BBC too big and almost unmanageable, says ex-chairman

The BBC is too big and "almost unmanageable", its former chairman, Michael Grade, said yesterday.

He told an audience at the Edinburgh International TV Festival the BBC should also share some of the licence fee with Channel 4.

Mr Grade said: “The real issue in the modern world is, how big should the BBC be?

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“Does it need all those digital channels, does it need all those radio stations, does it need to occupy all the territory that it does?”

He said it was up to licence fee- payers, through the mechanism of the BBC Trust, to decide what services it stopped providing adding: “The BBC has to contract. It’s just too big. It’s almost unmanageable.”

Mr Grade, who has served as BBC chairman, BBC1 controller and head of Channel 4, said both channels should compete for a share of the licence fee.

He said: “That would sharpen up the BBC’s value for money instincts and secure Channel 4 and would create a measure of competition in the public service broadcasting sector.”

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Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt warned on Saturday that the BBC needed more “discipline” and its director-general has warned of massive job cuts to come.

Mr Hunt said he could not rule out a reduction in the licence fee and warned that the BBC has to “live on the same planet as everyone else”.

The corporation has come under fire in recent years for the large sums of licence fee money paid to its stars and top managers.

On Friday, BBC chief Mark Thompson warned that the number of senior managers would be reduced by at least a fifth and that cuts would extend to the executive board.

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Mr Hunt said: “The BBC has to live on the same planet as everyone else. They have to understand the rest of Government, apart from the NHS and international development, is looking at average cuts of 25 per cent.”

Referring to the scandal of MPs’ expenses, he said the public wanted more transparency.

He said: “Why do I know that in 10 years, 20 years, 30 years’ time no MP will ever try and claim for a duckhouse? I know that because all expenses claims are going to be made public.

“That will be the discipline in the process and I will be asking the BBC what are the disciplines that they are putting into place to be getting better value?”