The BBC licence fee 'under scrutiny' next year - Culture secretary Jeremy Hunt stresses support for BBC but says changing viewing habits could make annual fee obsolete.
He told Media Guardian that the coalition is "committed to the principle that the BBC should have a ringfenced pot of money over a multi-year period" and stressed his support for the BBC and its independence.
However, he believes changing viewing habits, with an increasing number of people watching TV content online, will make the annual charge for television ownership obsolete sooner rather than later.
"We support the principle of the licence fee and always have done," says Hunt in his first interview since joining the cabinet. "But we also recognise, as technology changes, we may need to adapt the way it's collected. It is not going to be possible to have a tax every time anyone buys a computer."
It will be interesting to see what ideas surface as to how to fund the BBC as the number of TV receivers to viewers decline.
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