BBC Licence Fee: That's what You get When you Deliberately Ignore Your Audience

 So Norris Doris has said the BBC will eventually lose their licence fee. Finally.

It's about time that they went the subscription route. I don't see why I have to pay for something I don't watch. I can't remember the last BBC program I watched regularly. A Question of Sport, but I only watched that occasionally and I've not bothered to watch the Paddy version. 

I only pay the licence fee because I have to to watch all the other terrestrial channels. But I'd quite gladly pay a retainer through taxation to pay for the terrestrial transmission network (an element of the licence fee pays for the transmission network for TV and Radio), but as for programming, let that be commercial or subscription.

And if BBC goes subscription, then boot them of Freeview. We'll have their digital bandwidth to watch something else.

I'd waste no sleep[ in losing the BBC. Despite their charter that insist s they provide programming for everyone, I don't know the last programme they made that was specifically for me: a white, aged Gammon.

Maybe the original Top Gear with Clarkson and co. But When they switched to Amazon to become Grand Tour, I stumped up the £80 a year for Prime to watch them and the other programmes and films on demand. I've loved every season of the Expanse and some of my favourite YouTubers were invited to provide content which I've watched. 

I'm pretty sure if the BBC went to subscription, I wouldn't subscribe. To be on Freeview I'm sure they can only go commercial and have adverts.

The Mrs pays for Netflix, so between the pair of us, we have two subscriptions with the choice of many hundreds of films and programmes on demand for about the same or less than the cost of the TV licence.

And that's the sort of cost that the BBC is up against. They need to deserve that £160 a year. What exactly do they give to me, a person that doesn't watch any of their programming? I mean the Mrs watched Holby, Casualty and Eastenders. But are they worth a £160 subscription fee?

With BBC output consistently pandering to a younger minority audience and completely ignoring non-senile oldies like me, why should I pay to view their content? If they ignore their charter responsibilities to provide programming to all including my demographic, I'm quite happy to say Feck 'em and their fee.

The BBC has one option. It has to reform and start to pander to the majority, not the minority. If it wants funding, then provide programming for it's biggest audience. It has to stop making the majority of it's programmes for a minority audience. That way lies ruin. But it's understandable that an organisation that is guaranteed a revenue stream no matter what spunks their budget on programmes the majority don't watch. 

But do understand the pushback when you do that. Don't feign ignorance or surprise, or go on the defensive and call your financiers names. That's the express route to insignificance and bankruptcy.