Outgoing BBC director-general Tim Davie has said it “makes sense” for the corporation to host shows from other public service broadcasters and partner with third parties “like Youtube”.
Speaking at a Royal Television Society event on the BBC’s future on Thursday, Davie said the corporation “must build scale and be open to new partnerships”.
The comments come after the publication of the BBC’s response to the Government’s Green Paper consultation on its Charter Review .
His speech also called for investment in the BBC and World Service , making the broadcaster less London-centric, and discussed the toughest crisis he faced during his tenure.
Davie resigned in November 2025 alongside BBC News chief executive Deborah Turness after concerns were raised around Panorama editing a speech by US President Donald Trump in a misleading way. He is due to leave the broadcaster in April.
Davie told the audience at the RTS event that the BBC “should go further” than its partnership with Freeview, created as a joint venture by BBC, ITV and Channel 4 and later Sky.
The partnership was created to make partners’ TV content available for free.
“In a world where Netflix and Paramount are feeling the need to bulk up, we must act urgently to secure scale in our national interest,” said Davie.
“Partnerships like Freeview have been critical. I’m really proud of them, but we should go further and shuffle sacred cows out the field.
“For example, I think it now makes sense to allow content online play from other [public service broadcasters] like Channel 4 and more, and our own UK TV services.”
Davie added “this would not mean ads in BBC branded content”.
“And for the record, I agree with the Channel 4 chair: the BBC should not own Channel 4,” he said. “Reducing UK commissioners makes no sense, but in areas such as technology… we can cut duplication and focus budgets on audiences.”
The BBC’s response to the Government’s Charter Review , which sets out the broadcaster’s purpose every ten years, mentioned “investment in partnership with others” and increasing “commercial returns” this way.
“We agree that ambitious partnerships – particularly with other public service media organisations – are important in a global and consolidated market where scale is crucial,” it said, adding that partnering with PSBs was seen as “anti-competitive” for many years, but this could be mutually beneficial and drive commercial income.
This will be explored in the coming months, it said.
The comments on partnering with other PSBs follow calls from media organisations for the BBC to address concerns about its dominance in local journalism and work more closely with external publishers .
Third-party partnerships
In his speech, Davie also said the BBC needs to “partner smartly with third parties, like YouTube”.
“Our partnership is not simply giving up all our content,” he added.
“We have a bit of leverage. It offers mutual advantage. It makes sense to ensure our trusted news is available where young people are consuming their media. But of course, this will build new audiences with new routes into BBC services and apps.”
The BBC already generates commercial revenue from Youtube, but its Charter Review response said it is scoping out “further monetisation” here.
At the beginning of the year, the BBC used Youtube to promote clips and trailers for its own programmes. The BBC then announced it will be making bespoke content for the platform in a new YouTube-first strategy beginning with the Winter Olympics in February.
BBC ‘sitting on a melting iceberg’
Davie argued that without funding reform, the BBC will “no longer be able to deliver its purposes”.
“It will be sitting on a melting iceberg,” he said.
“You cannot duck the reality that a market leading public service organisation needs secure public funding.”
He added that 85% of the BBC’s funding comes from the licence fee income, which has fallen by 24% in real terms since the start of this Charter almost ten years ago.
“Our current funding model was designed for a different era,” he said, adding the licence fee has worked “remarkably well” with most households paying.
Davie also said the government should “take back full funding” of the World Service, a cost it pushed onto the BBC in 2010 . In 2025, the broadcaster announced a net reduction of 130 jobs in World Service to make £6m in cost savings .
“We want the World Service to be expanded. It is simply illogical for the UK not to double down on a world-beating asset, which is a proven source of competitive advantage.”
Less London-centric
The BBC has “accelerated” its push out of London, Davie said, with more than 60% of its network TV spend and half of audio spend “beyond the M25”.
“We want over half of all commissioners and senior management to be based outside the M25 soon, plus over 60% of all TV and radio network spend ensuring career paths do not necessitate a spell in [London postcode] W1A,” Davie said.
Savile abuse scandal was ‘toughest crisis’
The event concluded with a question-and-answer segment hosted by author Richard Osman.
Asked about the “toughest crisis” during his tenure, Davie referred to the Jimmy Savile sexual abuse scandal that was exposed during his first year as acting director-general in 2012.
“Part of these jobs… is one of the biggest skills is proportionality, i.e. what’s serious and what isn’t?…
“When you’ve had a situation where you’ve got genuine victims… forget yourself for a minute.”
He added that there is “nothing worse than just pure self-interest”.
“Look after people that have been genuinely hurt. And I think the hardest thing [with] these things is to run towards trouble. Because it can be your instinct [to] defend – or [ask] ‘do people really need to know that?’”
He added managing the crisis during allegations against Russell Brand was also hard.
‘Resilience’ key for replacement DG
Osman also asked Davie “what sort of person” his replacement director-general should be.
“I think in jobs, often you list the technical – ‘have they done this, this and this?’”, said Davie, adding resilience is key.
“The character steps beyond some of the more technical things that people think about,” he said.
“This is not for the faint-hearted. I am worried slightly about where public life is going. I think it’s brutal… Having said that… what a job. And someone’s got to have energy to do it.”
Email [email protected] to point out mistakes, provide story tips or send in a letter for publication on our “Letters Page” blog