More than half of TV viewers don't think BBC is worth £159 licence fee

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An exclusive Sunday People poll shows that only 29% of voters think the Corporation gives value for money while 54% said it did not.

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Image: SIPA USA/PA Images)

More than half of TV viewers think the BBC is not worth the £159 a year the licence fee costs.

Six in ten back the Government’s threat to axe the telly tax in five years while 50% reckon the Beeb should fund itself through advertising and subscriptions.

An exclusive Sunday People poll by Redfield & Wilton Strategies shows that only 29% of voters think the Corporation gives value for money while 54% said it did not.

BBC boss Tim Davie said Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries’s decision to freeze the licence fee for the next two years means a £285million cut to programming.

He is now working out what will have to go, adding: “Everything is on the agenda.”

Labour said that could mean losing the screening of events such as the Commonwealth Games and the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations in June.

Shadow Culture Secretary Lucy Powell said: “That coverage is now under threat because of the Government’s ill-thought-out attack on BBC programming.”

Shadow Culture Secretary Lucy Powell
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Getty Images)

She accused Boris Johnson of launching a vendetta against the Beeb for reporting on his rule-busting No10 parties using Ms Dorries as his “human shield”.

And Ms Powell added: “Does she really want to be known as the Secretary of State for Repeats?”

A BBC spokesperson said: “We trust longstanding, independent research over the results of a snap poll.

“That shows the licence fee remains the preferred way of funding the BBC.”

Other findings in our survey show more than eight in ten are concerned about their ability to afford energy bills with prices set to rocket.

More than a third blame Brexit for gaps on supermarket shelves while a quarter say the pandemic is the cause.

Labour leader Keir Starmer emerges as the people’s choice for PM on 41%, nine points ahead of Boris Johnson.

Seven in ten voters think Prince Andrew should lose his Duke of York title over sex abuse allegations while 58% say police should not be asked to provide protection for Prince Harry when in Britain.