The BBC licence fee is set to increase by more than £10 next year – but bosses had hoped for a hike of closer to £15.
The annual levy currently costs £159, and that figure will rise by 6.7 percent in line with the rate of inflation in September – after the Government negotiated with bosses at the Beeb. It comes as Rishi Sunak told MPs in the House fo Commons that the broadcaster must be “realistic” – as Brits continue to suffer the consequences of the cost of living crisis.
Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer previously urged the BBC: “It’s really important that when things are difficult everyone is doing what they can to ease the cost of living on families.”
It comes as 500,000 fewer Brits are paying the fee at all – while its funding was also decreased in the last year. Meanwhile the BBC continues to struggle against streaming giants like Disney+, Netflix and Amazon.
