The chief executive of BSkyB will today claim that most viewers oppose the licence fee and call to raise a "red flag" over the corporation's "expansionary ambitions".

Tony Ball, a key lieutenant of Rupert Murdoch, will unveil an NOP survey showing that 51 per cent of viewers believe the £116 annual fee does not represent good value for money.

"The results of this research should wave a big red flag against those who wish the BBC to carry on its expansionary ambitions," he will say in the speech at the Edinburgh international television festival.