Labour MP Derek Wyatt has said that giving the BBC a new ten-year charter would be “folly”. In an article in the Financial Times the House of Common culture committee member says that the state media giant should be treated as “any other utility” with its funding reviewed by the Treasury every three years.
Mr. Wyatt says that the BBC has a large overdraft and a shortfall in its pension fund despite above inflation increases in its funding. He suggests that the corporation has lost 40% of its viewers over the last ten years and describes it as “a bloated, unmanageable, out of control imperial player.” The MP adds that the BBC is the only public broadcaster in the world to pay as many six-figure salaries to managers.
Mr. Wyatt concludes by doubting that the state broadcaster is capable of adjusting to the radical changes in the ways in which news and entertainment will be delivered that are expected in the near future.