MPs Warn BBC Against Overpaying for Overseas Hits Like Suits and Schitt's Creek

The BBC is being urged by an influential cross-party group of MPs to stop paying inflated prices for the rights to popular overseas programmes, citing titles such as Suits, Schitt's Creek and Scooby Doo as examples of spending that does not represent good value for licence fee payers.

The recommendation forms part of a wide-ranging report on the corporation's funding and long-term future, produced by the House of Commons culture, media and sport committee. While the BBC commissions and produces a substantial share of its own output, it also acquires international series to fill its television schedules and stock its iPlayer streaming service.

The MPs argued that the corporation should "spend more wisely when competing for programming" and criticised what they described as "illogical practices such as outbidding commercial rivals for overseas hits". In their view, paying over the odds for foreign content is difficult to justify at a time when the BBC's finances are under strain.

Dame Caroline Dinenage, who chairs the committee, framed the report as arriving at "a pivotal moment for the BBC". She pointed to shifting viewing habits, falling income and ongoing negotiations with the government over the licence fee as pressures that make reform urgent.

She stressed that ministers "must ensure the BBC has a universal and sustainable source of funding", but added that the corporation also has a responsibility to act sensibly with public money. In her words, the BBC should be "sweating its assets" and "boxing clever for the licence payer", rather than entering bidding wars against commercial UK broadcasters for programming made elsewhere.

The report singled out Suits, Schitt's Creek and Scooby Doo as examples. The rights to all three were picked up by the BBC only after contracts with other networks or streaming platforms had lapsed, meaning the corporation was effectively competing for content that had already proved its popularity elsewhere.

Suits, a legal drama, has drawn fresh attention in recent years partly because of the profile of one of its former stars, Meghan Markle, now the Duchess of Sussex. Schitt's Creek, a Canadian comedy, was acquired by the BBC after it left Netflix, while the long-running animated series Scooby Doo has been a fixture on British screens for decades.

The committee said that, given "constrained resources", the BBC "should not be paying over the odds for overseas content". It concluded that such deals "did not provide value for money for the licence fee payer", a sensitive argument given that households fund the corporation directly.

The BBC pushed back on the criticism, pointing out that acquired programming accounts for less than 5% of its content budget — a smaller proportion than at other broadcasters. The corporation argued that buying in established hits is a cost-effective way of attracting audiences, some of whom then go on to discover homegrown programmes they might otherwise never have tried.

The report acknowledged that the BBC delivers "immeasurable benefits" to society, but warned that without reform the broadcaster risks a future of "managed decline". It described the current television licence fee as "outdated and no longer fit for purpose".

One key issue the MPs identified is the gap between how many people use the BBC and how many pay for it. Around 94% of individuals use BBC services in a typical month, yet only about 80% of households hold a TV licence — a discrepancy that undermines the funding base.

The committee therefore recommended decoupling the licence fee from the consumption of live television or from ownership of a particular device such as a set. It suggested that expanding the contributor base while reducing the cost per household could make the change easier for the public to accept.

That position chimes with comments from BBC director-general Matt Brittin, who has previously called the existing model "a busted flush" and "yesterday's model". He has indicated that the price could fall if more people contributed under a redesigned system.

The report also called on the BBC to explore an international television licence as a way of growing revenue and global reach, and to work more closely with independent production companies that hold the rights to many of its programmes so that more titles remain available on iPlayer.

On premises and technology, the MPs urged the corporation to develop its sites with facilities capable of "harnessing the potential of new media and supporting the creator economy". They also suggested that the government should legislate to place a BBC button on smart TV remote controls and press YouTube to give greater prominence to content from the BBC and other British public service broadcasters.

The committee additionally backed reopening iPlayer to shows from rival public service broadcasters such as Channel 4, a move that Channel 4 chief executive Priya Dogra said earlier this week she would be open to.

Other recommendations included restoring full government funding for the BBC World Service, which the MPs described as "the UK's number one soft power asset", ending political appointments to the BBC board to bolster public trust, and giving the corporation new public purposes covering innovation and technology as well as the fight against misinformation and disinformation. The BBC welcomed the report as containing "some important and interesting recommendations", and reiterated its longstanding argument that the current funding model is outdated and in need of reform.