Speech: Leading The UK Into Digital By The Director-General Of The BBC, Tim Davie, At The Royal Television Society
Good morning. Today, 100 years and 23 days after the first BBC broadcast, I want to talk about choices. Choices for us all. Choices that have profound consequences for our society; its economic success, its cultural life, its democratic health. Our UK and its essence. Of what we hand to the next generation. Of growth. Choices that concern not just the role of the BBC, but something bigger. About whether we want to leave a legacy of a thriving, world leading UK media market or accept, on our watch, a slow decline. Are we simply going to drift to the point where the emergence of vast US and Chinese players marginalise us, while we put on a very British brave face as they do so? Resigned to the fact that our culture and creative economy will inevitably be shaped by polarised platforms and overseas content. Or are we proactively going to take the steps to ensure that we tell our own stories, and remain the envy of the world? Today I want make a simple case. A case for growth, and the