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.
"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?'"
He also said the BBC will be "required to give greater focus to under-served audiences, in particular those from black, Asian and ethnic minority backgrounds, and those in the nations and regions".
"We want the BBC to be the leading broadcaster in promoting diversity," he said.
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.
The licence fee, which has been frozen at £145.50 since 2010, will now rise with inflation from next year.
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 be named
Meaningless twaddle!
