BBC could hand over cash to rivals

The BBC could be forced to take a £100 million pay cut from the money generated by the TV Licence fee, under recommendations in the Digital Britain White Paper.

This cash would then be passed on to the other broadcasters, such as Channel Four and ITV, in order for them to provide regional news programming.

Currently the £142.50 TV Licence fee raises around £3.6 billion for the treasury, which hands it over to the BBC.

A hundred million may not seem to be a lot, but if a publicly funded organisation has a certain budget to spend, it would normally make sure that it spent every single penny and more if allowed.

In addition to the £100 million, a further £30 million could be given to the independents in order for them to make current affairs programmes.