Lord Hall thinks the big predicted change in television, the demise of the channel, may happen far sooner than pundits predict. Data suggest only 2% of viewers are watching programmes exclusively online, where BBC3 is now heading. Yet tablet-savvy youngsters seem hardly to notice channels or schedules, picking and mixing content from the BBC’s two children’s channels. A step change is looming, he suspects, which will rapidly accelerate the switch to online viewing: a big problem for an outfit mostly paid for by a licence fee on television ownership. “My sense is that, although the data say that we’re canoeing down a canyon, around the corner could be the most enormous waterfall.”
If Lord Hall is truly overseeing a revolution in television-watching, the BBC will also have to change in another way. Ever since HBO launched “The Sopranos”, TV companies have understood the importance of high-class dramas for hooking viewers and building a brand. AMC, once an obscure American cable channel, did it with “Mad Men”. “Downton Abbey” helped restore the fortunes of ITV, the BBC’s commercial rival. In an online world where everything competes against everything this is all the more vital, which is why Netflix and Amazon are pouring money into shows. To compete, Lord Hall has promised another £30m for drama, which is shrewd. The BBC is respected, even loved. But in this regard it needs to become more remarkable.
