BBC TV licence would cost £400 if company worked like Netflix

In a new report, titled Value for Audiences, the public service broadcaster said an hour of programming costs a household 9p, while an hour of streaming is the equivalent of around 15p.

"Compared with the market, the BBC continues to be very good value for money," the report said.

"Each hour of BBC TV watched by a household costs it around 9p, on average.

BBC director-general Tim Davie claimed that while ‘each hour of BBC TV watched by a household costs it around 9p’

"For an equivalent subscription video-on-demand service that is around 15p, and for an equivalent pay TV service it starts at well over 50p per hour."

The report added: "Taken together, a bundle of subscriptions providing advertising-free, high-quality services comparable with those offered by the BBC across video, audio and news would cost over £400 per year in comparison to a current licence fee of £157.50."

The basic Netflix package, which covers just one screen, costs users £5.99 a month and £71.88 per year.

Not everyone agrees with the value of the BBC's licence fee.

Philip Davies, a former member of the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport select committee, said: "If the BBC is such wonderful value for money, why does it continue to insist on the criminal law being in place to force people to pay for it?

"If they really believed that, the BBC would be happy to join Netflix and move to a voluntary subscription.

"Their desperation to avoid a voluntary subscription is the only proof we need that the BBC don't really think they represent such wonderful value for money."

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The report also claims fewer BBC shows will be broadcast on rival streaming services services in the future, with popular shows such as Line of Duty and Peaky Blinders sometimes mistaken for being Netflix originals.

Instead, such programmes will be made exclusively available on BBC iPlayer or Britbox once their current contracts have expired.

Director General Tim Davie said: "The person who is waiting for that show to come to Netflix will be increasingly disappointed."

Netflix users pay £5.99/mth to use the service

Referring to the BBC as the "heart of UK life", the report adds: "The BBC provides a service of constant and deep value to people of the UK.

"The UK public chooses the BBC around 250 million times a day.

"Every single minute of the day and night, the BBC is being used by 5 million adults, on average, and by a total of 45 million across all ages over the 24 hours."

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