BBC broadcaster Tim Davie: Global red alert

BBC

According to the most powerful man in British broadcasting, public service broadcasting is on “red alert” worldwide in “many, many markets”.

BBC Director Tim Davie urged the audience at the Deloitte and Enders Media & Telecoms 2024 and Beyond Conference to “look around the world and see what is happening to public service broadcasters.”

“It’s scary,” he added. “It’s really problematic. We’re not just problematic, we’re in a state of alert in many markets, and as politics becomes more and more polarized, we have to decide what we do with the institutions.”

Davie, however, said the BBC was “not a provider based on market failure” and stressed that partnerships with major global players such as Warner Bros. Discovery were an important factor in the sports sector.

However, he stressed that this does not prevent the BBC from making “uneconomical” decisions in order to preserve its position as a public broadcaster.

“Sometimes they’re the right things but they’re not economical,” he added. “Economic decisions might be to consolidate the whole BBC in London. But I’m a big proponent of channelling money out of London into local creativity, and that’s where the regional news or (successful Northern Irish dramas) come from.” Blue lights.”

He added that the BBC remains focused on its “core market” of the UK. “We develop shows that may not be perfect for the economics of an international global company, but audiences respond to them,” he said. “You have to make the local market work.”

Julian Bellamy, the Mr. Bates vs. the Post Office British television distributor ITV Studios echoed Davies’ sentiments, pointing out that the 20 most-watched shows in the UK are British and 18 are produced by public broadcasters.

“It’s the same in all markets,” Bellamy added. “Fifteen years ago the French market was full of US imports, now there are almost none. It’s basically the same all over the world. (The success of) local shows shows there is an appetite.”

“Fight for truth and trust”

Alex Mahon, who heads Channel 4, said it was about “the fight for truth and trust”.

She said that there are few shows with a positive social impact among streamers, pointing to Prime Videos Clarkson’s Farm as a rare example, but with the statement “I think a list needed to be made.”

“That’s partly because we look at things from a different perspective,” she added. “We don’t think about ‘dwell time,’ because that leads to more salacious stuff. That’s not our only motivation.”

The panel spoke in London on the same topic as big names such as Jan Koeppen from Disney and Greg Peters from Netflix.