Mr Dyke was speaking to MPs on the day the corporation's annual report was published.

However, he admitted it was a "problem" that some people were paying a licence fee for services they could not receive.

The BBC spends about 8% of its annual budget of �2,591m on digital services, including recently launched channels BBC Four and CBeebies.

Earlier, the BBC chairman, Gavyn Davies, told MPs that unifying the nation remained at the heart of what the BBC does.

Are you happy with the BBC's output? Does the corporation provide value for money?

This debate is now closed. Read a selection of your comments below.

Your reaction

The BBC has little choice but to invest in digital - it is not that many years until the current transmissions are to be switched off. If the BBC did not move forward in digital format then it would be criticised for not keeping up with the times.
Dawn, UK

The licence fee is a legalised protection racket.
Ian, England

As the commercial channels continue to increase the number of commercial breaks, now at a level where many programmes become so disjointed as to be unwatchable, the BBC remains the best of British TV. Add in the radio, websites and the other things the BBC do and yes, it's good value.
Steve Harrison, UK

The BBC is certainly worth the licence fee. I'd happily pay twice as much if only it got rid of the fluff. It produces too much low brow content (the sort of stuff you'd expect to find on ITV). They need to diversify their output, and take a few more risks. Oh, and bring back Doctor Who.
Paul, UK

Renting a video costs �3.75 - once. A week of Beeb is about �2.50. If I watch ONE programme I enjoy in a week then it's a bargain, and this week its been at least four or five. I will pay for no adverts.
Simon, England

Simon, England, is absolutely correct. If you compare the price of the BBC for a week to renting a video or going to the cinema, it is excellent value for money. Yes it is a problem that not everybody can get the digital services at the moment, but if the BBC is to be a world leader in digital technology they have to spend money on these services. What would have happened if they had decided not to switch to colour until everyone had got a colour television set? We'd all still be watching in black and white.
Richard, UK

I think the BBC is great value for money, just look at this forum! I wonder how many broadcasters reliant on advertising, would allow this kind of discussion. I would suggest that those who are complaining try living abroad i.e. the States. You will see the excellent output that the BBC provides. Well worth the money
Simon, UK

Can anyone explain to me why the BBC has a Director of Marketing? If we all have to pay for it and know it is there, why is the corporation wasting our money on advertising and promotion? We have no choice but to pay for it!
James Warwick, UK

BBC Online is still tops, mainly because of Talking Point. Can you imagine the USA on CNN asking their people for comments about the way in which the government is being run? Even in Canada, the online newspapers still refuse for their viewers to send in comments. The in thing is to go for the polls which only have a yes/no response...
James, Canada

I don't believe that what is offered on the terrestrial channels justifies the cost of the licence fee

Richard Rackham, UK

The BBC was great value for money for me as I didn't have a television, so didn't pay a licence fee. Their radio coverage and websites are by far the best in their field. Having bought a television and spent the money on the licence fee, I don't believe that what is offered on the terrestrial channels justifies the cost. I feel somewhat disappointed with paying the BBC for their stations just because I want a television set to watch DVDs. Especially when others who live elsewhere in the world can get these other BBC services across the internet for nothing.
Richard Rackham, UK

To those moaning about the license fees: Other countries have state circuses and ballet companies paid out of taxes.
Jacob Busby, UK

I want a choice to pay or not to pay the fee. Poll tax TV is out of order. ITV news will do.
Mick Lloyd, UK

It's amazing, having submitted my point of view yesterday I was interested today to read some of the responses today. How amazing, only ONE comment that suggests the BBC isn't value for money. Is there any point in asking for our views when it is obvious the only view that matters is that of a positive one? How dare we criticise the great BBC?
Paul J-W, England, UK

Yes, at �2 a week they are a bargain. We will now be getting 20 odd digital channels and loads of radio stations and excellent web resources. A bargain if you ask me. The new BBC 4 is worth that on its own.
Barry Tregear, England

There shouldn't be a licence fee. Much of the BBC's output has a political angle. Its executives are overpaid and it is vastly overstaffed. It should have to compete on a commercial basis.
Stuart, UK

If the website weren't free, I'd pay

Greg Burton, USA

The BBC is amazing. If the website weren't free, I'd pay a modest fee for access, as it provides a different perspective from US-based news. There are plenty of Americans that love the BBC and demand that it be included as an option on our pay TV.
Greg Burton, USA

