Tim Davie: BBC charter renewal must deliver long-term financing to avoid decline

The stakes are high for the future of publicly funded broadcasting if the renewal of the BBC’s royal charter does not deliver sustainable financing, the outgoing director-general of the corporation has said.

Tim Davie, who quit in the wake of row with US president Donald Trump over the broadcasting of a Panorama programme in which key parts of a speech were edited, warned that it was a “recipe for decline of public service broadcasting” if the BBC did not get a good deal.

The charter sets out the BBC’s public purpose and is the constitutional basis for the corporation, which is predominately funded through the annual £174.50 licence fee, paid by UK TV-watching households.

Davie spoke out as he was questioned by members of the Senedd’s Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee about public service broadcasting in Wales.

Asked about how the charter renewal process could impact public service broadcasting in Wales, Davie said: “I think every age says that their charter is the most important.

“I think the internet has changed everything – the business models, how wealth is distributed and how broadcasting works.

“In that regard, I think this is an incredibly important moment for the BBC in terms of its charter and protection of public service broadcasting.

“It is not just defensive protection but also growth.”

Davie said the BBC was focusing on delivering trusted information to the public without an agenda, and publishing stories from across the UK.

“Telling stories from across the UK and the nations is really important,” he said.

“Because everything I’m listing is – and it is not a criticism – it is not what US multinationals or Chinese companies do.

“The funding is a very, very serious issue.

“If we do not get proper sustainable funding for the BBC for the long term…

“We’ve got to think of other ways in which we fund and nurture, alongside the other things I’ve talked about, such as prominence, tax credits.

“If we don’t make those moves, if we just discuss them or we don’t do them, it will be a recipe for decline of public service broadcasting.

“The stakes are very high.”

In a Green Paper published in December, the Government will look at reforming the licence fee and consider more commercial revenue options for BBC.

The Government will also consider, strengthening the BBC’s independence, giving it new responsibilities to counter disinformation, and introducing specific duties around workplace conduct.

The BBC’s current charter, which runs for 10 years, ends in December 2027.

The annual licence fee faced years of scrutiny under the Conservative government, with it being frozen for two years at £159 before it was increased in April 2024 and once again in April 2025 by about £5 to £174.50, in line with inflation.

Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy has previously said she could be open to replacing the flat licence fee with a sliding payment scale.

Davie told the committee that under his tenure, BBC funding in Wales had risen from £243 million to £316 million, with about 30% of that dedicated to Welsh language programming.

One committee member raised concerns about BBC coverage of politics in Wales, such as various Senedd committees, when compared to Westminster and Holyrood.

“Firstly, we should all be worried about the quality of democracy as it stands today,” Davie replied.

“We are facing a major jeopardy in what I would call a participative society.

“I believe the BBC has never been more needed.

“I think that you are absolutely preaching to the converted in terms of our need for that accountability.

“Over time we have actually made massive cuts in the BBC so we can feed online, to make sure that public service broadcasting does not just sit in broadcast.

“We can send you to online debate, discussion, analysis in a way that we have not been able to do in broadcast.”