Key quotes from Mark Thompson's speech

大象传媒 Director General Mark Thompson delivered the James MacTaggart Memorial Lecture at the 2010 Edinburgh International Television Festival. Here are some of his key quotes.

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ON THE FUTURE OF THE 大象传媒

  • "In a year or so's time, there will be a debate about the future level of the licence fee. For the 大象传媒, I believe this will be a moment for realism and a recognition of the scale of the challenge facing licence payers and the country as a whole."
  • "Do not believe anyone who claims that cutting the licence fee is a way of growing the creative economy... A pound out of the commissioning budget of the 大象传媒 is a pound out of UK creative economy. Once gone, it will be gone forever."
  • "Radical and rapid change inside the 大象传媒 is... essential."

ON THE 大象传媒'S CRITICS

  • "Systematic press attacks on broadcasters, and especially on the 大象传媒, are nothing new... but the scale and intensity of the current assaults does feel different."
  • "But - perhaps surprisingly - there's no evidence that any of this is having any effect on public attitudes to the 大象传媒 at all."
  • "The same commercial and political forces which are undermining the independence of the public broadcasters in other European countries - Italy and France spring to mind - are at work here as well. In the UK, they know that a frontal assault will fail so they adopt different tactics... Sometimes calls for transparency turn out to be a cloak for something else."

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ON THE 大象传媒'S RELATIONSHIP WITH ITS AUDIENCE

  • "On the Tuesday after the General Election, over 17 million viewers joined us on 大象传媒 One during the evening to see events unfold. They came to 大象传媒 One because, along with ITV1, it remains one of the nation's front rooms."
  • "Across the UK population, 71% of people say they're glad the 大象传媒 exists."
  • "[Audiences] want the best and they want it all year round, which is why nowadays at the 大象传媒 we play pieces like Sherlock, The Normans and Rev in high summer."
  • "The public don't seem to want fewer or thinner services from the 大象传媒. Indeed, as we've seen this year with 6 Music, proposals to remove even niche services can be greeted with real dismay. "

ON SKY

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  • "Sky has an annual turnover of 拢5.9bn, of which 拢4.8bn is from its core retail subscription business. That revenue line alone is 拢1.1 billion more than the 大象传媒's UK public service turnover."
  • "Sky's marketing budget is larger than the entire programme budget of ITV1. As a proportion of Sky's own turnover and its profits, its investment in original British content is just not enough."
  • "With Sky News and Sky Arts, the company has... shown a commitment to services which share many values with the 大象传媒 and the other PSBs. Sky is not the enemy of quality British Television - it's an important provider of it.
  • "But when it comes to investing in original British production, it's a different picture. When ITV was the dominant commercial player in UK television, it poured money into original programming and often in key genres - like drama in the 1980s and 1990s - it did a better job than the 大象传媒."
  • "It's time that Sky pulled its weight by investing much, much more in British talent and British content. "

ON CUTTING COSTS

  • "We've committed to reduce senior manager numbers by a fifth by the end of next year. That's a minimum. If we can go further, we will."
  • "We will take the money we save by all these measures and invest it in the central mission of the 大象传媒 - which is to commission, make and distribute the best and most creative content to the British public."