BBC boss warns public broadcasters of global “red alert”

The head of the BBC has warned that there is a “red alert” in public broadcasting.

The group’s CEO, Tim Davie, appeared at the Media And Telecoms 2024 And Beyond Conference at the Park Plaza London Riverbank on Tuesday.

He expressed his “more positive and confident” attitude towards public service broadcasting in the UK, but warned that this was not the case elsewhere.

“I don’t want to be a market failure,” Mr Davie added. “And that’s exactly what’s happening all over the world, by the way.”

“And I would suggest talking a little bit about what’s happening in the rest of the world. It’s scary, it’s really problematic. I mean, not just borderline problematic. I would say we’re in a red alert in many, many markets.

“And as politics becomes more and more polarized, we have to decide where we want to stand.”

Mr Davie also said the issue was a “real challenge for us” before adding: “This is not a criticism, news organisations that want to make their economic policies work rely on polarisation.”

Channel 4 CEO Alex Mahon said: “Many people are not necessarily looking for trust and truth and that is a battle we are fighting.”

She added that she had “struggled hard” to find a show on a streaming platform that would have “change and impact” and the only one she could think of was “probably” Prime Video’s Clarkson’s Farm to spark conversations about farming in the UK.

“We don’t think maximising dwell time is the key to success, because if it is, it just leads to more salacious things,” Ms Mahon added.

She also said that this leads viewers to “things that are bad for them.”