• by Ray Schultz , 11 hours ago

The BBC may institute a paywall targeting U.S. consumers. 

Facing declining license fee income and streamer competition at home, BBC is looking to the American market to shore up its revenue, The Guardian reports. 

This could take the form of donation requests, basic free services and premium charges for some content, or an out-and-out paywall for everything.  

The number of people paying the BBC’s license fee fell by 500,000 last year as people moved to Netflix and YouTube, The Guardian adds.

Finding a solution will not be easy. The BBC recently backed off a plan to put ads in some of the podcasts in its BBC Sounds channel, according to the BBC. This was due to pressure from competitive podcast outlets, the BBC said. 

A paywall announcement could face significant backlash from readers who fear a decline in quality.  

Earlier this year, BBC appointed six regional directors to head operations and editorial in regions outside the UK starting this year. The regions include, Africa, the Americas, Asia Pacific, Central and South Asia, Europe and the Middle East and North Africa.

Overall BBC revenue fell by 12% last year, although it has been on an upward track over five years, according to The Guardian.