The number of households paying the BBC licence fee has dropped by 539,000 over the past year, according to the corporation’s newly published annual report, bringing the total down to 23.3 million, the lowest level since 1999.
It marks the biggest yearly fall since the pandemic, when the BBC lost 738,000 payers.
The decline follows a difficult year for the broadcaster, which saw a Panorama documentary criticised for editing footage of Donald Trump in a way that suggested he had encouraged the storming of the Capitol building in 2021. The edit has led to a $10 billion lawsuit against the BBC.
The corporation also faced criticism after an internal review found that the documentary “Gaza: How To Survive A Warzone” breached editorial guidelines by not disclosing that its child narrator’s father held a role in the Hamas run government.
The controversies contributed to the resignations of former Director-General Tim Davie and BBC News chief executive Deborah Turness.
Revenue Still Rises
Despite fewer people paying the fee, the BBC’s income from it actually increased slightly to £3.88 billion, up £36 million on the previous year, thanks to the licence fee rising to £180 per household. However, the corporation says this is still not enough to fund its services properly.
New Director-General Matt Brittin said the falling number of payers was adding to the financial pressure facing the BBC.
Presenter Pay Published
The report also revealed how much the BBC’s top presenters are paid. Former Radio 2 host Scott Mills was the highest earner, on between £745,000 and £749,999, before he was dismissed in April over conduct allegations.
Radio 1’s Greg James and Radio Ulster’s Stephen Nolan were the next highest paid, while Laura Kuenssberg remains the BBC’s highest paid journalist, earning up to £409,999.
Public Trust Falls
The report also shows a fall in the number of people who believe the BBC is impartial, with weekly usage of BBC News among adults dropping from 74 percent to 72 percent.
BBC chairman Samir Shah said the past year’s problems had affected public confidence in the broadcaster’s journalism, but said reforms had been put in place to deal with editorial issues more quickly and openly in future.
