The BBC tells the story of Britain in a way Netflix simply cannot. In the year to come, please remember that | Tony Hall

Don’t fto President Trump unreality nan existent statement astir nan BBC. Of course, his request for damages of no little than $5bn has dominated our reasoning astir nan corp complete nan past fewer weeks, arsenic has its cause. But let’s get this into perspective. This was a superior ain extremity and journalists make mistakes. Salvation successful this lawsuit would person been a statement of book betwixt nan clips, aliases erstwhile a correction had been discovered, a very speedy nationalist acknowledgment. Now, though, nan BBC is correct not to output connected this. It has apologised. And, dissimilar different broadcasters and institutions successful nan United States, it doesn’t request nan president’s support. This is simply a chance to show nan BBC’s independence. Fight on.

But we must not fto this unreality nan statement present astir nan benignant of BBC we each want and need, and I dream that is what dominates our speech successful nan coming important year. The government’s greenish paper, published successful December, starts disconnected pinch a reminder of what, contempt each its travails, nan BBC delivers for nan country. “It’s not conscionable a broadcaster,” says nan introduction, “it’s besides a nationalist institution … if it did not already exist, we would person to invent it.” The caput of state, Lisa Nandy, is moreover much forthright: “I judge nan BBC, alongside nan NHS, is 1 of nan 2 astir important institutions successful our country. While 1 is basal to nan wellness of our people, nan different is basal to nan wellness of our democracy.” Seeing nan BBC not conscionable arsenic a media organisation, but arsenic a taste organisation helping to specify who we are is important to adjacent year’s statement astir what we want nan BBC to be. It should beryllium seen arsenic portion of our societal infrastructure.

I deliberation group understand nan value of nan BBC to our populist successful providing high-quality, meticulous and impartial news. It remains nan nation’s astir wide utilized and trusted root of news. It is often nan spot wherever group spell to cheque whether thing is existent aliases not. And of people globally, we each use from nan BBC’s news services now reaching astir 453 cardinal group each week. This is an illustration of this country’s soft powerfulness which needs to beryllium built connected and not, arsenic astatine present, diminished.

A Daily Telegraph characteristic questioning nan worth of nan BBC compared pinch streaming services, 19 December 2025.

But what is little understood – aliases perchance moreover believed successful – is nan BBC’s domiciled arsenic nan nation’s storyteller. The streamers do drama, group often opportunity to me, truthful why do we request a BBC. Well, I’ve been arsenic glued to Slow Horses, Down Cemetery Road aliases Adolescence arsenic nan adjacent person. But nan truth is that what nan streamers for illustration Netflix, Apple aliases Amazon are commissioning is contented that will activity connected an world scale. And nan full number of hours they make astir nan UK is not successful nan tens of thousands that nan nationalist work broadcasters produce. It’s absorbing that audiences proceed to spend much clip watching BBC TV/iPlayer connected mean per week per personification past they walk pinch Netflix, Disney+ and Amazon Prime combined. In nan first 4th of this year, nan BBC had five retired of nan 10 astir watched programmes successful nan UK crossed each broadcasters and streamers. ITV had 3 and Netflix two. And that’s why nan thought of nationalist work broadcasting still matters.

I watched nan immensely powerful documentary Our Girls – The Southport Families connected BBC1, astir nan 3 girls murdered successful nan dreadful onslaught past year, illustrating nan immense courageousness nan families person shown coping pinch their grief, but besides their desire to build thing lasting retired of nan horror. I don’t judge it would person been made by a streamer. You could opportunity nan aforesaid of Ludwig aliases nan Liverpool-based This City Is Ours. And nan play squad connected BBC Radio 4 – truthful often taken for granted and comparatively unsung – commissions writers aged and caller connected a monolithic standard to show nan stories that show america who we are.

When I was moving for nan BBC, we would awkward distant from nan statement that nan organisation was besides a defence against marketplace failure. Nowadays I deliberation that should beryllium portion of why nan BBC exists. There are definite genres of programmes that are not ever going to beryllium internationally successful but bespeak who we are. Programmes astir religion, nan arts, music, aliases shows that bespeak who we are successful a much gentle way, for illustration Countryfile aliases The Repair Shop. And I mislaid count of nan number of parents who told maine really overmuch they weighted British contented for their children either arsenic toddlers pinch CBeebies aliases later arsenic teenagers pinch Bitesize. And then, of course, location are those moments that bring america each together, from nan Cenotaph to Westminster Abbey to nan Olympics.

Saoirse-Monica Jackson arsenic Cheryl Crawford, left, and Hannah Onslow arsenic Diana Williams successful nan Liverpool-based This City Is Ours. Photograph: James Stack/BBC/Left Bank Pictures

The BBC gives taste meaning to much circumstantial communities too. When I was moving nan BBC, I talked to nan group astatine Radio Cumbria, for example, who told maine really their activity helped specify a organization that is geographically very widespread, particularly astatine times of crisis. These section services, whether successful mini areas aliases serving nan nations, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, astatine their champion study nan stories that matter to their audiences and observe nan characteristics that make them what they are. Taking this guardant is an important domiciled for nan BBC.

All successful all, nan BBC is nan largest shaper of stories astir our isles, nan people, nan places, nan communities that dress up this divers and imaginative nation. Of course, that has a value. The BBC is nan largest azygous investor successful UK-made programming, contributing astir £4.9bn to nan UK economy each year, half of which is spent extracurricular London.

But an moreover bigger mobility is really and wherever our civilization is defined. In nan end, nan only broadcasting organisations that will bespeak nan UK arsenic its superior intent are nan BBC and Channel 4. Next year, nan statement astir nan BBC charter will rightly encompass funding, governance, reaching caller audiences and a big of different issues. But let’s not suffer this thought of media arsenic culture.

Let’s bask what nan streamers are offering. But let’s make judge we besides person a decently funded BBC that reflects and celebrates who we are successful each our rich | diversity. And that successful these divided times, we guarantee that awesome programmes and services that inform, entertain and amended are disposable to all, whoever they are, wherever they live.

• Tony Hall was head wide of nan BBC betwixt April 2013 and August 2020