Let’s not be coy, the demise of the Conservative government in the UK was a relief to the BBC. The relationship between the two was tense, at best, wilfully frictional at worst. The next Charter review begins this year, and the BBC will feel more relaxed about preserving the universal licence fee intact with a […]

Japan’s NHK public broadcaster is in trouble for the third year running suffering from a shortfall in licence fee payments. NHK’s 2025 fiscal year will post a deficit of some 40 billion Yen (€245m) according to The Japan Times. While this is a major shortfall, the sum is an improvement on the 2024 position which […]

The International Development Committee of the UK House of Commons has launched a new inquiry on the future funding of the BBC World Service. BBC World Service provides news to radio, TV and digital audiences around the world in 42 languages including English, reaching a global audience of 318 million people. It is chiefly funded […]

Research reveals that S4C’s economic contribution has resulted in 1,900 jobs and generated £136 million (€159m) for the Welsh economy. The research was carried out by Wavehill for the public broadcaster, to measure S4C’s economic and social impact on Wales and beyond for the 2022-23 financial year. The report shows that S4C, which broadcasts over […]

In a speech on the BBC’s future at the Royal Television Society, BBC Director General Tim Davie said the broadcaster has a central role in ensuring the UK retains a healthy democracy, a strong creative economy and a more cohesive society. Davie said the BBC had been reforming at pace to remain at the heart […]

South Africa’s public broadcaster SABC is out of cash, and the government has presented a new SABC Bill which proposes examining the existing licence fee, which is widely ignored. The new Bill aims to “regulate the continued existence of the SABC to provide public broadcasting services that contribute to democracy, development of society, gender equality, […]

A review into how the BBC should be funded in the future has been launched by Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer, as new action is taken to reduce the impact of price rises on licence fee payers. The review, supported by a panel of independent experts soon to be announced from across the broadcasting sector and […]

UK Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer has suggested that the government is to block an expected 9 per cent licence fee increase set out in a funding agreement struck by former Prime Minister Boris Johnson. The fee is supposed to rise in line with inflation from April 2024, and in the three years after that. Speaking […]

South Africa’s public broadcaster SABC is suffering a massive shortfall in funding because of unpaid TV licences. The country is looking at a new funding model for SABC. A question was raised in the South African parliament as to how much is owed to SABC. The country’s communications minister Mondli Gungubele responded saying that there […]

RTÉ, Ireland’s national broadcaster, has suspended its director general over secret payments of €345,000. The board suspended Dee Forbes after the payments to TV and radio presenter Ryan Tubridy, between 2017 and 2020, came to light in an internal audit. The board apologised for what it said was a betrayal of public trust. Catherine Martin, […]