Ministers must act to ensure Britain’s public broadcasting landscape does not become a thing of the past, the BBC’s chair is to warn.
Dr Samir Shah is expected to say “the fight is on” for the future of public service broadcasting in his first major speech since taking the role.
Dr Shah will say public service broadcasters like the BBC are a “very British success story” when he speaks to a group of TV industry figures in Leeds on Tuesday.
But amid the rise of streaming, Dr Shah, who became chair in March, will warn: “Action is needed now to future-proof public service broadcasters, otherwise our very British success story will be part of our halcyon past.”
He will question the “sense of almost perpetual government review over the BBC” and is expected to add: “No other country has anything like this. Public service broadcasters lie at the heart of our social and cultural life, and they are worth fighting for. And, to be frank, the fight is on.”
Dr Shah will float the idea of a permanent BBC charter, which would bring the BBC in line with other institutions such as the British Council, the Bank of England and UK Sport.
The current system means the BBC’s royal charter is renewed every 10 years.
The current charter runs out in 2027, and the government published the conclusions of a mid-term review in January.
The charter sets out the purposes of the BBC and outlines its governance and regulatory arrangements, including the role of the BBC board.
Discussions with the government ahead of the next charter renewal will be approached “constructively and with an open mind”, he will say, and “reforming the licence fee, replacing it, or coming up with a whole new mechanism” all remain on the table.
The BBC chair will also say he doesn’t support subscription and advertising as possible future funding models because neither “pass the test” for a universal, public service BBC as they shift the priority from serving audiences to profiting from them.
ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5 and S4C are also classed as public service broadcasters.
