BBC director-general Tim Davie has said the broadcaster’s enduring mission to inform, educate and entertain is now more vital than ever as it grapple with rapid technological change, disinformation and social division.In a major speech hosted by the Royal Television Society at Savoy Hill House, the birthplace of the BBC, Davie said the BBC had been reforming at pace to remain at the heart of people’s daily lives, but must now go further.“We stand at a significant moment. The jeopardy is high,” he told his audience of industry experts, partners, and BBC staff across the world.“The future of the UK, democratically, socially and culturally is at risk.“And for us to succeed, far from following where the market is driving others, we must double down on what audiences see as our unique value.”Davie set out the three essential roles the BBC will prioritise to ensure it offers value for audiences; Pursuing truth with no agenda – by reporting fearlessly and fairly; Backing the best British storytelling – by investing in homegrown talent and creativity; Bringing people together – by connecting everyone to unmissable content.High inflation and increased costs as well as below inflation settlements “have chipped away at our income over many years and have put significant pressure on our finances”, he said, alongside “forces reshaping the market and creating huge disruption to traditional broadcast-based organisations”.“And it’s not just the future of the BBC and the Public Service Broadcasters that are at stake, it’s the future of our wider creative industries,” said Davie. “A world-class success story, but one we can’t afford to take for granted.”As reported in Broadband TV News on Monday, there will be significant changes to BBC online to “create a fully integrated and sensibly personalised service that allows us to connect up the BBC rather than simply offering it up as a set of different products.” Davie said this would involve a dramatic change in how the BBC works.One change will be to concentrate content for younger audiences onto BBC iPlayer rather than the revived linear channel BBC Three.While the BBC had become one of the only non-US media companies to have scale in video, alongside audio, weather and news, Davie said the BBC had not yet fully unlocked the power of the multimedia offer to audiences.“In the future BBC, you will be able to move across the content seamlessly, not limited by media type. If you are interested in a topic you should be able to easily mine the whole BBC, from archives to live output, audio/video World Service, Local”.Multi-media brands, such as the fact-checking BBC Verify, would be deployed globally. There would also be two new brands including a new digital destination that will offer deeper analysis, longer reads and context beyond rolling news. A BBC investigations brand would bring the broadcaster’s investigative journalism into a single home.Davie also said there were plans to work with a number of major tech companies on BBC-specific AI pilots.The director-general promised the BBC would proactively research how to reform the licence fee post-2028, looking at its scope, how it could be more progressive, and making sure its enforcement is fair and proportionate. This would be alongside the Government’s own review into BBC funding.
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