The BBC and Channel 4 are in talks with regards to combining their streaming services, so says new director-general Matt Brittin, talking to the Parliamentary culture committee. Brittin called for a British “sovereign platform” to compete with US giants like Netflix and Disney+. He said the BBC had “an approach and a conversation” with Channel […]
The Czech government has announced plans to replace the country’s TV licence fee with state budget funding for public service media from January 2027. In reposne, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) has said that the proposed funding levels would represent a significant real-terms cut, with no safeguards for PSM independence, no prior consultation with the […]
BBC News is reportedly preparing to announce a major round of job cuts designed to save some £500 million (€578.3m) across the corporation. The number of job cuts, which are likely to be announced this week, could be in the hundreds. The BBC News department currently employing around a quarter of the 21,500 workforce at […]
Switching off Freeview in the 2030s would be far more complex, costly and risky than the UK’s digital TV switchover, according to a report by Christy Swords, a former senior ITV executive involved in the original process. The report, A false comparison: Digital switchover and Freeview switch off, warns that claims a future Freeview switch […]
At a time when BBC is to cut one in ten staff, Stéphane Sitbon-Gomez, France Télévisions deputy general manager, hasn’t ruled out cutting jobs owing to budgetary reasons from now until the French presidential elections in 2027. In charge of output and editorial strategy at the French PSB Group, the executive opened up during a […]
Streaming subscribers in the UK could soon be required to pay the TV licence fee under plans to safeguard the future of the BBC. According to a report in The Times, the government is reluctant to move towards a model funded by advertising or subscriptions and is instead said to be considering an expansive approach, […]
As many as 2,000 jobs could be cut by the BBC across departments as part of a radical downsizing of the UK’s public service broadcaster ahead of the arrival of new director-general Matt Brittin. BBC employees are expected to be told that about one in 10 could lose their jobs at an all-staff meeting, according […]
In an interview for The Rest Is Entertainment podcast, hosted by Richard Osman and Marina Hyde, outgoing BBC Director-General Tim Davie argues that the BBC remains a vital public-service institution in a media landscape transformed by global streamers, political pressure and declining trust. He also shared his thoughts on the licence fee model, and the […]
Citizens in Switzerland have voted against an initiative to reduce the annual licence fee to the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SBC) – the country’s national public broadcaster. The fee, which has already been cut in recent years, currently costs 335 Swiss francs (€372) per household per year. The initiative, backed by the right-wing Swiss People’s Party, […]
The BBC has published its plan “to boost the UK’s creative economy, support democracy and give greater value to audiences”. In a 100-page response to the Government’s Charter Review consultation, the BBC described this as an “urgent opportunity for the UK to secure the world’s leading public service media organisation” for the UK and beyond. […]