Latest news with #BBCCharter
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
BBC boss supports ‘reform' to funding of broadcaster
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.'
North Wales Chronicle
3 days ago
- Business
- North Wales Chronicle
BBC boss supports ‘reform' to funding of broadcaster
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.'
Rhyl Journal
3 days ago
- Business
- Rhyl Journal
BBC boss supports ‘reform' to funding of broadcaster
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.' 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.'
Leader Live
3 days ago
- Business
- Leader Live
BBC boss supports ‘reform' to funding of broadcaster
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.' 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.'
Yahoo
10-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Why Ofcom was right to clip Radio 2's wings
The BBC is many things to many people, but what it should never be, to anyone, is a bully boy. Therefore, the corporation should be counting its blessings that Ofcom, following a full Competitions Assessment, has provisionally concluded that the proposed extension to Radio 2 – a digital spinoff that would focus on music and archive content from the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s – cannot go ahead. Ofcom concluded that the station would 'create a significant adverse impact on fair and effective competition', something verboten as per the BBC Charter. The rationale was obvious. While Radio 2 is easily still the most popular radio station in the UK, it's not as popular as it once was (losing roughly 2m listeners in the past five years), with commercial radio booming and independent stations popping up to serve audiences that, according to Ofcom, 'the BBC has moved away from'. The station's major commercial rivals - Greatest Hits, Magic, Heart - have strengthened their positions in recent years, poaching BBC DJs and listeners alike by serving up what we think of as more traditional Radio 2 fare. The audience that Radio 2 has moved away from is, inevitably, the older audience, and thus trying to claw those listeners back via the proposed spin-offs seemed a bit rich. The BBC can't have its cake and eat it. One station in particular benefited from the change in Radio 2's intended audience – Boom Radio, founded in 2021 by Phil Riley and David Lloyd to cater for the 'golden oldies' audience that Radio 2 turned its back on. It's a tiny affair, with 1 per cent of Radio 2's budget, but the station has recruited cannily ('Diddy' David Hamilton, Simon Bates, David 'Kid' Jensen) and serves up exactly the sort of music that the Radio 2 extension was suggesting. The station proudly boasts that the average age of its regular presenters is 70 and that many of them host their shows from their sheds and bedrooms. Ofcom ruled that Boom Radio, which currently attracts just under 650k listeners, would suffer more than most from Radio 2's proposed land grab. Riley, Boom Radio's CEO, was understandably cockahoop with the ruling, calling the proposed station 'typical BBC arrogance… Common sense has prevailed – David has beaten Goliath'. However, we should all be pleased. Firstly, because the BBC should not be allowed to thump smaller, innovative rivals into submission just because they can – Ofcom have allowed other BBC digital extension to go ahead, in the shape of Radio 1 Dance, Radio 1 Anthems and Radio 3 Unwind, because it sees 'limited impact' on fair and effective competition. And secondly, because this could be the spur for Radio 2 to get its own house in order. Ken Bruce, whose defection to Greatest Hits in 2023 should have sent chills down BBC spines, last year advised his former employers to change course and stop chasing younger listeners. 'Radio 2 thinking it's cool is the worst thing we can do,' he said. Whether the station thinks it is cool or not is immaterial, but what is certain is that it has moved its focus onto Gen X listeners (people born in the late 1960s to the early 1980s), with much of its music now coming from 1980s, 1990s and later. (As I write this, Jeremy Vine has just played two big hits from the mid-1990s, Dreams by Gabrielle and Don't Speak by No Doubt.) Radio 2 needs to take this opportunity to take stock and rediscover true cross-generational appeal (and also to consider a slightly more offbeat musical menu than used to be on offer via programmes such as Clare Teal's The Swing and Band Show). Older listeners are not a genre to be syphoned off into a digital station, while younger listeners still love to be introduced to music from long before their time. Now is the time for Radio 2 to remember the musical diversity that, in years past, has made it a hit. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
