This attack on the BBC will come back to bite the government –​ and by then it may be too late

The licence fee review obsession could very easily rebound on the Conservatives, and make people very angry in the process

A few years ago, when there was one of those periodic fusses about how much the BBC was paying for Formula One, I found myself in conversation with a senior BBC editor.

“The thing people forget,” he said. “Is that there are a lot of people who only watch the BBC for Formula One and we have to think about them too.”

He went on to suggest that in terms of bang for the Beeb’s buck, motor racing could, at the time, have been said to offer better value than Radio 4

Just imagine the squealing if someone dared to suggest the latter should go the same way as Lewis Hamilton and friends.

That’s where it gets interesting when it comes to the Beeb, because if do you do move to a subscription model by making the licence fee voluntary, it becomes all about bangs and bucks.

You could create regulators in an attempt to tell bosses what to do. Maybe you could retain a BBC social tariff so people who might otherwise struggle to afford the subs would be able to escape into Strictly for an hour or so.

But outside of that, a more commercial model means more commercial imperatives.

I’m just spit ballin’ here but what if some parts of Auntie’s output (and I’m thinking of the radio stations) had to start accepting adverts?

Imagine the reaction of people who listen the likes of In Our Time or Today to having their listening pleasure interrupted by ads for soap powder or travel insurance. Perhaps the Beeb could put together a reality show featuring some of their choicer reactions. That’d be fun to watch: “Oh darling, do you think spitting out your cornflakes when Nick Robinson is interrupted by a commercial break is a terribly good example to set for the children?”

Change to the BBC’s funding is inevitably going to make people unhappy, especially because ads might be just the start of it. There are also going to be cuts and it tends to make people very unhappy when they’re told they’re going to lose things they like and value without good reason.

Recall the fuss over the red button text service, which Auntie had planned to phase out until a storm of protest forced it into a rethink. A fresh decision is expected in the Spring.

Under a different model, it might already be gone.

I’m not one of those progressive commentators who suddenly forget what progressive means when it comes to their defence of a licence fee that could just as easily be described as a poll tax (but isn’t it a rich irony that the Tories and their friends are making the same comparison and moaning about how unfair it is?).

Netflix, but also YouTube, which has plunged a knife into the heart of the BBC’s children’s programming, do raise questions about the corporation’s funding model that even a party less motivated by spite, and a less hidebound organisation, would between them eventually have to find answers for.

But therein lies the rub. Almost any answer you might care to dream up comes up with a battery of unintended and unpalatable consequences.

The government's licence fee review might very well end up making people who mightn’t even realise how much they value what the BBC does (including lots of Tories, and even more Tory voters) very angry.

Responding to the frankly ludicrous claims that it could end up going the way of Blockbuster, the video rental chain that’s now a museum somewhere, the corporation issued an unusually feisty response.

“The BBC tried to set up a Netflix service a decade ago while they were still sending DVDs in the post, but was prevented from doing so by regulators.

“There is a danger that politicians catastrophise the situation. The BBC is the most-used media organisation in the UK. It reaches the most people. It's used for the most time. You wouldn’t think that from some of the things being said today.”

This latest Conservative obsession could very easily rebound on the party.

As someone who barely uses the BBC outside of my job, I’d definitely pony up a sub to watch that.