Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

Moving BBC to a subscription service would undermine tenets of Public Service Broadcasting'

28/01/2022

A new report from Enders Analysis looks at what impact a move to a subscription-based model could have on the BBC and TV viewing in the UK

By Jenny Priestley

Published: January 28, 2022 Updated: January 31, 2022

A new report from Enders Analysis looks at what impact a move to a subscription-based model could have on the BBC and TV viewing in the UK

target=_blank title=Share on LinkedIn class=share-linkedin>

In a new report looking at the future of the BBC, Enders Analysis has warned that scrapping the licence fee in favour of a subscription-based model would undermine a number of tenets of public service broadcasting, most notably universality, breadth of programming and representing the diversity of Britain .

The analysts note that one of the core concepts of public service television and radio broadcasting is universality.

Under the current model the licence fee is charged for all households that watch live TV (on a TV set or other device) or use the iPlayer. The report states that if the BBC were to become a subscription-only service this concept of universality would be instantly removed, challenging one of the core constructs of public service broadcasting.

It adds that there are around 8 million adults in the UK who either lack the means, or do not wish, to pay for a TV service beyond the licence fee, with around three million of these people living alone, four million belong to the C2DE socio-economic group, and nearly 1.8 million having a disability.

A major consequence of a BBC subscription-either a reduced BBC product and range, or a cost to the viewer that is higher than the licence fee-will disproportionately affect this group, states the report.

If the licence fee were to be replaced by a subscription-model, the analysts say the government would need to implement a conditional access (CA) system to ensure that only households that have paid for a particular BBC package (whether channel, genre, etc.) receive it.

However Freeview, the UK's largest TV platform, has no CA system in place.

As no TVs in the UK have CA embedded within them, this procedure would have to start from scratch, note the analysts. The report adds that a move to a subscription-based model could also impact Freeview, as viewers may have to switch to a pay-TV service or an online subscription to access the BBC's channels.

The analysts also considered the idea that certain parts of the BBC's output could remain as public service content such as news and current affairs. Categorisation along genre lines is crude, but an alternative scenario is one where content could end up being directed to where it can be best optimised: we struggle to see a rationale, other than complying with difficult to enforce regulation, for the BBC to keep any content on free-to-air that it thinks could benefit its paid-for service, states the report.

Given that one of the current major attractions of the BBC is its breadth of offering, which includes its news service, the truncated subscription service would hope to offer the best of the public service content' in order to compete in a tough subscription environment.

The full report is available for Enders Analysis subscribers to download here.

What next for the BBC?

data-src=https://www.tvbeurope.com/wp-content/themes/tvbeurope/library/images/tvbe-subs.jpg width=729 height=90>
LINK: https://www.tvbeurope.com/business/moving-bbc-to-a-subscription-servic...
See more stories from tvb

Most recent headlines

06/10/2025

France Tlvisions Wins Prestigious 2025 EBU Technology & Innovation Award in Groundbreaking Collaboration with Dalet

France T l visions, France's leading broadcaster, has received the 2025 EBU ...

04/09/2025

Monumental Sports & Entertainment and Dalet Win Prestigious 2025 NAB Show Project of the Year Award

Monumental Sports & Entertainment (MSE), in collaboration with Dalet, has been a...

07/08/2025

Tata Motors & Dolby Bring Dolby Atmos to Harrier.ev, Redefining In-Car Entertainment Experience

July 8 2025, 22:30 (PDT) Tata Motors & Dolby Bring Dolby Atmos to Harrier.ev, R...

09/07/2025

NABLF Congratulates 2025 Broadcast Leadership Training Program Class

WASHINGTON The NAB Leadership Foundation (NABLF) has announced the graduation of the 2025 Broadcast Leadership Training (BLT) class. The classs successful compl...

09/07/2025

Survey: Consumers Signal Growing Interest in One Big Bundle

Faced with rising costs, the proliferation digital services and the difficulty of managing many different subscriptions, two-thirds (66%) of consumers say they ...

09/07/2025

Production Sound Mixer Daniel McCoy Deploys DPAs New 2061...

Daniel S. McCoy, a Production Sound Mixer and Sound Consultant for cinema, commercial and live events, has utilized DPA Microphones for over 25 years. In the ea...

09/07/2025

CVP Announces the Return of the European Lens Summit

- A Celebration of Optical Excellence Uniting the Lens World's Leading Optical Minds - CVP, one of Europe's leading resellers and providers of profe...

08/07/2025

MediaSafe Africa: A New Digital Safety Resource for Journalists

In an era where digital threats to journalists are becoming increasingly aggressive and widespread, MediaSafe Africa launches as a vital online resource to help...

