The BBC has been “pushing money out of London like it’s going out of fashion” but faces a dilemma when it comes to where in the UK to shift its spending, according to the Director General.
Tim Davie was addressing the Creative Cities Convention (CCC) in Bradford, a city that has recently benefitted from extra BBC funding in the year it is the UK’s designated City of Culture.
Davie said there has been a sea change in out-of-London commissioning of late and the corporation has been “pushing money out of London like it’s going out of fashion” having actioned plans to up spend by £700M ($932M) between 2021 and 2028.
But he noted it is difficult to spread money between the regions.
“In a good way, I am bombarded by different regions looking for economic growth and all of these regions want money,” said Davie. “The question is how do you deploy limited resources across the UK. The intent is there. You have to do it with the people you trust.”
He stressed Bradford is a city that the BBC very much trusts, having recently made A A Dhand drama Virdee and made it the host for some of this year’s Proms. He called for “a degree of centralization” when it comes to decisions around where to spend money out of London from both the BBC and government.
“No one will come with a quarter of a billion and change the game but if you get all the money together you begin to shift things,” he added. “There’s a balance between spreading money thinly and making sure you have a base for skills. All these things need to come together alongside central government funding to make sure you get a critical mass.”
The BBC is forever in the spotlight for the amount it spends and content it makes outside of the UK capital. Earlier this year it landed itself in hot water over the lack of Scottish people working on hit gameshow The Traitors, which is made in a castle in the Scottish Highlands.
Davie was speaking at the CCC immediately after Dhand, a Bradford local who spoke about his 15-year journey from writing the first draft of Virdee to having it greenlit by the BBC. Others to have spoken at CCC include ITV Studios boss Julian Bellamy and Paramount UK’s Sarah Rose.
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