Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask His Majesty's Government, in the light of the trend of a decline in the number of broadcast television viewers, what assessment they have made of the future of the licence fee.

His Majesty’s Government believes that there are challenges regarding the sustainability of the current licence fee funding model, and is therefore conducting a review of it.

As the terms of reference for that review note, the broadcasting sector is evolving rapidly, and members of the public have much more choice about how, when, and where they access content. The review will look at the sustainability of the BBC’s current funding model, and assess how alternative models could help secure the corporation’s long-term sustainability amid an evolving media landscape, increased competition, and changing audience behaviour, while reducing the burden on licence fee-payers.