In the past, the government selected the majority of the BBC Trust and BBC Governors board. At its heart is a desire for the BBC to place “distinctive content” at the centre of its focus. Whittingdale said this would open up hundreds of millions of pounds of production expenditure to competition.
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He said: “I will be bringing forward, as soon as practicable, secondary legislation which will extend the current TV licensing regime not only to cover those watching the BBC live, but also those watching the BBC on catch-up through the iPlayer”.
Another key proposal includes a demand that the BBC make its content “portable” meaning that licence fee payers can consume BBC content when they are overseas.
However, BBC director-general Tony Hall said:”We have an honest disagreement with the government on this”.
“We will wait and see the detail of the White Paper and publish our assessment of whether it meets these tests”.
The BBC will be forced to publish the salaries of high-earning talent under government plans to overhaul the public broadcaster. That’s right and healthy, and I welcome that debate.
The BBC’s royal charter expires at the end of the year and Mr Whittingdale’s proposals include a new 11-year charter securing its “long term stability”. The BBC Trust will be abolished. The BBC will be responsible for appointing at least half of these board members, and Ofcom will become the external independent regulator of the BBC. Regulation of the BBC will transfer to Ofcom.
The £3.7 billion the BBC collects in licence fee payments could be shared with other broadcasters in some areas, such as children’s television.
Jane Bonham-Carter, Liberal Democrat spokeswoman for culture, media and sport, said: “It is very timely that the day after BBC stars criticise the Government’s threats to the future of the BBC at the Baftas, Liberal Democrat peers are putting forward a Bill which aims to maintain the independence of this essential national institution”. It added that the BBC’s view of how the new board is appointed to run the corporation differs from that held by government.
However, he added: “We have an honest disagreement with the Government on this”.
The MP said a year ago: “The working class environment in which I grew up had many stories to tell and that is still the case, but we seem to hear the same types of stories from the same types of people”. “It is vital for the future of the BBC that its independence is fully preserved”.
The Culture Secretary explained to MPs that the Government is “emphatically not saying the BBC should not be popular” – but would introduce a new requirement to provide “distinctive content” rather than just pursue ratings.
“Our proposal that the BBC have a “licence” for all the dedicated services provided for audiences in each of the nations was also supported by the Clementi Review”.
Whittingdale said recent media reports that ministers wanted to micro-manage the scheduling of programmes were unfounded and that the BBC would always be free to determine what it aired. To say that certainty is being offered against this backdrop is false.
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Responding to his statement in parliament, the Shadow Culture Secretary Maria Eagle said: “We know the secretary of state is extremely hostile to the BBC”.
