BBC resorts to big budget promo after 540k stop paying licence fee | UK | News
BBC resorts to big-budget video to promote itself after 500,000 viewers stopped paying for TV license fee. In a three-minute advert, the broadcaster tries to tell Brits what the BBC has done for them.
Romesh Ranganathan is one of nearly 100 stars taking part in the new promotional campaign, which sees the comedian visit the sets of a number of BBC shows including The Traitors and EastEnders. Although the company put the series out to tender, Doctor Who is also included in the series.
At a time of fierce debate over the license fee and tight living costs, the broadcaster’s promotion asks viewers: “What has the BBC ever done for me?”
The question arises at a time when the BBC’s license fee income has fallen by more than £1bn in real terms over the last decade.
BBC reveals TV license numbers in 2026 annual report fell by more than half a million In the 2025/26 financial year.
Chairman Samir Shah said in a statement on Wednesday (July 15) that the company’s financing model means it cannot continue its public service mission.
New Director-General Matt Brittin has previously described the license fee model as a “broken flush” that is “no longer fit for purpose”.
In the new promo, Ranganathan counters critics of the BBC and reads figures that say the money paid to the broadcaster contributes more than £6.5bn to the economy.
The video begins with Ranganathan in EastEnders’ Queen Vic bar asking “Is the BBC really worth it?” It begins with him reading the front page of a newspaper that asks:
A man can be seen playing the piano with his back to the camera, before a line-up of stars including Claudia Winkleman appear, who is revealed to be Coldplay frontman Chris Martin.
The campaign also highlights how the BBC conveys Wimbledon’s “love of nature” through programs such as Springwatch and even eschews advertising.
When she was pushed onto a stage that turned out to be entirely a dance floor, she asked the audience one last time before judge Anton Du Beke emerged, “What have the BBC ever done for me?” he asks, and judge Anton Du Beke appears and holds a score paddle reading 10, but is told to “swam in.”
Inspired by a 1986 BBC campaign featuring John Cleese, the new film re-imagines the question for a generation 40 years later.
At the end of the ad, on-screen text reads: “There’s a BBC for each of us. Funded by all of us.”
The advert makes no mention of the huge salaries paid to the BBC’s top stars; former BBC Radio 2 presenter Scott Mills was paid between £745,000 and £749,999 for the year ending March 2026.
BBC political correspondent Laura Kuenssberg is the highest-paid female staff member, with salaries between £405,000 and £409,999, according to the broadcaster’s latest annual report.
In a statement released alongside the ad, Ranganathan said the BBC was not perfect but felt passionately that it should continue because it “added so much to our lives”.
In a blog post accompanying the campaign, Kerris Bright, the BBC’s Chief Customer Officer, wrote that the aim of the campaign was to “make sure the BBC is recognized for what it does, as well as for the fundamental impact it has on society.”
He added that the campaign comes at a “crucial time” before the Government begins the process of renewing the BBC’s Royal Charter and how the organization should be funded.
Last month the BBC announced savings plans across its news, country and content divisions that would deliver £160 million of the £500 million in savings needed by 2028/29.
