BBC Director General Tim Davie Rows Back On Digital Switchover Remarks: “We’re Not Putting A Date On It Or Anything Stupid Like That”

12.01.2023 - 15:43 / deadline.com

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 rowed back on the notion that linear TV channels will be snatched away from older viewers, stating that he was “being provocative” in a recent landmark speech when he forecast an internet-only TV future.

“We should have an aggressive plan but that is not a plan to remove things used by lots of people too soon,” he added, speaking to the UK government’s Public Accounts Committee.

“We’ve got a fantastic record of not leaving people behind and that is not part of the proposal.”

But while older viewers are more likely to watch linear, Davie said research shows when people over the age 65 move across to digital, “they don’t come back.”

In December’s RTS-organized speech, which generated multiple headlines about the future of the BBC’s linear channels, Davie told listeners to “imagine a world that is internet only, where broadcast TV and radio are being switched off and choice is infinite,” adding: “For the BBC, internet-only distribution is an opportunity to connect more deeply with our audiences and to provide them with better services and choice than broadcast allows.”

The speech kickstarted a major debate over the way in which the nation is consuming television but taking numerous questions during today’s hearing Davie clarified: “We’re not putting a date on the digital switchover or anything like that.”

Public Accounts Committee Chair Meg Hillier flagged research that 88% of BBC users still watch via linear and Davie said questions over broadband coverage will need to be “answered in a rigorous