BBC News: BBC moving money and power from London, says Tim Davie

Story from BBC News:

A "transformation" is underway to avoid the perception that the BBC is London-centric, the broadcaster's director general has said.

Tim Davie said he was "pretty obsessed" with the threat to democracy and representation of the whole of the UK.

Mr Davie told the Welsh Parliament's culture committee that the corporation had invested £700m outside of London.

The BBC has recently moved its network news Climate Change team to Cardiff.

A major studio responsible for high profile dramas such as Doctor Who opened in Cardiff Bay in 2011.

Mr Davie said: "We are in the opposite position to moving the BBC power, resources and money to London. That is exactly the opposite of the strategy I have set.

"We have pushed £700m out. There is more drama being produced in Wales than ever before.

"Do not take this as complacency, because there is a lot more to do, but career-wise you can now get to a network level news editor in Cardiff and that is completely transformational."

The BBC's acting chair Elan Closs Stephens also appeared before the committee and told members she "did not want to see a BBC where someone thinks that someone who remains in Cardiff cannot hack it in London".

She said success over the course of a six-year project would rest on the level of seniority of BBC personnel who would move out of London.

She said the committee should re-evaluate the BBC's progress in two years' time.

Labour Blaenau Gwent Member of the Senedd (MS) Alun Davies also raised concerns about how the "cultural expression" of English-speaking Welsh people was served by the BBC.

He called for more resources to be devoted to it.

Rhuanedd Richards, director of BBC Wales, said it was one of the BBC's missions and was critical to identity and democracy.

She added "if we were seeing a trajectory where volume was down and spend was down and impact was down I would be nervous right now.

"But what we have done is increased the number of series and titles and grown impact on iPlayer by 16%, but I do not deny that the ambition is here to keep making that impact."

Mr Davie said the corporation was "ducking and diving" on sports broadcast rights to stay within budget, including with the Six Nations.

He would not be drawn on whether Wales matches should be part of the protected list of events which have to be on free-to-air television, but said that he was a "vociferous proponent" of listed events.