Should BBC Director-General Tim Davie resign over controversies?
There have been some calls for the Director-General to resign.
So what's the broadcaster to do? We're joined by Chair of the Culture and Media Committee, Conservative MP Dame Caroline Dinenage, and former chief executive of ITN and former Ofcom content and standards partner, Stewart Purvis.
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Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Daily Mail
GB News overtakes BBC for first time to become Britain's most watched TV news channel
GB News has overtaken the BBC for the first time to become Britain's number one TV news channel. New figures show that GB News beat both the Beeb and Sky News in terms of viewing figures during key slots in July. It marks the first time BBC News has been overtaken by GB News for an entire month and comes just after the start-up broadcaster celebrated its fourth birthday. The figures have come from the television industry's BARB ratings, which track total share and average views. They show that GB News pulled in an average audience of 80,600 across each day in July. This compares to BBC News which had 78,700 viewers in the same month and Sky News with 67,000. GB News also came out on top during the breakfast show and primetime weekday evenings from 6pm to 11pm, as well as during the Sunday morning political slot. The Camilla Tominey Show, which runs from 9.30am to 11am on Sundays, secured an average of 123,900 views. This was 21 per cent higher than the equivalent programme on the BCC which had an average of 102,780 viewers. Ben Briscoe, GB News' Head of Programming, commented: 'This is a seismic moment, not just for us, but for British broadcasting. 'We are ending the dominance of the BBC News Channel and Sky News. 'And there's more to come. Starting in September, GB News will expand its programming with the launch of a brand new show from Washington DC, taking our coverage to an even wider audience.' GB News was launched in 2021 and has rapidly grown into a major player in the UK media landscape. It was the first new entrant into the UK's media sector in more than three decades, and has also expanded to become a national radio network. The TV channel's success also comes as increasing numbers of Brits switch from watching live TV to streaming. Figures released by the watchdog Ofcom this week revealed that people are spending four per cent less time watching broadcast TV in 2024 than in 2023. However, GB News's surging viewing figures come amid a series of disputes the channel is locked in with Ofcom. Last year, GB News was handed a £100,000 fine for breaching impartiality rules in a programme featuring Rishi Sunak. It followed an appearance by Mr Sunak on a February 12 broadcast called People's Forum: The Prime Minister, where he was asked questions by a studio audience. An earlier investigation by Ofcom found that 'an appropriately wide range of significant viewpoints was not presented and given due weight'. Meanwhile in February, GB News won a High Court battle against Ofcom after it ruled the channel had breached impartiality rules in a programme presented by Jacob Rees-Mogg. The judge ruled that the initial decisions which were made in May and June 2023 were unlawful. Furthermore in 2023, GB News received 7,300 complaints and launched an internal investigation after former host Laurence Fox made a series of remarks about a female journalist. The actor-turned-activist apologised for a 'demeaning' sexist rant about political correspondent Ms Evans, which included him asking 'who would want to sh*g that?. Fox said he was angry with Ms Evans over comments she made on a BBC debate around male suicide and alleged she had a 'dislike of men in general', but apologised for 'demeaning her'. Addressing the situation in a video posted to X, he said: 'If I was going to be sensible and I could replay it, I would say: 'Any self-respecting man in 2023 would probably be well advised to avoid a woman who possessed that worldview because she would probably cause him nothing but harm'. 'But what I did say was, you know, 'I wouldn't shag that', and all that sort of stuff, which is not right. It's demeaning to her, to Ava, so I'm sorry for demeaning you in that way. 'However angry I am with you still for doing that, and it demeans me because it's not representative of who I am.'
