There is certainly an argument to be made for the UK to just let internationals access the BBC content for free, since, one, they get significantly less per vie

There is certainly an argument to be made for the UK to just let internationals access the BBC content for free, since, one, they get significantly less per view outside of the UK for it (relative to the taxes per Brit that funds the BBC) and two, BBC content can drive demand for the rest of the British entertainment sector globally. There are plenty of films and third party studios operating in the UK, and they would probably appreciate more broad adoption of British media around the world.