Tony Hall, director-general of the BBC, said the white paper “delivers a mandate for the strong, creative BBC the public believe in”.
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This is likely to include some of the biggest names on television, including Top Gear host Evans, Match Of The Day presenter Lineker and chat show host Norton. Whittingdale also hinted on BBC content becoming “portable” so licence fee payers can see BBC content overseas.
The changes to the key wording of the mission statement was one of a raft of proposals put forward by culture secretary John Whittingdale in the White Paper on the future of the BBC.
BBC talent on annual compensation of more than £450,000 will have their salaries published.
Senior peers including Lord Lester have warned that a protest march by the public may ensue should the Government be “stupid” in deciding the future of the BBC.
Mr Whittingdale is expected to set out a tougher new regime as part of a proposed deal to grant a new royal charter to safeguard the service for another 11 years. The old BBC Trust will be abolished and replaced with a new board that is partly government-appointed.
BBC director general Tony Hall said he welcomed numerous proposals but said that the Corporation had an issue over the involvement of the National Audit Office and over proposals on the way the new unitary board was appointed.
Wilson, the former star of BBC1’s One Foot in the Grave, said: “I hope the government will be forced into one of their many U-turns – they are very good at them these days”.
“Our reforms give the BBC much greater independence from government in editorial matters, in its governance, in setting budgets and through a longer charter period”.
“My red line is independence”, he told The Guardian.
This is partly blamed on those viewers who’d used a loophole to watch programmes on the online catch-up service without having to first prove they’d paid their TV license in full.
“It has levels of public approval that any politician would die for, and it is the linchpin of a unique ecology of broadcasting in this country, which enables the creative industries in Britain to grow at twice the level of the rest of the economy, exporting more content and employing more people than its size would suggest possible”.
The BBC charter will be extended to 11 years so that it is independent of any political cycle, and there will be a mid-term “health check” to ensure things are functioning as they should be.
Mr Whittingdale replied: “I share your admiration for the programming which the BBC produces for children, particularly, as most of the commercial sector has withdrawn from children’s programming”.
Today, Culture Secretary John Whittingdale announced that the BBC will be regulated by an external organisation for the first time in its 90-year history. We need to maintain the crucial role played by an independent BBC, and Liberal Democrats will continue to call out Government plans to stifle proper debate.
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Labour MP Eagle accused Whittingdale of being “hostile” to the BBC. On Monday, peers argued that the future of the BBC should not rest on the whim of the government.
