Michael Grade, the former head of Channel 4, has called for the group to be funded by the BBC licence fee, “to repair a broadcasting model that is fast breaking down”.

Grade, who was chief executive of C4 in the 1990s, said the move would allow C4 to abandon advertising as its source of funding, as the days when its ad income was “both sufficient and secure are now numbered”. He said the move would reinvigorate the competition with the BBC, adding he was “not advocating salami slicing” the corporation, where he was chairman between 2004 and 2006. Grade, most recently executive chairman of ITV, said the move would also be positive for the commercial sector by reducing the oversupply of advertising.

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