Jowell Announces New BBC License Fee

LONDON, January 18: Tessa
Jowell, the U.K.’s Secretary for Culture, Media and Sport, has announced that
the BBC’s license fee will increase from £131.50 to £135.50 on April 1, rising
gradually every two years to £151.50 in 2012.

Mark Thompson, the
director-general of the BBC, said of the new license fee structure: "It's
a disappointing settlement. It doesn't mean we can't carry on with our exciting
plans for the future, but it means we face some quite tough choices.”

Thompson continued,
"The BBC will receive over £20 billion over the next six years. The
challenge is how do we maintain and improve the quality of existing services
but also plan for the future… The case the BBC made clearly fell on deaf ears.
The economic background is very different from when we made the bid, but
without question we have not got what we asked for."

In unveiling the new fees,
Jowell said that the increase would allow the BBC to maintain its current
services and provide up to £1.2 billion for investing in new services. It would
also allow for the move of 1,500 jobs from London to Salford, Manchester.

Jowell went on to say that
the BBC would receive a 12.5 percent increasing in its borrowing capacity to
help fund the switchover to digital.