BBC chairman Michael Grade urged the government in a speech to the Westminster Media Forum today to wait until full digital switchover has taken place before deciding on the next round of reviews concerning the funding by the licence fee.
In a barely disguised swipe at those critical of the licence fee, Grade said the BBC was 鈥渇undamentally opposed鈥 to any plan to 鈥渢op slice鈥 the funding method.
鈥淯sing the licence fee to solve a theoretical future deficit in public service broadcasting provision is a thoroughly bad idea,鈥 Grade said. 鈥淣ot good for viewers or listeners.鈥
Grade added that any plan to reform the licence fee would result in a 鈥渢hreat to the political independence of the BBC and weaken its ability to invest in public service content鈥.
In a separate criticism of the parliamentary Green Paper for the future of the BBC, Grade said the government had 鈥渦nderestimated鈥 the potential impact of digital technology in the coming years.
Grade said: 鈥淒igital radio, digital satellite, HDTV, mobile platforms, pod-casting, on-demand delivery via broadband 鈥 these, and no doubt many more technologies as yet unveiled 鈥 also have the potential to transform the media landscape and provide new ways to build public value.
鈥淪o it is vital that the BBC remains agile, able to respond flexibly, on behalf of licence-fee payers, to the new opportunities that open up and the new ways that licence-fee payers wish to enjoy BBC content.鈥
By Kevin May
Read Grade's speech in full
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