South Wales Argus
7 hours ago
- South Wales Argus
Aberthaw Power Station £5m settlement 'blindsided' cllrs
The £5.25m sum was paid to a company that brought a legal challenge to how the Cardiff Captial Region, which is made up of 10 councils in South East Wales including those in Gwent, awarded a contract for the demolition of a former power station. Earlier this year a High Court judge declared the contract to demolish Aberthaw Power Station for the Cardiff Capital Region was awarded unlawfully but the size of the settlement was only revealed in June and a councillor said he only learnt about it from news reports. Councillors who sit on the region's overview and scrutiny committee. who met this week, complained they hadn't been fully informed of the proceedings, and accepted they had failed to properly scrutinise the region's leadership and its executive. Armand Watts, a Labour councillor from Monmouthshire council, told the meeting: 'There's nothing worse as councillors than the feeling of being blindsided. That is how we felt. The first I properly understood this was reading about it in the newspapers.' Cllr Watts said it was 'embarrassing' for himself and Monmouthshire's Conservative representative on the committee, Cllr Jan Butler. He said: 'People were saying what's going on? And we didn't know as we hadn't discussed it.' He added: 'We should fear our electorate, they are reading headlines in newspapers and asking how did it ever get to this point?' Susan Lloyd-Selby, a Labour councillor for the Vale of Glamorgan which includes Aberthaw, said she wanted to know more about the independent review the region has commissioned and said there are also local concerns around the ongoing demolition work which she said were causing 'reputational issues' for the body. Cardiff Labour councillor Peter Wong said he'd been unhappy from the start with how the region had handled the £38m purchase of the former coal fired power station, in 2022. It intends developing the site as a renewable energy park and is doing so through Cardiff Capital Region Energy a limited company in which the Cardiff Capital Region is the only shareholder. Cllr Wong said: 'At the very first meeting at Aberthaw I asked can we see the business case and was told no, not even in confidence. That didn't help the level of transparency. 'I'm not saying that wouldn't have led to the issues at Aberthaw but that lack of transparency doesn't help. I genuinely think there needs to be more transparency and more effective scrutiny than we've currently been doing.' Later in the meeting Cllr Wong criticised the draft annual report of the South East Wales Corporate Joint Committee, which is the formal name for the capital region as one of four joint committees established across Wales. He compared it to the highly controlled decision making of the former Soviet Union and said: 'I don't think the report in front of us reflects what happened. It feels very much politburo stuff.' During the meeting Monmouthshire County Council's Labour leader, Mary Ann Brocklesby, who is the chair of the capital region said the 'procurement issue around Aberthaw' was 'without question' the body's 'low point' of the year. Chief executive Kellie Beirne said the independent review is being conducted by accountancy firm Deloitte and is about 'half way through' and is expected to be delivered in the early autumn. Ms Beirne also stated she isn't a board member of Cardiff Capital Region Energy and also reminded members the legal proceedings were against Cardiff council and said the region is bound by a confidentiality agreement. It has previously said the £5.25m settlement has been funded from commercial returns on interest generated on balances it holds, and there was no requirement for further public funding.
The Herald Scotland
9 hours ago
- The Herald Scotland
Government defends Online Safety Act after X claims it threatens free speech
The Government countered that it is 'demonstrably false' that the Online Safety Act compromises free speech and said it is not designed to censor political debate. Under rules that came into effect on July 25, online platforms must take steps to prevent children accessing harmful content such as pornography or material that encourages suicide. This includes a new duty for online providers to reduce the risk that users encounter illegal content as well as age verification measures in the UK to access pornographic content. 'As a result, the act's laudable intentions are at risk of being overshadowed by the breadth of its regulatory reach. Without a more balanced, collaborative approach, free speech will suffer,' X said. It accused regulators of taking a 'heavy-handed approach' and said that 'many are now concerned that a plan ostensibly intended to keep children safe is at risk of seriously infringing on the public's right to free expression'. Ofcom said this week it had launched investigations into 34 pornography sites for new age-check requirements. Technology Secretary Peter Kyle became involved in a row with the Reform UK leader (Jonathan Brady/PA) The company said 'a balanced approach is the only way to protect individual liberties, encourage innovation and safeguard children'. A Government spokesperson said: 'It is demonstrably false that the Online Safety Act compromises free speech. 'As well as legal duties to keep children safe, the very same law places clear and unequivocal duties on platforms to protect freedom of expression. Failure to meet either obligation can lead to severe penalties, including fines of up to 10% of global revenue or £18 million, whichever is greater. 'The Act is not designed to censor political debate and does not require platforms to age gate any content other than those which present the most serious risks to children such as pornography or suicide and self-harm content. 'Platforms have had several months to prepare for this law. It is a disservice to their users to hide behind deadlines as an excuse for failing to properly implement it.' Technology Secretary Peter Kyle became embroiled in a row with Nigel Farage earlier this week over Reform UK's pledge that it would scrap the Act if the party came into power. He said the Reform UK leader of being on the side of 'extreme pornographers'.
