He was in conversation with Lord Puttnam, the inquiry’s leader, in front of an audience at Bafta, Piccadilly, London. He said the BBC had produced a range of successful programmes, such as War and Peace and the Night Manager and he defended the right to make popular formats such as Strictly Come Dancing.
He said the BBC’s reputation was based on quality and having the funding to be able to put on such series as Happy Valley, BBC 2’s Inside Obama’s White House and the work of the Natural History Unit. He said: “I think the best answer to the British public, to the politicians, to the cabinet, to this government, to everyone is the quality of what we do. Judge us by our deeds. And I think at the moment you can see what the BBC can offer.”
He refused to be drawn on what was expected in the government’s White Paper on the future of the BBC, following on from a Green Paper which threatened to cut the size and scope of the corporation. He said the BBC, funded by the licence fee, had a role in taking risks in programming and nurturing new talent.
“The licence fee should give us the creative freedom to do what other people don’t do – I totally reject the PSB model in the States – we must have the freedom to experiment.”
The long-running storyline involving domestic abuse in The Archers has at least another year to run, having proved to be a powerful hit with listeners to the Radio 4 series.
Tony Hall, the director general of the BBC, told an audience at Bafta’s headquarters in central London on Tuesday night that the story about the abuse of Helen Titchener by her husband, Rob, developed over two and a half years, was something that “only the BBC could do”.
Hall said: “The much talked-about Archers storyline has brought about an unprecedented public focus on domestic violence in the UK. It’s important that our programmes can tackle difficult issues – and the public seem to agree.”
The BBC audience data shows the rural soap opera has achieved its highest level of listener appreciation. Ratings for Sunday’s transmission are not yet available.
The programme is cited as the reason for a 17% annual increase in calls to the national domestic violence helpline which is run jointly by Women’s Aid and Refuge, the two charities the Archers team has worked with on developing this storyline.
In a wide-ranging conversation with David Puttnam, who is conducting an inquiry into public service television, Hall championed the future of an independent BBC which acts as a “creative hub” for the UK.
He reiterated calls for the industry to be concerned about the growth of foreign-owned companies. “We should be worried about the amount of UK content we are creating … we should be concerned at the decline in the amount of TV production made in this country … the BBC role. We should be the investment arm, if you like: give new talent a chance.”
Hall said the BBC had felt “under attack” at times but he hoped the forthcoming white paper on charter renewal would underline the importance of its independence.
Puttnam said any attack on BBC independence should lead to a march that would make the recent Countryside Alliance march look like “Mickey Mouse”.
IN THE NEWS: Entertainment unions urge BBC director general Tony Hall to ‘Ditch the Deal’
BECTU colleagues Sofie Mason and Sharon Elliott join a host of supporters from across the country urging Tony Hall to stand up to government pressure on BBC funding.
5 April 2016
BECTU together with Equity, the Musicians’ Union and the NUJ are today urging Tony Hall, BBC director-general, to back calls for a reversal of the deal reached with government last year which would see the BBC’s income cut by £750m. Under the umbrella of the Federation of Entertainment Unions, the following press release was issued today, Tuesday 5 April.
BBC Director General Tony Hall has been urged by the Federation of Entertainment Unions to ditch the Licence Fee deal he made with the Government last year, which will cripple the BBC with the cost of free licences for those over 75 at a catastrophic sum of £750m per year (20% of the BBC budget).
The move comes as Lord Hall takes part in an ‘in conversation’ event with film producer and Labour Peer Lord Puttnam at BAFTA in London on 5 April 2016.
IN THE NEWS: BBC is Alive and Kicking, Says Director General Lord Hall
The BBC is very much alive and kicking, the corporation’s boss has said, as he warned against cuts to public service broadcasting.
The next charter must recognise the BBC’s contribution to national life and further afield, its director general Tony Hall said as he continued to make a passionate defence of the broadcasting organisation.
He told a packed audience, which included BBC Trust chair Rona Fairhead, at Bafta in central London that he is proud of the achievements at the broadcaster and championed its independence.
BBC director general Lord Hall said the corporation is “alive and kicking”
Ahead of the talk a handful of people had gathered outside the building in Piccadilly with banners, badges and leaflets emblazoned with the slogan “Save the BBC”, who Lord Hall thanked from the stage for their support.
The BBC’s royal charter, due to expire this year, is currently under Government review, and Culture, Media and Sport Secretary John Whittingdale sparked fears the corporation would be scaled back when he said the review would look at whether the broadcaster should continue to be ”all things to all people” or have a more ”precisely targeted” mission.
SUBMISSION: Pluralism Needs to be Viewed in Terms of the Range, Form, Purpose and Tone of Programmes
The Institute of Welsh Affairs (IWA) submits to the Inquiry its recently published Media Audit for 2015. It raises concerns over the decline in spending on television programming for Wales, emphasising that this decline is particularly severe for English language television content produced for the audience in Wales. This is an issue as ‘pluralism needs to be viewed not just in terms of the number of providers, but also in terms of the range, form, purpose and tone of programmes and the voices they carry.’ One of IWA’s recommendations, therefore, is for the BBC to ‘create a funding and commissioning system that devolves a significant tranche of network funding so that commissioners in the nations can have the freedom to bring other cultural perspectives to bear, to improve ‘portrayal’ and so diversify the output.’ Below are links IWA’s Executive Summary – English Version, Welsh Version and IWA’s response to Clementi’s Review.
