The government has rejected calls for a root-and-branch shake up of the BBC.

In an FT interview, Tessa Jowell rules out a radical change to the corporation's present licence fee funding in a forthcoming review of the BBC's Royal Charter.

"The prospect of the UK without the BBC funded by the licence fee is anywhere between improbable to impossible," the culture secretary told the newspaper.

Asked whether privatisation of the BBC was an option, Jowell said: "The answer is no."

"When I say that this is a no holds barred charter renewal , it's a renewal not a deconstruction."