The BBC licence fee should be scrapped and replaced with an optional subscription service, a thinktank report has concluded.

‘Global Player or Subsidy Junkie?’, published by the Adam Smith Institute – looks at the viability of the licence fee in the future,  and advises that the mandatory £145 yearly fee be replaced with a subscription service.

According to the report, the licence fee “criminalises poor people”, “forces people to pay for genuinely ‘free’ services funded by advertising” and “obliges the BBC to replicate a crude commercial model
based on mass-audience advertising”.

Furthermore, it states that hostility from competitors is “justified”, suggesting that the BBC should “no longer be allowed to exploit the benefits of public subsidy”.

The report was written by David Graham, an ex-BBC producer and sits on the board of media consultancy Attentional.

Read the full report, ‘Global Player or Subsidy Junkie’ here.