00:00Fewer TV licences are now in force across the UK, with the total dropping by more than half a million
00:07in a year.
00:08For households across the North East, the annual charge of £180 sits alongside other bills,
00:16while streaming and on-demand services give viewers far more choice than ever before.
00:22But of course, there's no doubt about the fact that it's a huge corporation, employs many thousands of people.
00:28It really is feeling the pressure of not having enough finance to do what it does.
00:33There is cost-cutting going on.
00:35And of course, it's its main source of revenue, apart from selling programmes overseas, is the licence fee in this
00:41country.
00:41But of course, the licence fee is to avail of the services of the BBC.
00:46What is the choice? That the BBC becomes privatised and of course it lives on its wits like everyone else.
00:50The licence fee helps fund local and national services.
00:54In the North East, that includes Luck North, BBC Radio Newcastle and local online news,
01:02alongside national television, radio, iPlayer and Sounds.
01:07BBC services still reach more than 9 in 10 UK adults each month,
01:12but traditional broadcast television continues to lose viewers as on-demand viewing grows.
01:17A licence is still required for live television and any service and for BBC iPlayer.
01:25It's not needed for non-live, on-demand services such as Netflix or Disney+,
01:31if no live television or iPlayer is watched.
01:35The falling licence total has intensified debate over whether the funding model reflects changing habits
01:42and offers value for money.
01:44So the difficulty that I think a lot of people will have with this,
01:48you're expected to pay a licence for something you may never use.
01:51So in the sense that I think a lot of people would have big problems,
01:54even I think the sort of use of the BBC,
01:57that they're being forced to pay for something that they don't avail of.
02:01So it's really, really difficult.
02:03You know, I suspect that this is kite flying to a certain extent,
02:06and surely in the technological age in which we live,
02:10it must be possible to sort of use a sort of electronic form of surveillance,
02:14which of course knows that you've paid your fee,
02:16so you can only sort of access the services if you've got the sort of the valid licence.
02:23There are still around 23.3 million TV licences in force across the UK,
02:29so the system continues to fund services used by millions of people.
02:34But the way BBC is funded is under growing scrutiny as viewing havocs change.
02:41The current Royal Charter expires at the end of December 2027,
02:46with a new charter expected from January 2028.
02:50That review will help shape the BBC's future,
02:53including how its services are funding and what audiences receive in return.
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