Overview
- In mid‑June Michael Grade published a ten‑point manifesto in Radio Times setting out specific reforms he says the BBC needs to survive.
- He argues the flat per‑household TV licence should be reduced, calling the current £180 charge unfair and proposing wealthier households subsidise lower payments.
- Grade urges the BBC to refuse advertising and subscription models, warning those moves would change the corporation’s public‑service remit and harm commercial broadcasters.
- He says savings should come from cutting fixed costs such as buildings and non‑programme staff rather than programme budgets, and he wants decision‑making moved out of London to give regions real authority.
- Grade also calls for clearer editorial accountability after Panorama’s misleading edit, recommends treating YouTube as a distribution channel, and proposes a government‑funded expansion of the BBC World Service into a global TV channel, with the manifesto intended to shape public and political debate rather than trigger immediate policy change.