Majority of BBC viewers want fees changed

LONDON, July 21 (UPI) -- Two thirds of viewers believe the BBC television license fee is no longer the best funding source for the British government broadcaster, a survey said.

Tessa Jowell, the Culture Secretary, commissioned the survey of 5,500 viewers, including international viewers, in the broadcaster's most comprehensive review of public perception to date as BBC prepares to renew its Royal Charter in 2006, the Times of London reported Wednesday.

Of those viewers criticizing the license fee, some thought the BBC's funding should include advertising and other revenue sources.

The survey also found viewers were satisfied with the BBC 75 percent of the time.

The BBC was personified as "a man in his 50s, suited, comfortably off, conventional, conservative and reserved, who appeared friendly but was powerful and sometimes domineering," the survey report said.