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The actor, who is artistic director at London's Old Vic Theatre, criticised the BBC for promoting specific West End productions with shows like How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria?, I'd Do Anything and Any Dream Will Do.
Norton currently presents I'd Do Anything, which is hunting for new stars to play Nancy and Oliver in Cameron Mackintosh's new stage version of Oliver!
He told Radio 1: "In the end, he is right, we are promoting the fact that Oliver! is going to be on in the West End. But equally every week we feature lots of musicals on the show."
He added that he understood Spacey's disappointment that more people do not watch plays, saying: "Maybe he should put a musical on and people will go to see that."
Judges John Barrowman and Denise Van Outen have also spoken out in defence of the shows.
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