THE BBC'S HANDBOOK for 1957 shows that the cost of
producing television programmes is mounting almost as alarmingly as the number of viewers watching them is falling. it is futile to pretend that the problem can be solved by larger licence fees : however ill-founded the campaign against that would be, it would certainly be formidable, particularly if two-thirds and more viewers continue to prefer commercial television to the BBC. The only way out, it seems to me, is some pay-as-you- view system; and I have never been able to understand why it has not been given more thought over here. The latest develop- ment along this line in America, I see, is called subscription television; it appears to be quite a simple way by which the viewer can pay for the programme he wants, and stop paying for the programmes he doesn't want. The great mass of tele- vision addicts may want their viewing merely as a dope; but is that any reason why those who want quality programmes and are prepared to pay for them, should not be allowed to do so? This would seem to me to offer the BBC a magnificent oppor- tunity to capture audiences without relying on licence fees. It seems practicable, at least to my non-technical mind. Has the BBC considered it?
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