Comic Romesh Ranganathan was paid to front the BBC's 'shameless' licence fee advert

By CODIE BULLEN SENIOR SHOWBUSINESS REPORTER Published: 00:01, 21 July 2026 | Updated: 01:39, 21 July 2026 Romesh Ranganathan was paid to front the 'shameless' BBC licence–fee advert, the Daily Mail can reveal. Airing for the first time during the World Cup Final, the four–minute advertisement campaigns for the £180–a–year bill and begs viewers to pay it. Amid criticism over its content and timing, comedian Ranganathan, 48, said he felt 'honoured to be asked to front it' days after it was revealed the corporation lost half a million licence fee payers in a year of scandals. However, it can be revealed Ranganathan was paid to participate in the ad, titled What Has The BBC Ever Done For Me?, but the corporation has refused to clarify how much he was paid. A spokesman said: 'Romesh was paid for his involvement in the film, due to the significant time commitment required during filming. 'Creative development was done in–house, and the majority of people gave their time for free. 'Like other broadcasters, we promote our services creatively to ensure audiences across the UK can get best value from the BBC.' The ad aired for the first time during Sunday's final, and featured almost 100 famous faces, including Coldplay frontman Chris Martin, Claudia Winkleman, Alan Carr, Louis Theroux and Strictly Come Dancing stars. Romesh Ranganathan was one of nearly 100 stars taking part in a new campaign to promote the BBC The BBC campaign ends with the comic on Strictly Come Dancing, surrounded by dancers As Ranganathan travels through a string of the best–known BBC programmes, sets and studios, he encounters familiar faces who each help him answer the question in their own way. Later, Theroux appears beside a giant lever and warns: 'None of this exists if we don't want it to,' before Ranganathan is handed figures claiming the BBC generates more than £6.5billion for the economy. However, viewers felt bombarded during the game with on–screen QR codes and reminders to pay the charge alongside the ad. One viewer said: 'Didn't think I would get threatened by Romesh and Louis Theroux to pay my TV licence – all I wanted was to watch a game of football.' Another wrote on social media: 'This desperate BBC ad is beyond nauseating'. A third added: 'What did I just witness? BBC spending our money to tell us they're wonderful and we're ungrateful?' Another viewer called it 'shameless self–promotion?' Weakest Link host Ranganathan also wrote an article for the corporation's website entitled: Why I had to make the case for our BBC. 'I strongly, strongly believe that the BBC should exist. 'It's not without its flaws, and there have definitely been times and issues where I wished it could have dealt with things differently – but it adds so much to our lives, and I'm really proud of it,' he wrote.  It comes as former Question Time presenter David Dimbleby branded the BBC's decision to cut 550 jobs a 'very bad call'. Dimbleby, 87, said: 'Why on earth have they done that? The best analysis of politics, both national and international... I'm appalled.'