That said, Mr Whittingdale did also say that in the long-term the license fee would become “less sustainable” and new ways to generate income would have to be uncovered.
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Closing a license fee loophole, viewers will have to start paying to access the BBC iPlayer VOD service.
Britain stepped back from cutting the size and scope of the BBC on Thursday, as it unveiled the Government’s blueprint for the future of the BBC which will be regulated by an external organization for the first time in its 90-year history.
“I do consider that a very important part of the BBC’s public service role and I hope that you will find measures in the White Paper that you too will be able to welcome”.
It expects the new 11-year Charter to be effective from January 1, 2017.
Relations between the BBC and Prime Minister David Cameron’s governing centre-right Conservative Party have always been tense, with some MPs accusing the broadcaster of institutional left-wing bias, which it denies.
In a bid to separate governance and regulation, the new charter will also create a “unitary board”, responsible for the output of the BBC.
A new mission statement for the BBC: “To act in the public interest, serving all audiences with impartial, high-quality and distinctive media content and services that inform, educate and entertain”.
He said: “The BBC supports the Clementi Review findings that each nation should be fully represented on the proposed new board that will run the BBC – providing powerful voices at the heart of the corporation”.
“This rising public investment in the BBC will also continue to result in continued value in the UK’s creative industries”. The BBC had lobbied against suggestions that large chunks of the licence fee be made available to commercial producers.
TV scientist Brian Cox, who had warned against interference in the BBC, said on Twitter: “BBC Charter renewal now looks sensible, subject to reducing ministerial influence over appointments to the board”.
Commenting on the new charter settlement, BBC Director-General Tony Hall, said: “There has been a big debate about the future of the BBC”.
The role is now carried out by the in-house BBC Trust, which will be abolished.
A key reform laid out in the White Paper is the formation of what the Government is calling a “strong unitary board for the BBC”.
The director-general said they endorse the “scale and scope” of what the BBC now does.
The BBC said it will continue to talk to the government to address a number of remaining issues, including a call for the National Audit Office to be the BBC’s auditor.
Elsewhere, the White Paper confirmed BBC presenters earning more than £450,000 per year will have their salary details made public.
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The BBC will also have to enshrine a commitment to diversity in the Charter.
