Katie Razzall: BBC annual report is a call to arms for a new funding model

Scott Mills' earnings and those of other highly paid presenters may be making headlines, but there is a bigger story contained in the BBC's annual report. Set against the backdrop of the BBC's ongoing negotiations with the government over a new royal charter, the document features words such as "challenges", "financial pressures" and even "jeopardy". They were repeated in a press conference with senior leaders ahead of its release. With its current charter set to expire next year and sales of TV licences declining, the BBC needs to persuade the government that its role has never been more vital - and that it needs a new funding model to deliver it. The optics around this are a strategic choice. I can't remember an annual report where the difficulties for the BBC have been so front and centre. It was a message for the government and a new prime minister in waiting. But when the new director general said this is "a moment of real jeopardy, not just for the BBC but for public service broadcasting and the UK as a whole", he has a point. The dominance of the global streamers and changes in media habits are leaving our media institutions very challenged (to coin the BBC's phrase). For th