The BBC should turn hit shows like Strictly Come Dancing into a subscription service or risk being “stunned” in the 2030s, said veteran Andrew Neal.
Mr Neil warned that the corporation’s annual license fee of £ 159 was too low to compete with US deep-pocket streaming services.
Appearing before the House of Lords, he instead proposed an alternative model in which public broadcasting is funded by the taxpayer to pay for news, documentaries, children’s television, radio 3 and 4, art coverage, local radio, some “risky” dramas “and major sporting events.
Meanwhile, a new subscription-style model could fund more commercial Auntie programs and “rating winners” like Strictly, while giving it the power to borrow more money to fund shows.
Speaking to the Lords’ Communications Committee, Mr Neil said: “It’s really remarkable how the BBC continues to present itself. Not many other public services have received a 30% reduction in real terms and have managed to do what they did.
“The most convenient way out is to continue with the license fee and I suspect that this will happen again. But the BBC is one of our great national assets and also sets us apart for the rest of the world […] and we have a right to be proud of that.
“But you need to have a proper debate on ‘Is this the right way to go?’
Mr Neil, who left the BBC two years ago when The Andrew Neil Show fell victim to the broadcaster’s budget cuts, added that short breaks would be worth paying for long-term stability.
He said: “Although it may be convenient [now]at the end of the line what can entice […] is that you don’t have the money, the resources, the technology, the structure to survive in this new world of broadcasting, from multichannel, to streaming to global.
“At least think about it. Because [a new model] it can save the best and create a BBC that can thrive, not just stun year after year in the 2030s. “
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