James Purnell

Purnell: BBC must ‘change faster’ to compete against global players

The BBC needs to “change faster” in order to reach more young people and compete against powerful online video and audio providers like Netflix and Spotify, according to James Purnell. Speaking at the EBU’s ‘Truth and Power’ conference this week, the BBC’s director of radio and education said that the BBC’s goal is not to […]

BBC tackles kids SVOD threat with £34m boost

BBC Children’s will receive its largest cash boost “in a generation”, with an extra £34 million (€39 million) earmarked above current budgets. Tony Hall, director general UK pubcaster the BBC, has made it a priority to combat the growing influence of US-based subscription VOD services, and today’s announcement ties into that narrative. The new investment […]

BBC calls for iPlayer prominence on TV platforms

The BBC has called for on-demand players like its iPlayer service to be guaranteed prominence on all major TV platforms. In a article for the Telegraph ahead of a House of Lords debate on the issue this week, the BBC’s director, radio and education, James Purnell, said it is important that content from the BBC […]

BBC ups Purnell to director of radio and education

The BBC has promoted director of strategy and education, James Purnell, to a new role that will see him take charge of the public broadcaster’s radio division. Purnell will bring together network radio, arts, music, learning and children’s as director of the new radio and education division, taking over from director of radio Helen Boaden […]

BBC licence fee ‘not settled’

The amount the BBC charges UK consumers for its channels and services has not been set, culture secretary John Whittingdale has told a radio show on the UK public broadcaster’s Radio 4 station. It was widely understood that the licence fee had been set to increase in line with inflation, as part of a July […]

BBC plays down immediate BBC Four closure threat

The BBC’s director of strategy has said the corporation does not have plans to close BBC Four, despite the arts network being touted as one of a number of services that could be cut to save money. Speaking on BBC Radio4’s World at One show yesterday, James Purnell said “we’re not ruling anything in or […]

BBC outlines another £400m in cost cuts

The BBC is set to outline how it can make an additional £400 million (€505 million) of savings a year by 2017. The UK public broadcaster has already made a swathe of cost cuts, involving the loss of 1,000 jobs and, a new report will say, £1.1 billion a year in savings. The BBC is […]

BBC appoints strategy chief

UK public broadcaster the BBC has appointed Gautam Rangarajan director of strategy. Having been a radio producer at the BBC, Rangarajan has been in the pubcaster’s strategy team for five years taking a lead role in director general Tony Hall’s recent strategy review. In his new role Rangarajan will report to James Purnell, the former […]

INTELLIGENCE

view all

Digital TV Europe Annual Industry Survey 2023

Global Study: Understanding advertising engagement across different viewing platform types

Webinar | Protecting Streaming Revenue: 20 Years and Counting of DRMaaS

Glean business intelligence far beyond video analytics to reduce churn, retain subscribers, and inform SVOD strategies

Decoding the Streaming Landscape Report

Webinar | Looking for the right streaming business model: Navigating AVOD + SVOD