BBC must up its game and prove its worth to us

WITH everything else that is going on, you can be forgiven for not noticing the Government has launched a consultation on the future of the BBC.

- David Taylor-Gooby

Claudia Winkleman in the BBC's The Traitors

The BBC's charter lasts for 10 years at a time and it has to be renewed on January 1, 2027.

Hence the need for a review and the consultation. Please take the time to fill it in. It can be found online under 'Britain’s Story, The Next Chapter'.

The Green Paper is worth reading. It is rather dry and repetitive, so maybe just the summary, but it tells us a lot about the BBC which we perhaps do not know.

Firstly we all know that the BBC has run into trouble in the last few years, with scandals amongst its senior people and now threats from Donald Trump. I am sure he would be much happier if the BBC was not there, since objective journalism is what he doesn't like, and would rather have fawning media who feed his ego.

But that aside, the BBC did make a mistake splicing two different pieces of news together, and rightly has to apologise for it.

But more important, though, is the changing media landscape.

The streaming giants are becoming more powerful and have far deeper pockets than the BBC. They no longer just show old films but are now making new ones of their own.

Added to that, apart from a few popular shows like the Traitors and Strictly Come Dancing the BBC's output on a typical weekday is often pretty poor.