Director General Mark Thompson says that the BBC faces a “moment for realism”
Next year’s licence fee negotiations will be a “moment of realism” for the BBC, director general Mark Thompson has warned.
But, he said, any loss of funding would permanently damage the UK’s capacity to create television programmes.
In his MacTaggart speech delivered in Edinburgh, Mr Thompson also said that Sky should invest more in homegrown TV, which would be “good for the public”.
Last year’s speech saw Sky boss James Murdoch identify the BBC as a threat.
‘Leaner’ BBC
Mr Murdoch said the scale of the corporation’s ambition was “chilling” and railed against the BBC’s “guaranteed and growing” income.
Mr Thompson responded to these criticisms, saying Sky was on its way to becoming “the most dominant force in broadcast media in this country”.
He suggested that the broadcaster was not doing enough to produce its own original content.
“It’s time that Sky pulled its weight… its investment in original British content is just not enough,” he told an audience at the Edinburgh International Television Festival.
Mr Thompson added that going head-to-head in this area would also be “good for the BBC and good for the industry,” and make up a potential shortfall in the UK’s programme-making capacity.
ITV and Channel 4, he said, would need to remain strong to contribute to making “great British television”.
“The total pot of money available to invest in original TV production is shrinking, and unless something changes, may shrink further.”
He emphasised that the UK’s broadcasters would have to “break the habit of a lifetime and actually work together”.
The BBC boss acknowledged that the corporation was facing a tough challenge over negotiations for the licence fee, which begin in around a year’s time.
“For the BBC I believe this will be a moment of realism and a recognition of the scale of the challenge facing licence fee payers and the country as a whole.”
Arguing that “a pound out of the commissioning budget of the BBC is a pound out of UK creative economy,” Mr Thompson said it was unlikely that cuts to the BBC’s funding “could be magically made up from somewhere else”.
The director general also said that making the licence fee work meant the BBC would “have to become leaner than it’s ever been before”.
The BBC remained committed to reducing the management bill, he continued, promising “simpler structures, fewer layers, fewer management boards”.
He added that such reductions would enable the BBC to invest more in its core strength – making original programmes.
Mr Thompson said that “radical and rapid” change would be necessary at the corporation in the coming years.
A BBC should be “fit and ready for this new world” and “do all it can to help the whole industry thrive,” he concluded.
Director General Mark Thompson says that the BBC faces a “moment for realism”
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