BBC director-general Tim Davie has said he supports “reform” in the way the corporation is funded.
The Government is set to launch the review of the BBC’s Charter, looking at how it should be funded, after committing to increasing the licence fee in line with inflation each year until 2027.
In April, there was a rise from £169.50 to £174.50 in the household charge, after years in which the licence fee was first frozen and then increased at a slower rate than the BBC expected, leaving the corporation increasingly cash-strapped amid rising inflation.
At the Media and Telecoms 2025 and Beyond Conference, from Enders Analysis and Deloitte, in London on Tuesday, Mr Davie said: “I want to justify the value that we have. I want that protected.
“I think there is reform (needed) in terms of potential (changes to the) licence fee, how progressive it is, and you’ll debate the enforcement question.”
He added that he does “not want the same system” in the future, but said: “I do want universal funding, and I want a proper investigation of begrudging, grinding cuts that we’ve seen over the last 10 years, which has just not helped.”
Mr Davie also told the event, at Convene Sancroft in the St Paul’s area, that he is concerned about the people who “don’t care” about the BBC and are “disengaged”, rather than people who criticise the corporation.
He said he wants to “celebrate the fact that people care”, as the BBC features heavily on “front pages” in the UK.
Mr Davie also indicated he was positive about the use of artificial intelligence (AI), before saying the BBC has “very big ambition around the media supply chain” including the “need for muscular partnerships with the big American technology companies”.
Later, Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy told the event she is “determined to find a way forward that works for the creative industry and creators” and technology companies after Sir Elton John and Sir Paul McCartney criticised the Government’s AI plans.
She added that “there are no easy solutions, but this Government is determined to work with you to find a solution with transparency and trust as its foundation”.
“We are a Labour Government, and the principle that people must be paid for their work is foundational,” the MP for Wigan added.
“And you have our word that if it doesn’t work for the creative industries, it will not work for us. People are at the heart of this industry.”
She also promised that the BBC Charter review will be launched “later this year to support a BBC that is empowered to continue to deliver a vital public service funded in a sustainable way”.
Ms Nandy said: “Later this month, we’ll publish a creative industries sector plan to turbo-charge the growth of creative industries right across the UK, to support film and TV clusters from Birmingham to Belfast, to tap into the huge potential of the growth that exists across our country.”
She also committed to no “new taxes” or “levies”, after calls for a levy on streaming companies to protect UK broadcasters, and said the Government wants to “ensure that we have a regulatory framework that incentivises inward investment, that creates opportunities for businesses, both big and small”.
In another session at the same conference, Kevin Lygo, managing director of ITV’s media and entertainment division, spoke about the need for “prominence” for the UK’s national broadcasters amid their increased competition with streaming companies.
He said: “I think you have to go back to first principles, because all this discussion is based on the programme itself being worth watching. So I think that’s the key for major broadcasters is to never lose sight of making them.”
Mr Lygo also appeared to confirm that the hit ITV drama Mr Bates Vs The Post Office, which shone a greater spotlight on the Horizon IT scandal, is starting to become a commercial success, following multiple actors, including Toby Jones, saying that they took a pay cut to be on the show.
Mr Lygo said it is “harder and harder to find the budgets”, and admitted that at first, it was difficult to explain a series “about a computer hitch in the British Post Office” to foreign buyers.
“The UK is in this wonderful position when a show really works in the UK, everybody across the world knows about it and wants a piece of it,” he said.
“So, yes, I’m sure, I don’t know exactly (the profit) by the production company, but I’m sure they’ve got their investment back.”
