Michael Grade said the BBC should not "wring every last drop" of success

He made the plea at the Oxford Media Conference on Thursday.

"When the BBC comes up with a really original new format, it should not attempt to wring every last drop from it," he said.

The BBC recently ran a spin-off of ratings hit Strictly Come Dancing, in which celebrities learnt to ice skate.

"This is about much more than simply dealing with market failure," Mr Grade said during his speech.

'Move out, move on'

"The BBC's assured income means it does not have to compete - nor should it - in the business of replicating commodity programming that is available elsewhere," he said.

"At some point, that hugely original new format will start to feel a bit tired, a bit repetitive, a bit formulaic. When that happens the BBC needs to be brave - move out, move on, move up. Make room for something new."

He said the BBC needed to set a "gold standard" for every genre of content on radio, TV or the internet.

For the first time in the corporation's history, there will be a public document against which the licence fee payers can judge the BBC's output and delivery BBC chairman Michael Grade

He also said the BBC was to set up "service licences", which would set out budgets, performance targets and responsibilities for each area of output.

"These licences are a tool to enable us to hold management to account, to ensure that all BBC output delivers measurable public value and to exercise proper stewardship of the public's money," he said.

"For the first time in the corporation's history, there will be a public document against which the licence fee payers can judge the BBC's output and delivery."