In a powerful defence of the corporation's unique role, former BBC Director General Tony Hall has called for the national broadcaster to be seen as a cornerstone of British social infrastructure, akin to the NHS. His intervention comes amid a crucial year for the BBC, with its future funding and purpose under government review and a high-profile legal dispute with former US President Donald Trump dominating headlines.
Beyond the Trump Dispute: The Core Debate on the BBC's Future
Lord Hall, who led the BBC from April 2013 to August 2020, urged the public and policymakers not to let the recent controversy over a journalistic error involving Donald Trump obscure the more important national conversation. While acknowledging the seriousness of the mistake, which led to a $5bn lawsuit from the former president, Hall stated the BBC was right to apologise but not to yield further, calling it a chance to demonstrate the corporation's independence.
He argues the real debate should focus on the type of BBC the United Kingdom needs. He cites the government's own green paper from December, which described the BBC as a national institution so vital that "if it did not already exist, we would have to invent it." Hall strongly endorses Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy's view that the BBC is one of the nation's two most important institutions, fundamental to the health of British democracy.
The BBC as the Nation's Indispensable Storyteller
While the BBC's role in providing trusted, impartial news is widely recognised—it reaches around 453 million people globally each week—Hall contends its cultural purpose is undervalued. He directly addresses the common argument that streaming giants like Netflix, Apple TV+, and Amazon Prime make the BBC redundant for drama and entertainment.
"The streamers do drama, people often say to me, so why do we need a BBC?" he writes. While enjoying international hits himself, Hall points out a critical difference: global streamers commission content for an international audience, while the BBC tells British stories on an unparalleled scale. He highlights that audiences still spend more time weekly with BBC TV and iPlayer than with Netflix, Disney+, and Amazon Prime combined.
In the first quarter of this year, the BBC secured five of the top ten most-watched programmes in the UK across all broadcasters and streamers. Hall cites specific, uniquely British content that he believes streamers would not commission, such as the powerful BBC1 documentary Our Girls – The Southport Families about a tragic 2024 attack, or locally resonant dramas like This City Is Ours set in Liverpool.
A Defence Against Cultural Market Failure
Lord Hall posits that the BBC must now be seen as a vital defence against market failure in broadcasting. He lists genres that are commercially challenging but culturally essential: religion, the arts, gentle reflections of national life like Countryfile or The Repair Shop, and trusted children's content on CBeebies and Bitesize.
The BBC is the single largest investor in UK-made programming, contributing approximately £4.9bn to the economy annually, with half of that spend outside London. Beyond economics, Hall emphasises its role in defining communities, from local stations like BBC Radio Cumbria binding widespread areas, to national services for Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.
As the charter renewal debate approaches, encompassing funding, governance, and audience reach, Hall's central plea is to not lose sight of "media as culture." He concludes that while the offerings of streamers should be enjoyed, the UK must ensure a properly funded BBC that reflects the nation's rich diversity, informs, educates, and entertains everyone, and ultimately helps define who we are.
