The Green Paper, which sets out the future of the BBC, was due to be published earlier this week but was delayed after a clash between former BBC director-general Lord John Birt and media secretary Tessa Jowell.
Lord Birt, also a senior adviser to Prime Minister Tony Blair, believes the licence-fee money could be better spent by sharing it with ITV and Channel 4 to subsidise their public service obligations.
His claims put pressure on Jowell to include licence-fee sharing as a Green Paper option.
However, Jowell is expected to stick to her original plans and, with the support of the Prime Minister, preserve the licence fee in its current form. She believes any last-minute changes could considerably weaken the BBC and undermine public support and its independence.
Commercial broadcaster funding has not been totally ruled out, however. To survive with increased competition from hundreds of digital channels with analogue switch-off pencilled in for 2008, commercial broadcasters may well need government backing to meet current public service obligations.
Channel 4 has already signalled that it will see a £100m shortfall in funding and has appealed to the government for help.
It is believed that later in the decade, some money may be allocated to ITV, Channel 4 or both.
The Green Paper will feed into the 2006 Royal Charter Review, which decides the BBC's funding for the next 10 years.
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