The BBC’s director general Tony Hall says British TV is under “serious threat” from the likes of Netflix, Amazon and Apple.
In a speech in Liverpool this evening, Hall will say the UK television industry faces the possibility of a £500 million drop in the amount of money spent on production in the next decade.
Hall will say this threat comes from the rise of Facebook, Apple, Nextflix, Google and Amazon (FANGA) as well as a drop in advertising revenues for commercial broadcasters.
The possible reduction in funding comes from a report by Mediatique, which was specially commissioned by the BBC to look into the future of the industry.
In his speech, Hall will say the findings are “worrying” and that the industry needs to “face the reality that the British content we value and rely upon is under serious threat.”
“The reality is that their [FANGA’s] investment decisions are likely to focus increasingly on a narrow range of very expensive, very high-end content – big bankers that they can rely on to have international appeal and attract large, global audiences,” Hall will say.
“Even the most generous calculations suggest they are barely likely to make up half of the £500 million British content gap over the decade ahead. And a more realistic forecast points to substantially less.”
“The BBC has always shown a great ability to adapt to new challenges and make them opportunities,” Hall’s speech will say. “If we get the response right now, and the rest of the industry does the same, then we can safeguard the future of homegrown content and, rather than British content diminishing, we can kickstart a new golden age for British production.”
