BBC floats extending licence fee to cover non-BBC streaming services

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The BBC says it is willing to reduce the licence fee cost if more people pay it. Roughly 94% of people use the broadcaster’s services each month, but fewer than 80% pay the £174.50 annual charge. The lost revenue is estimated to be more than £1bn a year. With its charter up for renewal soon, the BBC suggested that one way to get people to pay the licence fee is to make it mandatory for UK viewers of streaming services such as Netflix or Disney+. This idea, however hypothetical, is likely to go down badly. The average Brit has 2.8 subscriptions, costing £786 a year. Charging people extra to use services they have already paid for is a tough sell.