Big Brother guru urges sale of C4 and Radio 1 and 2

The television guru synonymous with the success of Big Brother has called for the privatisation of Channel 4 and BBC Radio 1 and Radio 2 to fund new public service content from arts institutions, museums, galleries and individuals.

Peter Bazalgette, an influential broadcasting figure thanks to his decade-long association with Big Brother and Deal or No Deal producer Endemol, said the debate about the future of public service broadcasting was too narrow and rooted in the vested interests of existing players.

He proposed a wholesale shakeup of British broadcasting to preserve public service aims in the digital age, raising money from four existing sources:

· A programme of "modest privatisation" at the BBC, selling off Radio 1, Radio 2 and BBC Worldwide;

· A structured selloff of Channel 4 that forced it to retain certain public service aims;

· Releasing ITV and Five from public service obligations but charging them for spectrum following digital switchover;

· Redistributing the £150m in "excess licence fee", currently being used by the BBC to fund digital switchover, that will be released in 2012.

The money raised could be spent on a new idea, which he dubbed Boggle, that contains echoes of Ofcom's earlier public service publisher concept.

Bazalgette, who sits on the board of English National Opera and has been helping develop its website, said the new body could link the existing online offerings of museums, galleries, theatre companies, opera houses and concert halls and fund content from them.

"Why shouldn't Nicholas Hytner at the National Theatre commission and distribute video drama? Why shouldn't Nicholas Serota at the Tate make art programmes? Why shouldn't the Imperial War Museum produce history documentaries? At last some genuine plurality in the supply of PSB programming, with the added bonus of a search engine to market it all."

He said individuals could also post music, or comedy, or programme ideas.

In a speech to the Royal Television Society, Bazalgette, who stepped down as chief creative officer of Endemol last year, said the existing debate about whether Channel 4 should get a share of the licence fee "resembles the first class passengers in the bar of the Titanic arguing furiously over who should pay the bill".

Bazalgette, who created programmes including Changing Rooms and Ground Force before selling his independent production company to Endemol in 1998 and going on to oversee the Big Brother phenomenon, said giving Channel 4 public money would blunt its risk-taking edge.