Major changes to the BBC's funding will be made over the next five years.
Ministers say they want to find a new funding model for the BBC, which is currently funded by the TV licence fee.
The fee of £159 to be frozen for the next two years, with the licence fee abolished completely in 2027, the government has announced.
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Culture secretary Nadine Dorries has said the said the next announcement about the fee “will be the last”.
The annual BBC licence payment normally changes on April 1 each year and is set by the Government, which announced in 2016 it would rise in line with inflation for five years from April 1 2017. It is reported to be worth around £3.2 billion to the BBC.
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A host of famous faces, including comedians Matt Lucas and David Baddiel, and presenters such as Richard Bacon and Dan Walker, have shown solidarity with the corporation after Ms Dorries indicated the licence fee would be axed.
Baddiel questioned the decision, writing on Twitter: “If, as the Government is implying re the BBC, we should only pay for something we like and agree with, I wonder if I can ask for all the money back I’ve had to spend in taxes on Brexit.”
Presenter Bacon, who has worked for the BBC, said: “The plan to scrap the licence fee is pathetic. Is that it? Is that how govt works?
“An institution that’s popular, global, prestigious, unique & British gets undone because the govt thinks the news bits of the BBC aren’t nice enough about them.
“So all the BBC loses its licence fee.”
A spokesperson for Downing Street said: “We have said that we will keep the licence fee until the end of the current charter period in 2027 but ahead of that point we will review how the BBC is funded.”
The spokesperson rejected Labour’s claim that the announcement of the plans was an attempt to distract from Boris Johnson’s political difficulties.
BBC bosses have pledged to “continue to make a strong case to the government for investing” in the corporation.
