BBC will need to slim down to make 20% cuts, director general Tony Hall admits

A previous attempt to close a niche service, digital radio station 6Music, floundered in the face of opposition, with the station going on to attract a large new audience.

The director general also announced a move to provide “a more video-based service” by streaming more news for people watching on mobile phones and by making playlisted music from BBC radio stations available online for a limited time.

Lord Hall, who proposed partnerships with regional newspapers and cultural bodies such as the British Museum, said the BBC “must modernise to preserve and enhance what is best about public service broadcasting”. He said the BBC will “need to ride two horses”, serving those who have adopted the internet while continuing to provide traditional broadcasting.

His speech at the Science Museum is part of the corporation’s response to a Green Paper proposing a wide-ranging review of its aims and purposes.

Culture Secretary John Whittingdale has warned that the BBC should not try to be “all things to all people”, and described the licence fee as “unsustainable” in the long run.

The BBC’s formal response to the Green Paper is due in October, followed by details of its budget plans.