BBC 'should drop reality shows'

Mr Major applauded the BBC's costume dramas

The BBC should drop reality and quiz shows and concentrate on quality costume dramas and sport, ex-Prime Minister John Major has urged.

The former Tory leader said he felt the public was "dismayed" about the number of poor quality television shows.

Mr Major told BBC One's Breakfast With Frost the network should not be chasing ratings against commercial television stations.

He also said the corporation needed to move on from the Hutton Report.

I think there are many people who look through the Radio and TV Times and are dismayed John Major

"It is my view that the BBC... should be concerned about quality," he told Sunday's programme

"I would like to see the BBC drop trivial programmes, even if it costs ratings.

"Why should it compete with Sky television and ITV? It is a different beast."

He said he believed many people were, like himself, fed up with "trivial programmes, quiz shows and reality shows".

Major: The BBC should move on from Hutton

The corporation should concentrate on quality, including costume dramas "which it does brilliantly", he said.

"If you produce high quality entertainment and high quality sport, which the BBC also does very well, I think it will retain an audience," he told Sir David.

BBC future

"I think there are many people who look through the Radio and TV Times and are dismayed at the relatively low quality of much of the stuff that appears."

Mr Major also addressed the issue of the future of the BBC after a report, commissioned by his Conservative party, this week called for the licence fee to be scrapped.

The report said the corporation should be gradually replaced by subscription charges and the BBC should be split into separate units.

Mr Major told interviewer Sir David Frost that he would not want to see the BBC "merged, taken over or privatised".

He said he believed the Hutton Report had been "very severe" on the corporation but said it should learn lessons from it.

'Welcome debate'

"I hope it will deal with some of the problems which have been highlighted," he said.

He said issues such as "avid attention to accuracy" were most important.

"If it is not certain about accuracy then it should say ... or it should not broadcast," he added.

A BBC spokesman said Mr Major's comments about its programming were welcomed, as part of overall discussions on the Charter renewal.

"We welcome contributions to the Charter Review debate. Debate is always healthy and we encourage it."