A mere �112 a year for all the repeats of terrible Eighties programmes you can watch? It's a bargain!
Tom, UK

How can anyone say the BBC are worth the bonuses the hangers on are getting? How about giving licence fee payers a free set top box free of charge as we have certainly paid for it through licence fees? If you need any fat cats who will work for half of what Greg Dyke and his cronies get let me know. Or come do our garden and decorate our house. What planet are you all on? Come to earth and work for a living.
WG Clewer, England

BBC TV and radio is good but through the website the size of the BBC becomes really apparent. As well as stepping into the BBC through interactive the websites are becoming more learned, educating and informing than the programmes themselves.
Pete, UK

After what has happened to DTT, with Mr Dyke totally ignoring those people who live in flats who cannot watch any PAY channels at all, I find the paying the licence fee a totally farcical issue. Why should I fund a corporation who now seem to be funding a shop window for Sky Digital through its current DTT proposals? What a stink!
Chad Willans, England

Our society has serious questions to answer about its priorities

Andrew Taylor, Japan

I am surprised to learn that the BBC director general receives the best part of half a million quid a year. The argument that top people have to be paid a fortune to prevent them being poached doesn't hold water. There are rewards beyond money, when doing something meaningful. The prestigious BBC should be able to attract and retain people without such huge incentives.

Many executives continue working way past the point where they are so rich that any extra income is inconsequential; proving that the money is probably not their principal motivation. Mr Dyke would do well to remember that much of the world's troubles stem from the unequal distribution of wealth. One only has to watch the BBC's own news to know that our society has serious questions to answer about its priorities.
Andrew Taylor, Japan

Now that it has become a Labour Party propaganda waffle machine, I want the choice as to paying for it or not! If the BBC is good enough then it should prove it by being offered on a subscription basis or self financing. Either way I want the choice.
M. E. Ridley, England

This website alone justifies the licence fee, and I am more than happy to pay my tenner a month to do without adverts on the TV. This morning I listened to Radio One on my way to work, the first thing I've done since I've got here is to check the news on this site, and tonight I'll be watching the Beeb again without any annoying commercials. Sure the BBC doesn't consistently produce high quality programming (who does?) but how anyone can complain that they don't get great value for money is beyond me!
Billy, UK

The BBC is king of the London media mafia

Steve Jones, UK

"Unifying the nation remains at the heart of what the BBC does" - unbelievable statement. The BBC is king of the London media mafia scene. It does not represent the country, but certain London boroughs.
Steve Jones, UK

Having lived in the US and putting up with PBS (the non-commercial channel) doing fundraising drives every three months or so I think the licence fee is a wonderful idea. Now I'm living in Germany I would happily pay a licence fee to be able to legally get the BBC TV channels on satellite. If I couldn't get Radio Four from the web I don't know what I'd do.
Roz Harvey, Germany

Of course the BBC does NOT provide good value for money. It is funded by a viewing tax on almost every household in the country, to allow it to compete, with no requirement to make a profit, against struggling commercial organisations. Scrap the licence fee, make all programmes except news and education a pay channel or (for sport events) a pay-per-view basis, and let them start to live in the real world, competing like a real business.
Michael Snow, UK

The licence fee is a tax we pay to ensure that our media doesn't get taken over, Berlusconi-style. Everyone (except aspiring media tyrants) benefits from this, even those who claim never to watch serious news...
Richard, UK

Channel 4 has the best programming by far

Rebecca, Great Britain

Channel 4 has the best programming by far - proof that commercial television doesn't necessarily churn out rubbish. Why not privatise BBC One and Radio One? We could do without paying the exorbitant salaries of soap opera "stars" and sports commentators. You'd almost certainly halve the licence fee and still retain the quality and minority interest programming on BBC Two and the other radio stations.
Rebecca, Great Britain

As far as I am concerned, the BBC is an unsolicited good. I am compelled to pay for it regardless of my viewing habits. It is nothing more than a monopoly which the TV-owning general public are forced - under threat of law - to support.
Richard, Scotland

I like your reporters. When it comes to questioning the prime minister, your reporters HAVE GUTS!! No American reporter would dare to question the president as aggressively as your people question the PM. It's good journalism. It fosters a more informed public.
John R Cordner, US

It cannot please all of the people all of the time, but the BBC is absolutely right to get ahead of the game in the digital world.

