A Panorama to be screened tomorrow (Sunday, March 7) indicates that most people in Britain fail to see much difference between the BBC and other broadcasters.

This is the Panorama Press Release:

ICM poll finds 58% think BBC programmes are not distinctive from other broadcasters

A majority (58%) of those questioned think that the BBC's programmes are similar to those on other broadcasters, according to an ICM poll to be included in Panorama: What's the point of the BBC? on Sunday (7 March) at 10.15pm on BBC ONE.

In a major studio debate, Acting Director-General Mark Byford takes tough questions from a nationwide audience and a panel of the BBC's friends and critics.

The poll finds that 37% of people think that the BBC's programmes are distinctive to other broadcasters.

The charge is also made in the programme by veteran BBC broadcaster Sir David Attenborough who claims the range of programmes is no longer wide enough.

"I think the pendulum swung in the last five years or so a bit towards the popular and away from the more specialised."

He added: "I think there are great areas of drama which it doesn't tackle, classical drama of one sort or another.

"Science has one programme on BBC but very little on BBC ONE and science should be at the core of what people should be interested in and be learning about all the time.

"And so if you have three programmes on gardening, then I would suggest you drop one of them, or maybe even two of them and do some of these other things."

The poll also finds that public opinion on the future of the funding of the BBC is divided, with 31% of people polled supporting a continuation of the licence fee in its current form, 31% thinking there should be advertising on the corporation's channels and 36% thinking the corporation should be funded by subscription.

However the poll found that the majority, 59%, still felt the corporation was good value for money.

Support for the BBC as an institution in the wake of the Hutton Inquiry remains strong, with 68% believing that the BBC "is a national institution we should be proud of".

However, the belief that the BBC had generally "dumbed down" is held by 54%.

Despite recent criticism about the corporation's governance the majority of those questioned, 54%, said the BBC should continue to run its own affairs rather than be subject to greater control from an external regulator.

In the programme, Endemol UK Chairman Peter Bazalgette - producer of shows such as Big Brother and Fame Academy - attacks the governance of the BBC.

He says the Kelly affair was an "accident waiting to happen" and calls for a major shake-up in the governance system, from the "cheerful bunch of amateurs" to a more independent and professional board including experts on journalism and competition law.

Acting Director-General Mark Byford defends the role of the governors in protecting the BBC's independence and the public interest.

But he acknowledges change may be necessary in the future.

"The BBC would never say that it must stand still, because if the BBC stood still on anything, whether it was the programming, whether it was on the consideration of its accountability, it would be wrong because things are changing around it," he says.

"But what it does need to have clarity on is who is it serving, and is it accountable to them?"

61% of people questioned said they did not believe the BBC was politically biased, with 33% saying it was.

60% felt the BBC was trustworthy, 35% disagreed.