Britain said on Monday it would look at the future of the universal licence fee that funds the BBC in light of new technology that had revolutionised the media landscape since the broadcaster was founded 100 years ago.
“It’s time to begin asking those really serious questions about the long-term funding model of the BBC,” Nadine Dorries told lawmakers.
“And whether a mandatory licence fee with criminal penalties for individual households is still appropriate.”
Dorris added that the BBC must be a simpler, leaner organisation.
Britain’s culture minister also said the government would freeze the BBC’s funding for the next two years, in what it said was a bid to protect the public’s finances.
Dorries said the licence fee, a tax on all television-owning households, would be frozen for two years and that it would rise in line with inflation for the four years after that.
