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The BBC wants to double the weekly reach of the World Service to 1bn people, director-general Tim Davie has said, calling on ministers for additional funding in the face of threatened budget cuts.
Davie said the BBC had a plan to meet the need for impartial news across the globe by “supercharging” its international news service, including regionalising content in key English-speaking markets and boosting the service in four languages.
The Financial Times revealed in March that the government was examining cuts to the World Service grant in the forthcoming spending review after Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer announced plans to reduce UK overseas aid. The spending review will report in June.
On Wednesday, Davie said in a speech in Salford that “China, Russia, other players [are] investing hundreds of millions, in some cases, billions in China on disinformation . . . we’ve got to make a decision as a country, are we in this game or not?”
He added that pursuing more ambitious plans rather than maintaining the status quo would “cost a few £100mn more than where we are today”, adding that the move would need “proper government funding”.
In a wide-ranging speech designed to set out a vision for the future of the BBC as it enters negotiations to renew its next 10-year charter in 2027, Davie stressed the importance of the broadcaster.
“The future of our cohesive, democratic society feels, for the first time in my life, at risk,” he added.
Davie outlined a number of new initiatives, including plans for a streaming device that could be used by households with poor internet to support a national move to switch terrestrial TV services to internet-only delivery.
The BBC would seek to make more of its news programming for platforms, such as YouTube and TikTok, he said, and use artificial intelligence alongside BBC journalism to create a new fact-checking tool.
The broadcaster also plans to use AI to create a “personal learning companion” for children to support teachers across the UK.
In an effort to help struggling regional news services, Davie said the BBC would look at opening its video, news and audio content to local media partners. The broadcaster’s studios and facilities could be shared with outside content creators, he added.
He suggested that some form of universal public levy was needed to fund the BBC in future, despite the current licence fee drawing criticism from some quarters, but ruled out using subscription or advertising-funded models.
“When it comes to funding, we are not asking for the status quo. We want modernisation and reform. But in doing so we must safeguard universality,” he said.
“All the funding models that have been floated in the debate have their merits and drawbacks. But some such as advertising or subscription don’t pass the test of building a universal trusted public service,” he added.
