The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) has been warned that it could lose its exclusive right to the licence fee unless it rebuilds public trust.
The broadcaster may either face a cut in the amount it receives or have to share it with other broadcasters, ruling Conservative Party Chairman Grant Shapps said here today.
Schapps told the Sunday Telegraph that the current 145.50 pounds annual fee paid by licence holders would be "too much" without reform.
Meanwhile, a BBC spokesman said transparency and freedom from political pressure were key to the Corporation's future.
Shapps' comments follow a period of damaging scandal plaguing the BBC, from controversy over the size of payouts to top executives to the Jimmy Savile scandal.
The BBC was also slammed for spending 24 million pounds to move 900 staff from London to Salford.
Schapps said BBC was in danger of "frittering away" public trust.
"They have ended up working in this culture which is buried in the last century, which is 'we are the BBC, we do what we like, we don't have to be too accountable'," he said.
