BBC loses license fee battle

December 27, 2006 Reps for the Treasury and Culture departments did not return calls, but a Treasury spokesman quoted on the BBC said: Pensioners couldn't pay any more than the (yearly) license fee of £131.50 ($257.25). Grade's departure followed 12 months of painful job cuts and organizational upheaval at the BBC under a strategic plan put together by Grade and Thompson to position the BBC as the leading British cross-platform broadcaster. News of a modest license-fee hike is expected to result in more redundancies, more repeats and cuts in program and channel budgets, according to BBC insiders, and leaves the plans for broadband expansion in question.

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