08/07/2025

Give Me the Backstory: Get to Know Juan Meja Botero, the Director of Igualada: Refusing to Know Your Place

One of the most exciting things about the Sundance Film Festival is having a fro...

08/07/2025

Spotify's Our Game, Our Sound' Campaign Champions Community and Joy in Women's Football

This summer, as the energy builds for one of the biggest moments in women's ...

08/07/2025

SBS strengthens commitment to inclusion with new commissioning guidelines

SBS strengthens commitment to inclusion with new commissioning guidelines 8 July, 2025 Media releases SBS has launched new Commissioning Inclusion Guidelin...

08/07/2025

Secrets, Spies and Sabotage: 40 years on, SBS podcast investigates historic bombing of Greenpeace's Rainbow Warrior

Secrets, Spies and Sabotage: 40 years on, SBS podcast investigates historic bomb...

08/07/2025

Gray Media, Scripps Agree to Swap TV Stations

ATLANTA and CINCINNATI Gray Media and The E.W. Scripps Co. have agreed to swap television stations across five midsized and small markets, resulting in the crea...

08/07/2025

Clear-Com Adds Panel Support to Arcadia Central Station

ALAMEDA, Calif. Clear-Com has announced new software updates to its Arcadia Central Station that enable connectivity across Clear-Com products as well as third-...

08/07/2025

Triveni Digital Kicks Off NextGen TV Innovation Partnership Program

PRINCETON, N.J. Triveni Digital has launched its NextGen TV Innovation Partnership Program, an initiative to support public broadcasters in their transition to ...

08/07/2025

Sinclair, ATSC Raise Concerns about 5G Broadcasting in FCC Filings

WASHINGTON In response to a request by LPTV broadcaster HC2 that the Federal Communications Commission allow its stations to become datacasters using 5G broadca...

08/07/2025

Broadcasters Push AI to New Levels

As TV broadcasters shift from wary tire-kicking to increasingly enthusiastic adoption of AI technology, new ways of doing things are taking hold at lightning sp...

08/07/2025

Content Personalization Gets a Makeover

Content personalization has been a hot topic ever since the emergence of niche cable networks and the VCR in the 1980s allowed consumers to access content geare...

08/07/2025

RMC-BFM optimizes streaming monetization and viewer exper...

Broadpeak, a leader in streaming and monetization at scale, announces that major French media group RMC BFM has selected Broadpeak's server-side ad insertio...

08/07/2025

MBS Acquires SESs media services in Germany and UK - Rebr...

MBS, a leading service integrator and managed gateway operator, has announced an agreement with SES to acquire a part of its media services in Germany and the U...

08/07/2025

Carr Applauds Restoration of FCC Auction Authority

WASHINGTON Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr is applauding the passage of President Donald Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill and provision...

08/07/2025

Channel 7 Sydney Chooses RTS and Magna Systems for ST-2110 Upgrade

SYDNEY RTS has announced that Channel 7 Sydney has deployed a new comms system from the intercom vendor as part of a larger ST-2110 upgrade....

08/07/2025

Gray Media and Scripps Agree to Swap TV Stations

ATLANTA & CINCINNATI Gray Media, Inc. and The E.W. Scripps Company have entered into agreements to swap television stations across five mid-sized and small mark...

08/07/2025

Richard Watsham to depart UKTV following highly successful 14-year tenure

UKTV today announces that Richard Watsham, Chief Creative Officer at UKTV and Global Director of Acquisitions for BBC Studios/UKTV, has decided to step down fro...

08/07/2025

Groundbreaking Gamecocks: Inside University of South Carolina's Four-Control Room Production Palace

Groundbreaking Gamecocks: Inside University of South Carolina's Four-Control...

08/07/2025

Monumental Sports & Entertainment's Samantha Brady on the Power of the RSN's Direct-to-Consumer Streaming Service Monumental+

Monumental Sports & Entertainment's Samantha Brady on the Power of the RSN&#...

08/07/2025

Live From 2025 FIFA Club World Cup: FIFA, HBS Focus on Tournament Wrap, With an Eye to 2026 Men's World Cup

Live From 2025 FIFA Club World Cup: FIFA, HBS Focus on Tournament Wrap, With an ...

08/07/2025

SVG Rewind: NESN Goes Behind the Scenes of 1975 Red Sox Retro Broadcast

SVG Rewind: NESN Goes Behind the Scenes of 1975 Red Sox Retro Broadcast NESN is following up the retrocast with a week-long celebration of the Green Monster By...

