Bernard Ponsonby: licence fee is a tax on watching television
Bernard Ponsonby and Peter Martin discuss the BBC, from bias in the independence referendum to spending and Gary Lineker's salary on Match of the Day.
By PLZ Soccer,
Bernard Ponsonby has taken aim at the way the BBC is funded. Speaking to Peter Martin on Straight Talk, he said: "The licence fee is a tax on watching television."
The conversation, first published in June 2026, opened by asking whether the BBC can still be regarded as "the flagship of integrity". From there it moved through some of the most sensitive ground in Scottish broadcasting, before turning to how the corporation spends its money.
Salmond, Robinson and the referendum
Ponsonby and Martin discussed Alex Salmond, Nick Robinson and the question of bias in coverage of the independence referendum. They also covered a senior ITN journalist who drew a comparison with Northern Ireland, and the issue of loose language.
The pressure of going live
Live broadcasting also came up in the conversation, with the point made that "It's no easy".
Spending and Match of the Day
The final part of the discussion set BBC spending against the commercial sector. It included the line "a dressing room with my name on it", before turning to Gary Lineker and salaries on Match of the Day.
Football is part of that argument. Match of the Day is one of the BBC's best-known programmes, and the pay of its presenters has become part of the wider debate over what licence fee payers fund.
PLZ Soccer is asking viewers whether the licence fee should go.