The BBC is to radically reinvent itself as an organisation tuned into the internet habits of the iPod generation in a bid to safeguard its survival in the online age.

At The Royal Television Society's Fleming Memorial Lecture this evening, the BBC’s director-general Mark Thompson will warn that the publicly funded broadcaster risks "losing a generation forever" as viewers ditch television schedules to watch what they want, when they want, online.

"Audiences have enormous choice and they like exercising it. But many feel the BBC is not tuned into their lives," he will say.

"We need to understand our audiences far better, to be more responsive, collaborative and to build deeper relationships with them."

The admission comes as the BBC today unveiled a new "editorial blueprint" designed to ensure it remains competitive, not only against old adversaries such as ITV, but also against the new generation of media giants such as Google and Yahoo!.

The plan, "Creative Future", will leave virtually no part of the BBC’s sprawling empire untouched and includes an unremitting focus on "cross-platform" programmes that can be as easily delivered through a mobile phone as a television set.

Mr Thompson will also say that the huge project - dubbed "BBC 2.0" - will require a hike in license fees, which currently raise £3 billion a year, arguing that the ambitious agenda will "cost a great deal more" than today's "mixture of outstanding output with repeats".

The key recommendations include a drive to bring on board more "user-generated content" - a move that could eventually see amateur bloggers vie with the BBC’s star presenters and news correspondents in presenting and generating the news.

A new service called "Eyewitness" will also throw down the gauntlet to sites such as Flickr and MySpace, now owned by News Corporation, the parent company of Times Online, by providing a similar forum where "citizen journalists" can share first-hand accounts of events.

The BBC’s entertainment department will be encouraged to "learn from the world of video games" as part of moves that could see new series commissioned to be shown exclusively online or even on mobile phones.

Echoing Culture Minister Tessa Jowell’s comments in last month’s Government White Paper that "the BBC should continue to take fun seriously", the blueprint says audiences want to be "seriously entertained through drama, entertainment and comedy, but also through factual programmes".

Teenagers, the key drivers behind many of the changes seen in the media landscape, will be courted through a "new teen brand".

This will be launched simultaneously across broadband, radio and TV and will compete with established players such as MTV, which already has a deal in place with Google to deliver video content online.

BBC News will be centred on News 24, the rolling channel that competes with operations such as Sky News and CNN.

The BBC will try to make the operation more aggressive by breaking more stories, which will then be delivered to users on platforms ranging from digital TV to broadband and mobile phones.

BSkyB is 37.9 per cent owned by News Corporation, the parent company of Times Online.

In drama, the BBC will create fewer titles with longer runs and will concentrate on the "programmes audience love best" such as Eastenders and Casualty.

BBC Sport department, which this week bade farewell to its flagship Grandstand programme after viewers deserted it to follow their teams online and on satellite TV, will get a specialist editor.

The plans are likely to prove controversial and extra funding for the BBC, which has cut back jobs fiercely in the past year, is not guaranteed.

The corporation was recently warned by Tessa Jowell, the Culture Secretary, not to expect the full extent of the licence-fee rise it has asked for, which would lift the levy to £200 in the next decade.

Mr Thomson will argue tonight that "the BBC's bid for more resources to make quality content ... [is] what the public wants and expects."

But his expansive plans will ramp up the BBC's rivalry with an array of commercial rivals and are likely to provoke fierce complaints from the private sector.

Today's plans come after a year-long review carried out by 10 separate teams but headed overall by Mr Thompson and the BBC's creative director, Alan Yentob. The proposals drew on one of the largest research exercises ever undertaken by the Corporation.

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