BBC boss Tim Davie to warn of threat to British storytelling from “US & Chinese algorithms”

Tim Davie (credit: RTS/Richard Kendal)

BBC director-general Tim Davie is to warn that British storytelling is at “growing risk of being squeezed out in an extraordinarily competitive global media landscape” in a speech tomorrow.

The chief of the UK public broadcaster will warn of the threat that global streaming services and social media giants, such as TikTok and Facebook, pose to the future of the BBC. He will say that UK audiences are in danger of allowing “US and Chinese algorithms” to decide what they watch.

In notes released to the press ahead of the speech, Davie is to warn that “we are in danger of the UK’s world-class creative industries being undermined and diminishing our unique cultural identity and its remarkable influence worldwide.” He will also argue that “the BBC can and must be part of the solution to national challenges” such as AI and other technological developments.

Davie will make the speech in London tomorrow morning ahead of a Q&A session, where he will outline how he plans to “secure the future of the BBC” through measures including chasing more profitable deals, such as the partnership with Disney on long-running sci-fi Doctor Who.

The director-general will say that it is time to “radically transform and renew” and will also share plans to integrate the BBC’s online services and invest in high-impact content from across the UK. The speech will come ahead of the BBC’s Annual Plan in which it will set out its spending plan for the year ahead.

Davie’s speech will address the need for the BBC’s digital services, such as iPlayer, to keep up with streamers such as Netflix, and will pledge to rebuild these platforms to offer a more personalised, competitive, experience.

Although not expected to be part of the speech, this transformation could also include potential restructuring and job losses ahead, as the BBC looks to cut costs by dropping expensive programming and reassesses its large offering of TV, radio, and digital services.

Late last year, the BBC warned that it will have to make further budget cuts following the UK government’s decision to increase the licence fee that funds it by less than had been expected.

In December, UK culture secretary Lucy Frazer announced that the licence fee would be increased from £159 to £169.50, a rise of £10.50 and less than the figure expected under an agreement struck between the BBC and the government in 2022, when the fee was frozen for two years with the proviso that it would rise with inflation after that.

Frazer undercut this commitment by calculating the inflationary increase on the basis of September’s inflation rate rather than an annualised inflation figure.

The move means a shortfall of about £90m ($113m) in the BBC’s revenue for the coming year.