Fears over the BBC's independence from political pressure have been voiced by MPs concerned at the scope of the broadcaster's shake-up being pushed through by ministers.
Culture Secretary John Whittingdale was strongly pressed by members of the Commons Media Committee over what influence he would have regarding appointees to the new board set to replace the BBC Trust in the Government's controversial overhaul of the corporation's royal charter.
The board will have up to 14 members, with the BBC responsible for appointing at least half of the members and the Government no more than six.
Mr Whittingdale rejected concerns expressed by SNP MP John Nicolson that the minister might dismiss the panel making appointments to the BBC board if it did not choose his favoured candidates.
Mr Nicolson said the minister had done exactly that when he disbanded the panel selecting trustees for the National Portrait Gallery (NPG) because it rejected the five candidates he had wanted appointed.
"All of us are very concerned that you might do that with the BBC appointees. All of us on the committee are worried about BBC independence," Mr Nicolson said.
Mr Whittingdale insisted the NPG move was provoked by a "procedural" issue because the panel should have been made aware of who his favoured candidates were, even though they did not then have to endorse them.
The minister insisted the board would not be involved in editorial decisions, but deal with any controversies after programmes were broadcast.
"The board's not there to get involved in editorial decision-making," the minister said.
Mr Whittingdale defended his insistence BBC output must be "distinctive", but refused to cite programmes he believed achieved this.
"The BBC just needs to look that little bit different," he said.
Mr Whittingdale insisted he expected to make a decision soon on the future of Channel Four and had not ruled out either a full, or part, privatisation of the public service broadcaster.
The Culture Secretary said the BBC should take more account of the needs of its viewers and listeners in Scotland.
Critics accused Mr Whittingdale of engaging in "ideologically-driven meddling" when he ordered the BBC to provide distinctive content rather than chase ratings when unveiling the broadcaster's new royal charter.
Among the measures announced by Mr Whittingdale in the shake-up was a requirement for the BBC to publish the names of stars and executives earning more than £450,000 a year.
Mr Whittingdale said the BBC needed to examine the "unduly aggressive" tone of some of the attempts to recover licence fee payments from people who may not be liable to pay the levy.
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