The BBC must put "distinctive content" at its heart, Culture Secretary John Whittingdale has said.
It is part of a major overhaul of how the BBC is run, which has been unveiled by the government.
The licence fee will continue for at least 11 years and viewers will need to pay it to use BBC iPlayer.
Mr Whittingdale made clear he was "emphatically not saying the BBC should not be popular".
The culture secretary was referring to earlier speculation that the corporation would not be allowed to schedule popular programmes against rivals.
Maria Eagle, the shadow culture secretary, said Mr Whittingdale's views were "totally out of step with the licence fee-payers who value and support the BBC".
The White Paper states that the trust governing the BBC is being abolished and a board will be set up to run day-to-day matters, while Ofcom will become the corporation's external regulator.
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The BBC will also be required to give greater focus to under-served audiences, in particular those from black, Asian and ethnic minority backgrounds,
"Some of the BBC's most distinctive programmes have very wide audience because they are so good," the culture secretary said.
However, he told the Commons: "We will place a requirement to provide distinctive programmes and services at the heart of the BBC's core mission."
"Commissioning editors should ask consistently of new programming: 'Is this idea sufficiently innovative and high quality?' rather than simply 'How will it do in the ratings?'"
Measures include:
- A new mission statement for the BBC: "To act in the public interest, serving all audiences with impartial, high-quality, and distinctive media content and services that inform, educate and entertain."
- A new unitary board which will govern the corporation, replacing the BBC Trust.
- The BBC will have the ability to appoint the majority of its board, independent of government
- Editorial decisions will be explicitly the responsibility of the director general
- Ofcom will be given the power to regulate all BBC services
- All employees and freelancers who earn more than £450,000 will have their salaries published
Responding to Mr Whittingdale's statement, Shadow Culture Secretary Maria Eagle said: "We know the secretary of state is extremely hostile to the BBC. He wants it diminished in size."
"His views are totally out of step with the licence fee-payers who value and support the BBC."
Ms Eagle said she did "not agree that [Mr Whittingdale's] obsession with distinctiveness should be imported into the BBC's mission statement."
The BBC's current Royal Charter - the agreement which sets the broadcaster's rules and purpose - expires at the end of December and a public consultation into its future was launched last year.
The paper will be debated by MPs in the autumn before the new charter is drafted and signed for the next 11 years.
Image copyright AFP / GettyResponding to the White Paper, BBC director-general Tony Hall said it "delivers a mandate for the strong, creative BBC the public believe in. A BBC that will be good for the creative industries - and most importantly of all, for Britain.
"There has been a big debate about the future of the BBC. Searching questions have been asked about its role and its place in the UK. That's right and healthy, and I welcome that debate.
"At the end, we have an 11-year charter, a licence fee guaranteed for 11 years, and an endorsement of the scale and scope of what the BBC does today," he said.
But he said there were some areas where the BBC will continue to talk to the Government to address remaining issues, including allowing the National Audit Office to be the BBC's auditor and how the new board is appointed.
He said: "We have an honest disagreement with the government on this. I do not believe that the appointments proposals for the new unitary board are yet right.
"We will continue to make the case to government. It is vital for the future of the BBC that its independence is fully preserved."
What is the White Paper?
- The government outlines its plans for the renewal of the BBC's Royal Charter in its White Paper
- The Royal Charter outlines how the corporation is funded, how it is run, who holds it to account and what its broad objectives are
- The White Paper will probably be debated in Parliament but there is no vote by MPs or peers
- The three big issues are: will the licence fee continue and how much will it be?; who runs the BBC?; and the question of distinctiveness
Read more about the White Paper