The BBC has come under fire over its "humdrum" approach to programme making.

The corporation's programmes are becoming too formulaic in order to win the ratings war, the head of the Broadcasting Standards Commission has warning.

In an interview with the FT on Thursday, Paul Bolt argued that the standard of BBC programming could call into questions the future of the licence fee.

Bolt, who has been director of the BSC for over a year, is expected to head-up the content arm of the new communications watchdog, Ofcom.

"If the BBC isn't at the cutting edge, if the BBC isn't being original, trying to find new faces, new ideas, constantly refreshing itself with new things, then people will tire of it," he said.

"People will say: 'Why am I paying my licence fee if this is what they're doing?' Commercial people are very efficient actually at giving people what they like."

He urged Greg Dyke, who took over as director general of the corporation in 2000, to apply his approach to BBC news to programming, even though the current plan has increased audience share from 38.2 to 38.4 per cent, while ITV has seen its share fall by 3.2 per cent.

Bolt, a former official at the department for culture, media and sport, also proposed a guaranteed income for Channel Four, whose bosses have warned that the proposed communications bill would damage its remit, since it allows a combined ITV channel and foreign ownership of British media.

"The BBC has a handsome licence fee settlement. S4C, the Welsh fourth channel, has a statutory inflation-proofed government subsidy every year. There is absolutely no guarantee of Channel Four's income at all," he said.

"We need to look at some kind of floor, some kind of linkage to the BBC licence fee, or some industry-wide underwriting of Channel Four."

Liberal Democrat culture spokesman Nick Harvey said Bolt's comments went "to the heart of the debate about the future of the BBC."

"What the BBC should do and how it should be paid for will be debated in time for its charter renewal in 2006. All views must be considered, but it is surprising for a regulatory body to take such a stridently political stance at such an early date," he said.

The BBC declined to comment.