Paul, UK

Because of the range and breadth of services, the BBC is bound to take high profile criticism of any mistakes it makes. As direct investors in the BBC, we have every right to do this. We are right to question the strength of public service commitments of channels such as BBC One, but perhaps we are a little too complacent about how wide and good the quality of our broadcasting is. With a huge website and so many television and radio channels, we've got a very good range to choose from. More importantly, the quality of programming on these channels is generally very good. It cannot please all of the people all of the time, but the BBC is absolutely right to get ahead of the game in the digital world, so that it can do the job right and lift the standard from the very beginning.
Paul, UK

Yes the BBC is excellent value for money. I'd be willing to pay my licence fee for the excellent internet services alone. I do think thou that it is sad that a large majority of fee payers for some reason or other don't take full advantage of the services available. Perhaps a more rigorous campaign to get more people hooked up to all areas including internet and digital services is required.
Paul Houghton, UK

It was not until I moved to the US that I realised the incredible service and value for money that is provided by the BBC

TM, US/UK

When I lived in Blighty I used to begrudge paying the license fee. It was not until I moved to the US that I realised the incredible service and value for money that is provided by the BBC both at home and away! When you have had to flick through some of the garbage I have, eventually purchasing cable so you can watch BBC America (even with its interrupting breaks) you realise the top quality service and programmes the BBC does provide. It is also a part of our British heritage, our history and that is another thing you do not appreciate until you see it from a distance.
TM, US/UK

The injustice of the license fee is that it has to be paid whether you want to watch or listen to the BBC or not. I'm all for maintaining quality viewing but the dross churned out at the moment is in direct contradiction to the principles of broadcasting laid down by Lord Reith (the BBC founder): that it should culturally enrich and educate the populace. The BBC does still occasionally produce gems such as 'The Gathering Storm' but even that was made in partnership with HBO, a commercial US channel. Get rid of the license fee and let the BBC survive like all other channels.
James, UK

The BBC is stretched too thin

NK, UK

Although I like the BBC, I do not see why it should have special privileges. BBC drama used to be among the best in the world but these days all we get are more expensive rehashes of 19th century novels or boring series such as Holby City while all the best and most innovative dramas come from commercial US companies (The Sopranos, Oz, Buffy). The BBC is stretched too thin and has lost its edge. Perhaps competing in the free market for a change will help it lose its complacency and start thinking creatively again.
NK, UK

I don't watch any BBC channels, nor listen to any BBC radio stations. In fact, the only BBC service I use is this web site, and it is available to non-Brits who don't pay a license fee anyway. Why should I have to pay for the BBC when I only watch cable channels? The license fee should be scrapped and the BBC should fund itself like other stations do.
Guy Hammond, England

The chairman's comment that "unifying the nation remains at the heart of what the BBC does" is a welcome, if astonishingly frank, admission of political bias. The bias is already apparent to anyone who follows the BBC's coverage of politics in Scotland. Here, at least 30% of the electorate are in favour of withdrawal from the United Kingdom. For us, the BBC provides more of a disservice than a service in its coverage.
Colin Wilson, Scotland

I think the BBC is extraordinary value for money. I never watch ITV at all, largely because I don't agree with many of the adverts - particularly the sugary fatty foods aimed at children. At least when the children watch CBBC I know they aren't going to pester me afterwards for various foods/toys!
Lesley Murray, England

I'm sure people said the same when their old TVs couldn't receive the then new BBC Two, or when their old radios didn't pick up the new FM broadcasts. A degree of exclusivity is an unfortunate consequence of progress. However, the technology will filter down for everybody in time. We can't let this be an excuse otherwise no progress will be made.
James Brown, UK

I think I'm getting my money's worth

Anthony M, UK

Let's see... programmes I watch on the BBC: Spooks, Holby City, Casualty, Have I Got News For You, They Think It's All Over, Japanorama, various documentaries. Programmes I watch on other terrestrial channels: CSI, The West Wing, ER. That's really only from the non-digital stuff. Then there's the various radio channels as well. So I think I'm getting my money's worth, yes.
Anthony M, UK

Any system where you get to choose whether to use a service or not, and then be forced to pay for it anyway, has to be profoundly unfair. With the advent of digital TV, and the influence the BBC has now on DTT, the option is here to make the BBC a subscription service to those who want it.
Jason Hutchinson, UK

I'd pay more if that's what it would take to keep adverts from interrupting programmes. The BBC also run a most excellent tool for discussing current issues: Talking Point!
David, England