It’s been a while since I noticed the magic 3bn in the news, and had thought sense had prevailed so it’s a bittersweet sensation to notice that it is BBQ that has caused it to rear its ugly head again. No doubt to celebrate the summertime roster of whey faced and shiny voiced underlings that are reporting the ‘news’ at the moment – but I digress.<\/p>\n
The BBC today revealed that licence fee income has topped \u00a33bn for the first time, as the board of governors unveiled its final annual report before being replaced by the BBC Trust.<\/p>\n
The corporation’s annual report for the 12 months to March 31 2006 revealed that licence fee revenue for the period was \u00a33.101bn – up \u00a3160m year on year.<\/p>\n
The rise was attributed in part to the fact that the cost of collection and evasion was at its lowest level since the BBC took over direct responsibility – at 9.6% of income. Another factor was the \u00a3185m cash – a 28% increase – returned to the BBC by the corporation’s commercial arm, BBC Worldwide. […]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n