BBC scraps license fee for King Charles III coronation amid calls to end TV tax

Venues and events will be able to stream King Charles III's coronation ceremony on May 6 and the coronation concert on May 7 from the BCC without having to pay for a licence.

The network announced a special one-off TV licence dispensation given the coronation is of "national importance." This means the public should be able to watch the ceremony at Westminster Abbey for free in specific venues or community gatherings hosting the event.

These venues include churches, concert halls, cinemas, town halls, performing arts venues, and more. The license suspension also applies to outdoor venues which have the facilities to screen the ceremony.

The BBC normally charges £159 yearly for a colour TV licence and £53.50 for a black and white one. The licence fee was also scrapped for Queen Elizabeth II's Platinum Jubilee in June 2022.

The broadcaster makes the decision on whether an event is of national importance on a case-by-case basis, taking into consideration if it is of public interest, if it is constitutional in nature, on a bank holiday, or if the public will likely want to watch it in a community setting where TVs may not normally be used such as a street party.

Despite BBC scrapping the licence fee, viewers are still not happy as they want the suspension made permanent amid the cost of living crisis in the U.K. Joe Ventre, digital campaign manager at the TaxPayers' Alliance said according to MSN, "It's time for the BBC to catch up with the times and axe the archaic TV tax once and for all."

Rebecca Ryan, Campaign Director of Defund the BBC, chimed in and called it "great" that the BBC is suspending the licence fee for King Charles III's coronation. But she calls for the move to be "permanent" saying, "As a special gift to the British people, in honour of His Majesty, the BBC should declare an amnesty to all the elderly being bullied by the broadcaster on their doorsteps, to all the single mums being dragged through court, and all the just-about-managings being wrung out during this cost of living crisis."

"Let's have full transparency over what content does and doesn't require a licence and let's stop the coercive letters and visits once and for all. Now that'd be a real gift!"

Politico campaigner and charity manager Rita Chadha calls for free energy instead tweeting, "That's the best we can do, better use of public subsidy would be free energy for the 4 days."

Another netizen wrote on Twitter, "It's about time we ditched the licence and the BBC stood on its own feet" and a third said, "About time to get rid of it once and for all."

King Charles III will be crowned by the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby in front of 2,000 guests. His wife, Queen Consort Camilla, will also be anointed on the same day. Buckingham Palace has yet to reveal further details about the ceremony including the guest list although working members of the royal family members are expected to attend the ceremony.

King Charles III decided on a scaled-down event given the cost of living crisis in the U.K. His coronation will only have 2,000 guests compared to Queen Elizabeth II's coronation which had 8,000. But it will still be costly, with an estimated budget of around £100 million for expenses on security, decorations for Westminster Abbey, and other ceremonial necessities, according to The Sun.

Naturally, the taxpayers will pick up the tab and this has already caused some pushback from the public who are more concerned with what to feed their family than the pomp and pageantry involved with the ceremony. But worldwide TV rights will reportedly more than cover the cost and the event will be a huge tourism boost, with hotels already booked for the coronation weekend.