryl Sugg Surrey
K Kemra via email
I don’t object to the licence fee and consider it good value for money. However, the Board needs to get a grip. Programming that justifies the licence includes a wide range of documentaries, news and current affairs, classical music and sports (though we seem to be losing sport to the highest bidder). Perhaps the arrival of a new director-general provides an opportunity to address some unfortunate policy decisions that have arisen in recent years. For example:
The big advantage of BBC over commercial channels used to be that there were no adverts. Now the end of every programme is ruined by noisy, repetitive trailers that take chunks out of the next item. These are just as annoying as commercial advertisements. My mute button is worn out.
I strongly object to being ordered to watch everything on iPlayer. How about "You may be interested to watch this on iPlayer”"? Much more polite and less antagonistic.
Dr Philip H Smith MBE Formby, Merseyside
LICENCE FEE, SUBSCRIPTION OR ADS?
The TV licence system may not be perfect, but if the BBC is to remain impartial and continue to deliver its mission to inform, educate and entertain, it’s vital that it gets an adequate level of funding without being beholden to either the government or to advertisers.
Direct government funding would open it to accusations of being a state broadcaster. It seems to me that the TV licence is the best available compromise, and we should keep it.
I think the licence fee is a waste of time. There is much potential in the BBC’s worldwide reach that could be exploited in the form of a subscription system.
Dr Alexander Hall East Finchley, north London
Second, every broadcaster produces content that misses the mark. That doesn’t negate the BBC’s wider output of national and regional news, global journalism (often used by other broadcasters), children’s TV without advertising, radio (including local services) that simply wouldn’t survive in a pure commercial model.
Finally, the choice isn’t licence fee or shutdown. The real options are: reform the licence fee (income-based, household tax, or hybrid models), tighten governance and commissioning standards, modernise enforcement. But scrapping the BBC altogether won’t lead to cheaper, better media. As the US shows, it leads to higher costs, lower trust, and media owned by a handful of corporations.
For all its faults, the BBC is still a world-beating broadcaster. People who complain should be forced to watch TV from other nations for a month and then decide what they think. This is not an idle threat. Here in Switzerland we can get any unencrypted TV from numerous European countries via cable. They range from just about OK to awful.
It should not be beyond the wit of the BBC and government to sort out rights issues. This seems to be the recurrent argument as to why they can’t do anything to set up a subscription service.
Dr Janet Dawson Bennwil, Switzerland
STILL A NATIONAL TREASURE?
As a retired couple, we predominantly watch the BBC for our entertainment. We would be utterly shocked if anything happened to it. We consider it as much a part of British life as the NHS. In fact, the clue is in the name – the British Broadcasting Corporation.
The quality of programmes is extraordinarily high, which justifies the licence fee. At the current rate of £180 or £15 per month, this amount is, in the great scheme of things, nothing, even for retired folk.
Ann and Ray Levett Tiptree, Essex
Hard-hitting interviewers like Jeremy Paxman, and more recently Nick Robinson, Sarah Montague, Sue Mitchell and so many others hold politicians and others to account in a way that the press corps in the US seems incapable of doing.
I couldn’t begin to list all the programmes that have given me pleasure over the years, on the radio (standouts are The World at One, I’m Sorry I Haven’t a Clue and Just a Minute), TV (Strictly, Shetland, Question Time) and podcasts (To Catch a Scorpion, Ukrainecast).
Personally, I am in favour of the BBC being funded through either the licence fee or general taxation, because it is a national resource, and vital to the health of our democracy. Whether people use it or not, we all depend on it for truthful, objective reporting and political accountability.
I’m glad to have the opportunity to express how much I appreciate the BBC. A friend and I have agreed that at the age of 81 we would be prepared to take part in public demonstrations to defend it. It is a main pillar of our democracy and stability.
I travelled widely when I was working and had the opportunity to experience the media in various countries. I found nothing that compared to the quality of TV and radio in the UK and observed how much the BBC is respected abroad. I cannot stress enough the importance of public broadcasting.
I appreciate the BBC for challenging the political and social status quo, accessing public opinion, maintaining the profile of our cultural traditions and our history and representing who we are. To me the BBC represents the best of who we are.
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