High-Profile Figures Rally Behind Beleaguered BBC Following Licence Fee Freeze & Scrap Plans; BBC And Sources Say Negotiations Not Over Yet

Manori Ravindran International EditorU.K. Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries opened the virtual Creative Coalition Festival on Tuesday with a rallying speech about the creative industries, but stayed quiet on all matters relating to the future of broadcasters Channel 4 and the BBC.In what appeared to be a pre-recorded segment, Dorries talked up the music sector as examples of the U.K.’s “creative powerhouse,” referencing Coldplay and Adele’s new albums as well as Dua Lipa’s hit song “Levitating.” “It’s our writers and musicians and designers and composers who are the most celebrated around the world today and do the most to sell the U.K.

BBC over Netflix last year, according to a report.A study from media analyst Enders Analysis (via Deadline), which set out to research Netflix’s growth in the country over the last decade, found the proportion of total UK viewing to Netflix was seven per cent in 2021, compared to 22 per cent for the BBC.ITV and YouTube beat Netflix too with 16 and 14 per cent respectively. Channel 4 was level with the streaming giant at seven per cent.According to the report, Netflix’s proportion of UK viewing has risen over the past decade, although it remained broadly flat last year.

Amazon Prime Video, Vudu, or Apple TV.The film, which was released after over a year of delays due to the coronavirus, features a star-studded cast of Ben Whishaw, Naomie Harris, Ralph Fiennes', Lashana Lynch, Ana de Armas and Rami Malek, and is the first James Bond film to to be shot with Imax film cameras. Not only does it feature over an hour of scenes in the large format expanded aspect ratio, but there will also be an exclusive Q&A featuring Daniel Craig and director Cary Joji Fukunaga broadcasted before select Imax screenings.  picks up after James Bond has recused himself from his work and is attempting to live a quiet life in Jamaica.

inside that room, and they’re not leaving. Jared Leto is hilarious as one of the criminals, Forest Whitaker is aces as a conflicted thief and Dwight Yoakam (of all people) is absolutely chilling.If you’re in the mood for a great period drama, you can’t go wrong with “Sense and Sensibility.” Director Ang Lee’s 1995 Jane Austen adaptation was written by Emma Thompson, who also co-stars and picked up an Oscar for her adapted screenplay.

A high-profile TV couple are said to have called in lawyers after they were sent explicit videos and photos of themselves. It's been reported that the ITV stars received the sexual content from a social media account via direct messages, leaving them "mortified".The images and videos are said to have been posted online and the lawyers allegedly had them removed online more than three weeks later. A source has told The Sun: "They would have been mortified by the leak.

Alina Kozhevnikova has been cut from 90 Day Fiancé after some racist posts resurfaced online!

EXCLUSIVE: “Bringing BBC Three back to linear TV” would have been far down former BBC Director General Tony Hall’s list of predictions for his successor’s first major piece of business.

James Bond, Idris Elba has been “part of the conversation” about who’ll take over from Daniel Craig as 007.Daniel Craig’s last outing as Bond was in 2021’s No Time To Die and since he announced his plans to step down from the role, there has been plenty of speculation about who’ll be the new James Bond.In a new interview with the Deadline Podcast though, producer Barbara Broccoli has responded to the various rumours that Idris Elba will be the next 007.“Well, we know Idris, we’re friends with him, and he’s a magnificent actor. And, you know, it’s been part of the conversation, but it’s always difficult to have the conversation when you have someone in the seat,” she said.“I think we have decided that until No Time to Die has had its run and Daniel has been able to – well, we’ve all been able to savour, reap the benefits of Daniel’s wonderful tenure, we’re not gonna think about, or talk about anybody else.”Previously, Broccoli has said “I think it will be a man because I don’t think a woman should play James Bond.

Afternoon subscribers, Max Goldbart here. It’s been a busy week but International Insider has you covered. Read on for in-depth analysis of the biggest international headlines of the week.

A concrete jungle of viaducts will ‘sever’ east Manchester if government plans for a cut-price high-speed railway station at Piccadilly go ahead, local leaders have warned - while 14,000 potential new jobs would be lost due to the amount of land required to build it.

BBC director general Tim Davie has said that the freezing of TV licence fees will cost the broadcaster £285million.Davie said the new settlement, set to stop the cost of licence fees increasing for the next two years, “will affect our frontline output” and prompt cuts across services and content.Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries said of the decision yesterday (January 17): “The BBC must support people at a time when their finances are strained, make savings and efficiencies, and use the billions in public funding it receives to deliver for viewers, listeners and users.”“Inevitably, if you don’t have £285million, you will get less services and less programmes,” Davie subsequently told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Tuesday (January 18).“Now, I still think the BBC can offer extraordinary value for £13 a month.”Regarding potential cuts to accommodate for a stagnating licence fee until 2024, Davie continued: “We go first to those cuts where we don’t affect our output…We are not at the place where you can never make cuts, but this will affect our frontline output. There’s no doubt about that.”He went on to acknowledge the BBC “[needs] to reshape ourselves for a digital age”.“The media market is moving extremely rapidly,” he added.

Dan Walker has defended the BBC after it was hinted that the license fee would be scrapped. Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries tweeted about plans to overhaul the funding model for the BBC, revealing that the next announcement about the fee would "be the last".The annual payment usually changes on April 1 of each year, however, reports suggest that it will be frozen at the rate of £159 for the next two years.

BBC Director General Tim Davie has said yesterday’s licence fee settlement will leave the public broadcaster with a shortfall of £285M ($390M) in 2027/2028 and needing to save around $1.5BN (£2.1BN) across the next five years.