THE embattled BBC lost more than £1billion last year after a record number of families refused to pay the licence fee.
Some 3.6million households simply said they did not want to use the corporation’s services.
That is 300,000 more than the year before and cost the Beeb £617million.
A further 2.9million BBC viewers evaded paying the television tax, depriving the broadcaster of £550million.
The findings are published in a report by the Commons Public Accounts Committee.
It warns that despite enforcement visits to unlicensed properties increasing by 50 per cent last year, prosecutions actually fell by 17 per cent.
The BBC said “it has become harder to get people to answer their doors” to revenue officers.
Some £166million — 4.3 per cent of its entire income — was spent collecting the fee.
The BBC’s funding model is on the table in the upcoming Charter Review as it competes with streaming services.
But the report concluded only half of young people feel the BBC reflects them.
