By Lidia Molina-Whyte

Published: Wednesday, 19 October 2022 at 12:00 am


The BBC turns 100 on 24th October and, to celebrate, it will be broadcasting a range of special content for a week – including a Strictly Come Dancing episode featuring tunes from its most famous TV shows.

Though the last 10 decades have yielded many triumphs for the broadcaster, they have also proved challenging as it adapts to the constantly changing media landscape and the Government’s plans to scrap the licence fee.

In this week’s Radio Times magazine, BBC director-general Tim Davie addressed these concerns and reassured offline viewers that they would not be left behind, while also bringing about change.

“To anyone who fears we’re leaving offline audiences behind, I can reassure them that, in 2021, of the 18 dramas broadcast in the UK that attracted more than 10 million viewers, 15 were on the BBC,” he said.

“To those who worry we’re not moving quickly enough to meet the pace of digital change, we can point to more than 30 million iPlayer streams for shows like The Tourist, Peaky Blinders and The Apprentice.”

Davie also reiterated that “we will never underestimate the importance of our traditional stations and channels. Each is a creative powerhouse. Every day they demonstrate the value of careful curation in a content-saturated age.”

You can read the full interview in this week’s issue of Radio Times magazine.

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