The BBC is to be regulated externally for the first time in its 90-year history, the government will announce on Thursday.

Independent media regulator Ofcom will become the official regulator of the BBC, replacing the internal BBC Trust.

The change is just one of a number of proposals contained in a long-awaited White Paper on the BBC's future.

Culture Secretary John Whittingdale will outline the full proposals in parliament.

So what is expected to change?

A government source said: "The BBC is a world-class broadcaster and one of our country's greatest institutions.

"Our plans will mean that the BBC will keep making the great programmes we love and will continue to thrive in the future."

A key reform laid out in the White Paper is the formation of what the Government is calling a "strong unitary board for the BBC".

The BBC will be responsible for appointing at least "half of the board members" and Ofcom will be the external regulator of the corporation.

Specific details of who would elect the other half of the board have not yet been detailed.

A string of stars have spoken out in defence of the BBC over recent months.

They include actors Dame Judi Dench, Steve Coogan, James Nesbitt and director Danny Boyle.

While veteran actor Richard Wilson told The Guardian: "I would march in the streets, I would, as long as they don't march too far."

In a letter to the Prime Minister last year, a host of A-list names said: "A diminished BBC would simply mean a diminished Britain.

"Like all organisations, it has its faults, but it is overwhelmingly a creative force for good."