Following a week that saw the BBC announce it was cutting more than 1,000 jobs due to a shortfall of $233 million in revenue from its license fee, with an unexpected rise in households claiming they do not watch live TV, the U.K. public broadcaster has come under renewed fire from the new Conservative government. On Monday, it was confirmed that the BBC would lose $1.01 billion in funding when a new U.K. budget is announced on Wednesday. George Osborne who is chancellor, the U.K. equivalent of a finance minister, will shift the financial responsibility of the 4.5 million free TV licenses for those over the age 75 – currently covered by Britain’s Department for Work and Pensions – to the broadcaster. The figure represents a fifth of the total $5.76 billion the BBC receives annually from license fees.
