Tim Davie

Click here to read the full article. BBC Director-General Tim Davie has revealed plans for a “digital first” BBC as the broadcaster celebrates its hundredth year as well as revealing at hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of cutbacks. Davie said he plans to cut £200 million ($250 million) from the budget due to the government’s decision to freeze the license fee, which funds the BBC. The freeze will create a £285m annual funding gap by 2027/28. Of the £200 million, Davie said £50 million “is already baked into our current budgets” but the rest will have to be delivered by “stopping...

Click here to read the full article. The BBC is likely to reduce the amount of content it produces rather than cutting whole channels in order to make massive savings, according to Director General Tim Davie, who had to deflect tricky questions about its relationship with disgraced DJ Tim Westwood. A major announcement is coming over the next few weeks as to how the corporation plans to save around £1.5B ($2B) over the next five years and Davie hinted that cutting shows over services is the likely direction. He has operated with a policy of “fewer, bigger, better” since taking over...

BBC Director General Tim Davie has said yesterday’s licence fee settlement will leave the public broadcaster with a shortfall of £285M ($390M) in 2027/2028 and needing to save around $1.5BN (£2.1BN) across the next five years. The corporation still has to separately make around $1BN (£1.4BN) in savings but, while still hefty, the figure will slightly calm existential fears that the BBC would have to drastically reshape in order to meet the new settlement, which will see the license fee frozen for the next two years before it rises with inflation from 2024 to 2027. Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today program in...

BBC Director General Tim Davie has blamed personal error rather than swingeing cuts to its news team for last month’s heavily-criticized Alan Dershowitz interview, which came immediately after the guilty Ghislaine Maxwell verdict. Questioned by a UK House of Lords Committee on what was to blame, Davie put the mistake down to a lack of due diligence carried out by the show’s planner and poor research, after the BBC failed to mention that Dershowitz has been accused of historic sexual abuse by Jeffrey Epstein accuser Virginia Roberts Giuffre. Giuffre has previously sued Dershowitz for defamation, which he subsequently counter-sued. Dershowitz, who has...

Students have quizzed the BBC's top boss on everything from ratings battles to how to get ahead in the media. Tim Davie, BBC director general, went to Exeter College to open a new studio in a collaboration with the college. The studio on the Centre for Creative Industries site will...

BBC Director General Tim Davie has made his second mega impartiality intervention since taking over a year ago as the review set up in the wake of the Martin Bashir scandal reports back. Revealed this morning as a 10-point plan “focused on impartiality, editorial standards and whistleblowing”, the BBC will now regularly examine its TV content, including documentaries, factual and children’s, to make sure shows are meeting impartiality standards and reflecting a range of viewpoints. Starting with coverage of ‘UK public spending and taxation’, the plan will also see regular reviews conducted into key areas of public debate covered by BBC News...

Influential Black media figure Marcus Ryder will take up BBC director general Tim Davies’ offer to meet for a private discussion over claims that the executive blocked Ryder’s appointment to a senior news role within the organization, Variety can confirm. A source tells Variety that Ryder and Davie are scheduled...

BBC Studios has appointed chief finance officer Tom Fussell as CEO, more than one year after Tim Davie moved to become DG. Fussell has held the interim post since 2020, overseeing the producer-distributor’s global strategy. He will lead on the development of ambitious expansion plans as Davie tasks BBC Studios with boosting commercial returns by 30% over the next five years, while also overseeing diversity and inclusion initiatives and multiple other areas of business. “In the last year, Tom has proven himself an outstanding leader for BBC Studios, steering the company through its most difficult times with both conviction and compassion, and delivering strong results,” said Davie. Fussell added: “BBC Studios is a core part of the BBC Group, and increasingly supports across all its strategic priorities from unique high priority content and impartiality to online and, of course, commercial income.  With ambition to serve both British and international audiences in new ways, my role is to work with everyone in BBC Studios to strengthen and transform all we do for the future.” Fussell joined then-BBC Worldwide as chief financial officer in 2016 and took the same role when the distribution outfit merged with the production outfit. He is a former CFO of Shine Group.  

It is harder than ever for the BBC to maintain impartiality amid the "culture wars" and a polarisation of online views, its director general has said. The corporation has "done it pretty well for 99 years" and still is, Tim Davie has told a committee of MPs. "I just think...