08/07/2025

'The Monster of Florence': The Four-Episode TV Series Directed by Stefano Sollima Is Coming Only on Netflix on October 22

Back to All News The Monster of Florence: The Four-Episode TV Series Directed b...

08/07/2025

Shooting of '53 Sundays', Cesc Gay's New Project, Is Finished

Back to All News Shooting of 53 Sundays, Cesc Gays New Project, Is Finished Entertainment 08 July 2025 GlobalSpain Link copied to clipboard Download the f...

08/07/2025

Harmonic Sets DOCSIS 4.0 Record with 14 Gbps Downstream Speed at CableLabs Interoperability Event

SAN JOSE, Calif. - July 8, 2025 - Harmonic (NASDAQ: HLIT) today announced a reco...

08/07/2025

Arvato Systems optimizes customer communication with AOK Niedersachsen

Arvato Systems Optimizes Customer Communication with AOK Niedersachsen New project in the statutory health insurance sector Arvato Systems and AOK Niedersach...

08/07/2025

2025-07-08

On August 7, Apple Arcade is adding four exclusive games to its diverse catalogue of more than 200 fun games for players to enjoy, all free from ads and in-app ...

08/07/2025

Asking an Encyclopedia-Sized Question: How To Make the World Smarter with Multi-Million Token Real-Time Inference

Modern AI applications increasingly rely on models that combine huge parameter c...

07/07/2025

SBS Farewells Chair George Savvides AM

SBS Farewells Chair George Savvides AM 7 July, 2025 Media releases Born of Greek Cypriot parents, Mr Savvides joined the SBS Board as Deputy Chair in Febru...

07/07/2025

Staying Ahead of the Threat - Everywhere, Any Time

Advanced vision solutions deliver more than reliable night vision for tactical-edge warfighters. Today's technological advances can provide the capability f...

07/07/2025

Sinclair Names Narinder Sahai EVP and Chief Financial Officer

BALTIMORE Sinclair has named Narinder Sahai its executive vice president and chief financial officer, effective immediately....

07/07/2025

Riedel Communications Launches RefSuite Ecosystem for Spo...

Riedel Communications today announced the launch of RefSuite, a powerful new Managed Technology solution tailored to professional sports workflows. RefSuite com...

07/07/2025

Skandha Media Services expands MENA presence with new off...

Regional base will foster client engagement, partner collaboration, and executive touchpoints Skandha Media Services, a leading provider of cloud-native media ...

07/07/2025

ASG-Produced Video Wins Gold Telly Award

Advanced Systems Group, LLC (ASG), a technology and services provider for media creatives and content owners, announced its Against All Odds - ASG Builds Cutti...

07/07/2025

Skandha Media Services announces collaboration with Warne...

Agreement secured on the strength of Skandha's proven track record in delivering reliable managed services across the full content life cycle for existing h...

07/07/2025

** MEDIA ALERT ** VIZ Media Ignites AX 2025 with Star-Studded Panels, Exclusive Reveals, and Immersive Experiences

** MEDIA ALERT ** VIZ Media Ignites AX 2025 with Star-Studded Panels, Exclus...

07/07/2025

The Long-Awaited Trailer is Here: Alice in Borderland' Season 3 Premieres September 25

Back to All News The Long-Awaited Trailer is Here: Alice in Borderland' Se...

07/07/2025

Anime for Every Fan: Fueling a New Era of Global Storytelling

Back to All News Anime for Every Fan: Fueling a New Era of Global Storytelling Entertainment 07 July 2025 GlobalUnited StatesJapan Link copied to clipboard...

07/07/2025

1-2 Punch: The Cloud, Generative AI, and the Future of Sports-Content Distribution

1-2 Punch: The Cloud, Generative AI, and the Future of Sports-Content Distributi...

07/07/2025

Formula E: Host Broadcaster Aurora on Launching New AR Graphics at the Jakarta E-Prix

Tests and decisions: Formula E host broadcaster Aurora on launching new AR graph...

07/07/2025

Formula E: Using New AR Graphics for Storytelling at the Formula E Penultimate, Final E-Prix of the Season

Building tension: Using new AR graphics for storytelling at the Formula E penult...

07/07/2025

SVG Rewind: Four NFL Clubs Bring Us on Set of Respective Media Day Shoots

SVG Rewind: Four NFL Clubs Bring Us on Set of Respective Media Day Shoots An in-depth conversation with 49ers Laura Johnson, Ravens Jay O'Brien, Las Vegas R...

07/07/2025

Cosm To Build Fifth Shared Reality Venue in Cleveland as Part of Bedrock's Rock Block' Development

Cosm To Build Fifth Shared Reality Venue in Cleveland as Part of Bedrock's ...