Mr Sharp said both sides of the House of Commons"broadly support the BBC", and that any changes to its funding model should be debated in parliament.
But he warned against decriminalising the licence fee, saying it could lead to more people being brought before the civil courts over non-payment. He said:"The sanction itself drives behaviour. If you go to civil litigation, you actually can increase the amount of litigation that takes place. So it's not as obvious as you think.
"As a result of people paying the licence fee, you get a common good, which is you get an incredible value for what people are actually paying on a household basis."The government looking at whether to replace the £159-a-year licence fee, which funds the BBC In the wake of his own experience as chairman, Mr Sharp also said he would advise someone going for the job to"make sure you and your family know what you're getting into" and warned it made them"a target".The issue of freelancers and impartiality at the BBC was also"something that needed to be addressed", he said, after the controversy sparked by