How to make the BBC fit for the twenty-first century? 

22 January 2008 tbs.pm/842

A top-sliced licence fee will trigger the BBC’s destruction

Whether de-coupling the licence fee from the BBC is the way forward or not (and I personally have my doubts), I can’t help but think that the BBC still hasn’t yet fully adjusted to the current media landscape.

Assuming that the population accept in principle the concept of public-service broadcasting, the question then arises: in what form should PSB take in the 21st century?

Is it feasible to jettison the idea that the Beeb should be all things to all people? Is it still tenable to use ratings-winners to deliver audiences to more worthy content after? Or should the Beeb concentrate more on its real strengths – the minority-interest programming that the commercial sector wouldn’t touch?

How long can the licence fee last?