Channel 4 Calls For Slice Of BBC Licence Fee

Channel 4’s director of programming, Tim Gardam, has called on the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), to give the station a slice of the £2.5 billion the BBC makes from licence fee revenues.

According to The Guardian, Gardam told the Royal Institute for British Architects that he was not arguing for the instant abolition of the licence fee. However, he maintained that “its future has to be set in a broader context than just the BBC’s.”

Gardam, a former BBC executive, has argued that the Corporation should not be the sole provider of public service television. He recommends that the DCMS should consider allocating the funds for public service broadcasting to a variety of stations and services, along the lines of the national lottery. Gardam declared: “The BBC began as a monopoly, and for all its strengths still thinks as one.”

The government recently announced a review of the BBC’s controversial online services. The review will call to account the £100.4 million the Corporation spent on its websites between April 2001 and April 2002.

Channel Four: 020 7396 4444 www.channel4.com BBC: 020 8743 8000 www.bbc.co.uk

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