Unveiling the government’s green paper on the future of the BBC yesterday, the culture secretary, John Whittingdale, said the BBC’s TV, radio and online operations had grown exponentially over the last decade and it was time to ask “whether this particular range of services best serves licence fee payers”. The amount of popular entertainment on BBC television channels, including shows such as BBC1’s The Voice, was singled out for criticism, along with the corporation’s output on Radio 1 and Radio 2.