Guidance

BBC Funding Model Review: Terms of Reference

Updated 21 March 2024

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The BBC is a great national institution. Over the past 100 years it has touched the lives of almost everyone in the UK and has made a unique contribution to our cultural heritage. It is respected globally, and reaches hundreds of millions of people across the world every week. The government wants the BBC to continue to succeed as a public service broadcaster long into the future, providing high quality public service content on a universal basis. 

However, the government believes that there are challenges around the sustainability of the current licence fee funding model. The broadcasting sector is evolving rapidly, and the public has much more choice about how, when, and where they access content. For example, reach and viewing of broadcast TV fell significantly in 2022, with weekly reach falling from 83% in 2021 to 79% in 2022, the largest ever annual drop. We are seeing an increasing number of households choosing not to hold a TV licence, with uptake of TV licences falling by around 1.7 million from its peak of nearly 26 million in 2017/18. The link between licensable activities (i.e. watching live TV and iPlayer) and the services the BBC provides in delivering its mission and public purposes has also weakened as the BBC becomes more digitally focused. The government also sees enforcement by criminal sanctions under the current licence fee model as increasingly disproportionate in a modern public service broadcasting system.

The government wants the BBC to be supported by a funding model that is sustainable in the age of digital and on-demand media. We are committed to maintaining the licence fee over the current Charter period, which ends on 31 December 2027, but want to assess alternative models ahead of the next Charter period. The findings of this assessment will support the government to make an informed choice on whether to pursue and consult on potential alternative funding models at Charter Review. 

Against this background, the review will explore:

  1. The context of a rapidly-changing broadcasting and media market.

  2. The sustainability of the BBC’s current funding model.

  3. Whether the BBC should provide more services to audiences on a fully commercial basis, and what those services could be.

  4. The potential for the BBC to generate more commercial revenue.

  5. The evidence around other funding models to support BBC services and output.

  6. How the BBC could transition to any new funding model.

When considering these topics, the review will also explore how they apply to the funding arrangements of the BBC World Service and minority language broadcasting in the UK.

Review format

The review will be led by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), with close engagement with other Whitehall departments and the devolved administrations as appropriate. The review will take evidence from relevant stakeholders. DCMS will assemble a panel of experts to support the review.

The review will aim to report to the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport by Autumn 2024 and the government will update Parliament on its findings in due course. The findings will inform Charter Review, which is where any final decisions on changing the BBC’s funding model will be made by the government consistent with the process for Charter Review set out in the current Charter. We will not be running a public consultation as part of this review, as a formal public consultation will be launched as part of Charter Review itself.

Expert Panel 

The purpose of the Expert Panel is to provide independent expertise and advice to the review. Membership of the expert panel is voluntary and by invitation from the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport. Members were selected based on their experience of the UK’s media industry and represent a broad range of views and interests, including on issues such as international relations and young audiences. 

The members of the Expert Panel are:

  • Martin Ivens
  • Sir Peter Bazalgette 
  • Siobhan Kenny MBE
  • Dame Frances Cairncross DBE
  • David Elstein
  • Oli Hyatt 
  • Helen Bower Easton CBE
  • Amber de Botton
  • Lorna Tilbian

BBC Funding Model Review: Terms of Reference - Expert Panel

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