Latest in Tim Davie

BBC comedy boss Jon Petrie is to spend the year identifying a “package of measures that industry, government and regulators can come together on to safeguard comedy's future,” while calling for a comedy tax credit. Petrie used a set-piece speech to declare that the cost of half-hour TV comedy has…

“I am not in this job to simply defend an institution,” BBC Director General Tim Davie declared this afternoon, as he attempted to get the corporation back on the front foot following a tricky few months. Davie said public service broadcasting sectors in other countries had been hemmed in by their…

BBC Chair Richard Sharp has resigned after a report found he breached appointment rules by failing to declare his role in the Boris Johnson loan scandal. In a statement given prior to the release of the long-awaited report, Sharp said the conclusion by Adam Heppinstall KC had found that he had…

The BBC has been urged to publish a detailed blueprint on how it plans to transition to an internet-only future by an influential UK government committee. Late last year, Director General Tim Davie delivered a set piece speech in which he forecast a “move to an internet future with greater urgency&#8221…

EXCLUSIVE: The BBC is considering a U-turn on closing BBC4 as a television channel amid solid ratings and a backlash against cuts at the corporation. The BBC said last year that it would shut down BBC4’s linear channel and move the brand online from 2025 as part of plans to become a “digital first&#8221…

“Ambiguity” around social media guidelines was to blame for the BBC Gary Lineker scandal, according to Ofcom boss Melanie Dawes, who was challenged on the “creeping politicization” of UK TV news during a committee hearing this morning. Dawes, whose regulator has oversight of many elements of the BBC…

The BBC has reached a deal with Match of the Day host Gary Lineker following crisis talks, paving the way for Lineker to return to air. The corporation will independently review the social media guidelines relating to presenters such as Lineker, and the former England footballer has agreed to return…

BBC Director General Tim Davie has apologized to audiences for the disruption caused to the organization's sports programming but said he won't resign following the unprecedented talent walkout over the Gary Lineker row. “I'm sorry audiences have been affected, and they haven't got the programming,&#8221…

Doctor Who's latest regeneration represents "excellent commercial value," according to BBC Studios boss Tom Fussell. Sitting down for a wide-ranging interview with Deadline in mid-January, the CEO described the attention-grabbing deals his team struck with Bad Wolf and Disney+ that have reshaped the…

BBC News’ journalists failure to understand “basic economics” is bringing a “high risk to impartiality,” according to a BBC-commissioned report. The finding was contained in the first BBC impartiality review, of which several more will be published over the coming months. Since taking on the role in…

The BBC is “not proactively putting a date on a digital switchover or anything stupid like that,” Director General Tim Davie has said, but rather sparking a “broader conversation across the UK for when we do move across.” Davie said today that linear TV channels will not be snatched away from older…

Good afternoon Insiders and a happy holiday to you all, Max Goldbart here seeing out the year. We’re inching slowly towards the holiday and have just got a quick summary of the week’s headlines and some Essentials for you this week. We’ll be taking a well-earned (we hope!) break next week but back all…