A three and half percent increase is proposed in the television licence fee whilst studies show that we are watching more television everyday.

The Administrative Council of the Finnish Broadcasting Company (YLE) has proposed a 3.5 percent increase in the television fee. The proposal would raise the fee for owning a television to just over 200 euros from the beginning of next year.

The increase is one percentage point more than the rise in the consumer price index.

YLE, Finland’s public service broadcaster, gets most of its revenue from television fees paid by television owners. Besides Finland, television licence fees are also reviewed annually in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Britain and Italy. Even so, if the proposed YLE increase is agreed, Finland’s television license fee will still remain just below the European average.

According to a study by the market research company Finnpanel, YLE remains the single most popular broadcaster, with a 43 percent share of the audience, followed by the private network MTV3, which accounts for 35 percent. Nelonen, or channel four, held on to its 12 percent audience.

Almost eight out of ten people watch TV on a daily basis. People watched television in Finland for an average of two hours and 47 minutes a day from April to May this year. They also found that viewing has increased by an average of three minutes per day.