Record 3.5million Brits cancel BBC’s licence fee in favour of streaming sites Netflix and Amazon Prime
MPs called for the Beeb's 'out of date' £147 annual licence fee to be dropped
ALMOST 3.5million Brits have cancelled their TV licence fee in the last four years — a rate of almost one million a year.
Many are snubbing the BBC in favour of streaming sites such as Netflix, statistics reveal
MPs have called for the £147 annual licence fee to be dropped, a move supported in a poll by 29 per cent.
Figures obtained under Freedom of Information rules show 788,605 people cancelled in 2017.
In the preceding years it was 817,509, 875,169, and 945,751.
Tory David Davies said: “These reflect that millions of people feel that the BBC no longer reflects their outlook on life.
“If the BBC don’t start representing the large slice of the populace, who support Brexit and worry about immigration, then we will end up having to move towards a subscription service.”
Fellow Tory Jacob Rees-Mogg said the licence fee “model” was “out of date”. He added: “The BBC will have to scrap this in favour of a more modern approach — be that with advertising, a subscription model.”
The licence fee increased by £1.50 in April — the first rise on the annual payment since 2010.
Last year a survey found 29% of people thought the fee should be scrapped.
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The figures do not include those who turned 75 and were eligible for a free licence.
Those who have failed to pay and those who no longer need to are part of the 3.5million.
A BBC and TV Licensing spokesman said: “There are more licences in force than ever before – 25.8 million – while the number of cancellations has declined by 17% since 2013/14.”