Report: BBC faced with $1.01 billion bill as U.K. government shifts welfare costs

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http://www.bostonherald.com/business/media_marketing/2015/07/report_bbc_faced_with_101_billion_bill_as_uk_government_shifts

Report: BBC faced with $1.01 billion bill as U.K. government shifts welfare costs
Sunday, July 5, 2015
Leo Barraclough

The BBC is facing the prospect of absorbing £650 million ($1.01 billion) in lost income as the U.K. government seeks to make the broadcaster pay for television licenses for the elderly.

At present, the Department for Work and Pensions picks up the bill for the 4.5 million TV licenses, which cost £145.50 ($227) per household, for those over the age of 75. According to the Sunday Times, George Osborne, the U.K. government's chancellor of the exchequer, is seeking to shift that bill onto the BBC's books.

In return, the BBC will be allowed to charge for its video-on-demand service, the iPlayer, which stores BBC content and is currently free of charge. Many people are avoiding the license fee, which is compulsory, by watching TV on tablets and other mobile devises rather than on TV sets. Charging for its streaming services would bring in additional revenue totaling around £150 million ($234 million).

The BBC receives £3.7 billion ($5.76 billion) in revenue from the license fee, and the lost revenue from the Department for Work and Pensions would represent a fifth of that total.