'BBC should charge online'
September 3, 2009
Following up James Murdoch's contention that the BBC's ubiquity online will threaten the pluralism of available news, Five CEO Dawn Airey has said the BBC should charge viewers for iPlayer and other online content otherwise commercial rivals will be crippled.
Airey said, "perhaps the BBC should go back to having a couple of big broadcast channels, a couple of radio stations with a clearly defined remit and a reduced licence fee to support that. And all the other things that it may do are still there but you have to pay for them. It allows other players to come into the market. This is one of a number of options."
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