The future of the BBC: Public 'supports modernised licence fee over subscription model'
The UK public would prefer a 'modernised' version of the licence fee over turning the BBC into a Netflix-style subscription service, according to new research.
The BBC Trust has published the findings of a public consultation which indicate support for a universal system, with a modernised licence fee taking into account iPlayer being the single most popular funding method.
Some 53 per cent of the people who contributed to the public consultation supported a modernised licence fee, with only 16 per cent in favour of a part-subscription model and 53 per cent opposed to it.
BBC Trust chairman Rona Fairhead said: “The BBC has always been a universal public service broadcaster and the public have told us in their thousands that they want it to stay that way. They back a modernised licence fee over other ways of funding the BBC, and there are real concerns about any system involving subscription.”
In quantitative audience research, less than a quarter favoured a part-subscription model, while nearly 60 per cent favoured a universal model of public funding, the Trust said.
The consultation, independently analysed by ICM Unlimited, took place between 22 July to 18 September.