BBC TV licence sales down for first time in a decade as Beeb battered by Netflix and Amazon
THE BBC has seen a drop in TV Licence sales for the first time in a decade as the corporation is battered by competition from Netflix and Amazon.
Younger viewers have switched off and opted for streaming services instead - costing the Beeb millions.
Less than 26 million licences were purchased in 2018-19, down 37,000 on the previous year despite a growth in the population - costing the Beeb around £6 million.
Meanwhile, more than 1.8 million are believed to be evading the licence fee, at a cost of a further £270m.
Lord Hall of Birkenhead, the BBC director-general, said that changing audience habits were to blame for the steep decline.
While the BBC appears to flail, Netflix scooped 10 million UK subscribers and is investing $15billion in its content.
All of the BBC's major TV channels including BBC One, Two and Four saw a drop in audience figures over the same period.
Only BBC Parliament's numbers rose, which has been put down to an increased interest in Brexit.
The decline in licence sales suggests that the national broadcaster could struggle to maintain investment in its content.
The BBC announced an operating deficit of £52 million, compared with a £244 million surplus the year before.
This comes as the BBC was accused of covering up sky-high payments to its top stars.
It published the official salaries of those on more than £150,000 a year, but critics said the list ignores "secret" payments to stars made through commerical arm BBC Studios.
Yesterday’s list said Graham Norton got £610,000 for his Radio 2 show. In fact he is on more than £2million in total, with the cash for his chat show paid through a private production firm.
Strictly Come Dancing’s Claudia Winkleman was the second highest earning woman at £370,000 — but she again makes another £120,000 through BBC Studios.
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Also missing from the list are the Strictly judges. Each gets more than £150,000, with head judge Shirley Ballas on £250,000.
A saving grace for the nation's channel, it's BBC iPlayer, which has seen 3.6 billion programme requests - up 10 per cent compared to last year.
A BBC spokesperson said: "All broadcasters face challenges from global streaming giants, but with 91 per cent of UK adults using BBC services at least once a week, the BBC is more than holding its own.”
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