A group of MP’s has demanded that the BBC rein in its commercial arm, BBC Wordwide, and bail-out struggling rival Channel 4.
BBC Worldwide was criticized by the government’s culture, media and sport committee for its decision to buy Lonely Planet, because it has no ties to BBC’s content.
Last year BBC Wordwide, which sells programs, formats, magazines, DVD’s and books based on BBC brands, announced a profit of £118 million. BBC has a £3.5 billion annual budget funded by the license fee.
So far the intense negotiations to tie up BBC Wordwide and Channel 4 lead to little progress. Therefore, the committee is recommending that a proportion of the license fee should be available to Channel 4 in order to sustain its public service programming.