Graham Norton has made his views on the fact the BBC could face huge cuts in funding pretty clear, putting forward a novel way to silence critics.
The presenter, whose BBC1 show is also hugely popular on BBC Worldwide, reckons that TV lovers who think the Beeb shouldn’t be protected from funding cuts would soon change their tune if they were forced to go without it.
Graham Norton
Speaking to The Telegraph, Graham explains his idea, stating: “I think they should switch off the BBC for two months.
“Just put £24 into everyone’s bank account, and switch the BBC off for two months, and people would s*** themselves.”
Graham adds that he’s already put the idea forward to bosses, revealing that the BBC have actually implemented a similar study.
“Of course I have [suggested it]! In a letter,” he says. “I’m not sure if I should tell you this, but the BBC did do a thing… they wanted to know what the public appetite was for the licence fee, so they did a deprivations test.
"They got a mixture of people – those who were happy paying the licence fee, those who didn’t want to pay it, those who thought it was too high. And they took their services away for two weeks. Just two weeks. No internet, no radio, no TV. And at the end of it, everyone was happy to pay for the licence fee.
“[The BBC] is one of those things people will not understand until it’s gone. And then they’ll be going 'oh, telly’s a bit s***. This is a weird period drama – there’s only two people in it and no cars’.”
The BBC is currently under threat, following proposals from Culture Secretary John Whittingdale.
Earlier this week, Whittingdale launched a consultation process, which will decide which of the corporation’s services should be cut.
It’s believed that Radio 1 and Radio 2 could both be in the firing line, but Labour's shadow culture secretary, Chris Bryant, hit back, stating that the BBC “is our cultural NHS”.