BBC director general Tony Hall believes the BBC is ready to take on the streaming giants as the TV industry enters the “second wave of disruption.”
Hall is due to speak at this week’s Royal Television Society convention in Cambridge.
As part of his speech, he will tell the audience the industry is about to enter a second wave of disruption with the arrival of Disney Plus and Apple TV+.
“The first was about the rise of Netflix, Amazon and Spotify: market shapers that fundamentally changed audience behaviour, often at the cost of huge losses or massive cross-subsidy,” Hall will say.
“The second wave will see a range of new entrants entering an already crowded market. We saw it last week as Apple announced their new subscription service. Disney, Hulu and others are to follow.
“This is, of course, great for audiences. Possibly.”
Hall will continue that the established streamers will need to fight harder to offer viewers the value they have today as programme makers move their content from the likes of Netflix and Amazon Prime in order to launch them on their own services.
Hall will argue that rather than being a threat, the BBC sees the launch of the new streaming services as an opportunity for the BBC to offer an even better service to the public. Because of the BBC’s plans to add a host of new services to iPlayer, it will help it stand out from the rest of the market.
“In this market, services that are distinctive and different will stand out.
“And two vital things make us different. Firstly, we have a unique mission and purpose, all audiences – young and old – believe in it.
“Purpose and values matter today more than ever, as people pick and choose services for ethical reasons as much as economic ones.
“Secondly, no one offers the range of content, in so many genres, on so many platforms, as the BBC.
“We’re not Netflix, we’re not Spotify. We’re not Apple News. We’re so much more than all of them put together.”
