BBC warning as John Whittingdale unveils Government paper on future service

“It should be for the public to decide whether programs like Strictly [Come Dancing] or [The Great British] Bake Off, or stations like Radio One or Two, should continue”, the BBC said.

The “deprivation test” follows the publication of the government’s green paper on the future of the BBC which suggested it could focus on a more narrow range of services with a consequent cut in the licence fee.

The Government and the BBC are now entering the Charter Review.

The Secretary of State also said a report had found the decriminalisation of licence fee evasion would not be appropriate under the current system, but it would be considered as part of the charter review.

Almost 1,500 randomly selected respondents from across the United Kingdom were asked in an online Tubemogul survey “what is the best way the BBC should be funded in the future”.

Beeb stars, including Match of the Day host Gary Lineker, 54, led a defence of the broadcaster, tweeting: “I may be biased but the BBC is something we should be proud of”.

THERE could be major changes ahead for TV licence payers as ministers seek a smaller and cheaper corporation.

Graham Norton – one of the BBC’s flagship presenters – has voiced his support for the BBC, praising the corporation’s varied programming and predicting panic from viewers if it is ever axed. This was “perfectly legal” but the Government was committed to updating the legislation.

Steve Hewlett, a former BBC editor who is now a media commentator, said the BBC has weathered similar storms before and will do so again.

He cited “editorial failures” in the light of the Jimmy Savile revelations and the level of severance payments as sources of “disquiet”.

The BBC touches the lives of the public in many and varied ways, Bryant continued. Noting instances where the BBC “had fallen well short of the standards expected of it”, such as the Jimmy Saville sex abuse scandal and the Digital Media Initiative fiasco, he went on to question the sprawling side of the organisation.

“It’s our belief responsibility for broadcasting in Scotland should transfer from Westminster to Holyrood”.

The BBC’s licence fee could be scrapped in the long-term future and be replaced by a subscription model, according to the culture secretary.

Announcing the beginning of what is likely to become the biggest overhaul of the corporation in over a decade, Mr Whittingdale told the Commons: “The licence fee is levied at a flat rate meaning that it is regressive”.

The Beeb statement added: “The BBC is a creative and economic powerhouse for Britain”.

The BBC’s Royal Charter comes up for renewal at the end of next year and for the next 12 weeks, the Department of Culture, Media and Sport is conducting a public consultation on what the next Charter needs to include. There has to be a political dimension to this, naturally, and United Kingdom opposition parties, still bruised and wounded by the general election defeat, will want to seize the opportunity presented by an issue which puts them in tune with public opinion against the government.

The paper compares the BBC’s output of 20 years ago, when there was just the two national TV networks and five national radio services with today’s nine television channels and ten radio stations, even if some of them are part-time networks.