Brits are threatening to BOYCOTT TV Licence after latest BBC fee increase – but what do you think?

• What do YOU think about the price rise? Email [email protected] 

Brits have threatened to boycott the TV Licence after the BBC announced it would be increasing the fee by almost £15 next year. 

Furious viewers have taken to social media to voice their distaste towards what will be the biggest BBC licence fee hike in 40 years. 

Some threatened to stop paying the costly charge, which is due to rise from £159 to £173.30 from next spring in line with inflation, while others declared that they had stopped paying it already as it was too costly. 

People have suggested that no one should be forced to pay the fee and that the corporation should be self funded instead. 

It comes as Rishi Sunak is expected to block the fee increase as ministers warned the corporation must offer ‘value for money’.

Brits have threatened to boycott the TV Licence after the BBC announced it would be increasing the fee by almost £15 next year (Stock image)

Furious viewers have taken to social media to voice their distaste towards what will be the biggest BBC licence fee hike in 40 years

One furious BBC viewers said they are on the brink of cancelling their licence and the new price hike could ‘trigger’ them to finally do it.

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Another angry customer added: ‘I will no longer buy one. It’s too much money for the woke stuff they try to shove down our throats.’

A third person joked that if you still pay for the licence fee then ‘you need your head checked’. 

Another person who was reluctant to the price rise said they were considering ditching the licence fee as they ‘hardly watch anything’ on the BBC anymore.   

They said: ‘I hardly watch anything on #BBC these days. Their trust on news has been completely lost. 

‘I can easily survive on not live/catch-up on other channels & radio of course. Very tempted to not choose to renew.’

A fifth person added: ‘If they do I’m minded to cancel mine. 

‘I strongly object to paying for the woke anti-British garbage they churn out. 

‘Newsnight hasn’t been worth watching since Paxo. BBCQT panels are SO skewed it’s untrue (Remember the Brexit panels?) & Radio 4 seems to have turned into Pravda.’ 

Others have also suggested that the BBC should not force people to pay the licence fee and instead argued that it should be self-funded. 

Users said that they should be able to choose whether they pay the fee, with other people suggesting that it should rely on advertisers to generate the funds.  

People have said they will continue to not pay the licence fee while others suggested that no one should be forced to pay and the corporation should be self funded instead

It comes as Rishi Sunak expected to block the fee increase as ministers warned the corporation must offer ‘value for money’ 

The TV licence fee has been frozen for two years at £159 but is due to rise in line with inflation for four years from next spring. 

That would add nearly £15 to the fee next year, taking it to £173.30 if it is increased to match wider price rises. 

The government has been making clear it is ready to step in to reduce the figure, with Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer saying 9 per cent would be ‘too high’ and she will make an announcement shortly.

In a round of interviews this morning, Ms Frazer told Times Radio: ‘As the licence fee rises, the BBC needs to be realistic about how much it can rise by. We want to make sure we protect licence fee payers and make sure that it just rises at an amount that people can afford.’

Asked about a rise to over £170, she said: ‘Well, obviously, that’s high. This is something that we’re looking at, at the moment. And we’ll be making a decision on this in due course.’ 

Ms Frazer told Sky News that the BBC provided a great service but needed to give ‘value for money’. 

The corporation is seeking to make £500million of savings in the face of high inflation and a two-year freeze to the price of a TV licence, which provides most of its funding.

Ms Frazer’s comments come after the PM said the BBC should be looking to ‘cut its cloth appropriately’ as the country continues to deal with the heightened cost of living.

Mr Sunak said ‘final decisions haven’t been made’ about the future of the licence fee but the broadcaster should be ‘realistic’ about what they can expect people to pay at this stage.

Discussing how sustainable he feels the licence fee is, Mr Sunak told reporters travelling with him to COP28 in Dubai: ‘First thing to say is, I think it is welcome that the BBC are looking at making savings and efficiencies in how they operate.

‘It’s really important that when things are difficult everyone is doing what they can to ease the cost of living on families.

‘That’s certainly what I have done over the last year and made a bunch of decisions that haven’t been easy.

‘But that’s helped to bring inflation down to ease the burden and the cost of living.’

He added: ‘The BBC like any other organisation that serves the public should be looking to do that and cut its cloth appropriately so I think that is very welcome.

‘I think going forward, look the BBC – final decisions haven’t been made obviously – but the BBC should be realistic about what it can expect people to pay at a time like this. That, I think is the right approach.’

Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer said the BBC needs to be ‘realistic’ about what people can pay

Ministers are also expected to announce a formal review of licence fee funding amid concerns in Whitehall that it is becoming unsustainable.

They will consider alternatives including a subscription model, a levy on broadband and advertising revenue. Any reform is likely to come into effect in 2027, when the BBC’s Royal Charter is up for renewal. 

In January 2022, then-culture secretary Nadine Dorries announced the BBC licence fee would be frozen at £159 for two years, before being allowed to rise in line with inflation until March 2028.

At the time, it seemed the BBC had been caught unawares. Chairman Richard Sharp admitted the corporation had not expected the two-year freeze after it asked for a settlement that was ‘flat in real terms’.

The Government estimated then that a TV licence would cost ‘less than £175’ by 2027-2028 and forecast a price rise of about £3.50 in 2024 to reach £162.50.

But since that time inflation has been significantly higher than expected.

The BBC announced last week that its nightly current affairs show Newsnight would be reduced to a 30-minute programme as part of the cost-cutting measures.

The BBC Two show will continue to air on weeknights as an ‘interview, debate and discussion show’ but more than half of Newsnight’s 60 jobs will go.

As part of further changes, an extended hour-long edition of BBC News At One will relocate to Salford while BBC Breakfast, also broadcast from Salford, will be extended by an extra 15 minutes daily, the corporation said.

More focus will be put on digital storytelling and live coverage across the BBC News division, with a ‘reduction in the amount of television packaging’.

The corporation expects the raft of changes to save £7.5 million.

A BBC spokesman said: ‘The Government and BBC agreed a six-year licence fee settlement in January 2022, which froze the licence fee for two years with increases in line with inflation from 2024.

‘As is usual practice the Government sets and confirms the cost of a licence each year and this remains unconfirmed for 2024/25.

‘The BBC will continue to focus on what it does best: working to deliver world-class content and providing great value for all audiences.’

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