A plan by the BBC to cover the cost of providing digital TV access to disadvantaged groups such as the elderly and infirm with a hike in the country’s television license fee reportedly has nearly half of UK viewers opposed. (The BBC is funded through collection of an annual fee – currently £131.50 – charged to anyone owning a TV in the UK.) UK broadcasters are supposed to convert completely to digital signals by 2012, but the government wants the BBC to help cover the cost of switching viewers over to the new technology.