BBC Funding Debate Damaged By “Dissatisfied Audiences And Declining Viewing Share,” Says UK House Of Lords Report

deadline.com:

“Dissatisfied audiences and declining viewing share” could damage the legitimacy of the BBC funding debate, according to an influential UK House of Lords report, which urged the corporation to “seize the opportunity to generate momentum for change.”The long-awaited Licence to Change BBC Future Funding report was unveiled with the future of the 100-year-old funding model due to be debated this week, and the Lords said that debate is being undermined by the view from some parts of the country that the BBC is not for them.“The BBC cannot provide content that pleases everyone all the time,” said the House of Lords Communications and Digital Commitee’s Report, which nonetheless noted the BBC’s various diversity initiatives as a positive.“Yet we continue to hear that the BBC is not representing widely held perspectives in the UK, which often do not divide neatly along party political lines. “The legitimacy of a future funding model risks being undermined by dissatisfied audiences and declining viewing share.”The call came a few days after the BBC’s Annual Report, which contained alarming audience figures showing that average viewing to BBC TV fell by one hour per week last year and less than three-quarters of the UK population is now using the BBC, down by 3 percentage points.UK Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries ordered a review into the BBC’s licence fee model – for which the majority of British citizens pay an annual £159 ($188) levy – which could end with that model being replaced when it expires in 2027, although the collapse of Boris Johnson’s government has left the review up in the air.The Lords passionately urged the BBC to “use the debate on its future funding to embrace its challenges and seize the opportunity to