Additional £50m investment in BBC drama could land BBC Four in danger
BBC Four could face closure as the corporation seeks to invest an additional £50m in high quality drama like Poldark, Wolf Hall and Sherlock in order to compete with the likes of Amazon and Netflix.
According to reports Lord Hall, director general of the BBC, will tomorrow (Monday 7 September) say the BBC must build on its reputation for "creative excellence" with quality drama forming the "backbone" of its output.
In a major speech he is expected to mount a fightback on Conservative plans to overhaul the broadcaster, championing "bigger and bolder" BBC dramas as well as announcing plans to experiment with longer series and catering to "binge watching" audiences by releasing every episode at once on BBC iPlayer.
However, the changes will mean "hard choices" will need to be made elsewhere to provide additional funding with reports in the Telegraph suggesting the closure of BBC Four would save up to £65m.
Earlier this year Culture Secretary John Whittingdale warned the BBC could no longer be "all things to all people" suggesting the broadcaster become "narrower and more focused" in order to reduce the licence fee and the impact the BBC has on commercial broadcasters.
It is expected Lord Hall will argue that putting more money into the BBC's drama budget will be "positive" as there is an appetite for British dramas with them "travelling around the world as never before". He will also argue with US programming becoming more accessible the BBC now needs to compete on an international stage.
A source, quoted in the Telegraph, said the BBC wants to "continue to compete with the global giants like HBO, Netflix and Amazon" and find "new ways of capturing the public's imagination with world-class work on the global stage," citing The Fall and Peaky Blinders as examples of this.
The source confirmed that in order to do this cuts will need to be made elsewhere with BBC Four one of the areas being considered.
It was revealed yesterday (Saturday 5 September) that the BBC is also planning a significant expansion to the BBC World Service to take it into Russia and North Korea.