British Broadcasting Corporation

The beginning of the 21st century saw a new director general at the BBC. Greg Dyke replaced John Birt and, immediately, had to face the challenge of ever-growing competition from cable and satellite channels. He set in motion radical economizing measures, disbanding BBC Production, BBC Broadcasting, and five other multimedia directorates that had been created in 1997.

The money saved by these and other cost-saving measures was designed to help pay for the rapid change to digital broadcasting, regarded as the key factor in the future battle for audiences. The existing analog system is expected to be phased out over the next decade, with the new digital system bringing many technological advantages, such as wider and clearer screens and better sound. Following the launch of a new digital TV channel for Wales (BBC 2W) in 2001, the BBC further expanded its publicly funded digital television output in 2002 and 2003 with the introduction of a new highbrow arts and documentary channel—BBC Four—to replace BBC Knowledge, two new children’s channels (CBeebies and CBBC), and BBC Three, aimed at 25- to 34-year-olds, which took the place of BBC Choice.

Five new digital radio services for specialist and minority audiences were also added: BBC 7, 6 Music, 1Xtra, Asian Network, and Radio 5 Live Sports Extra. Also in 2002, in association with Crown Castle, the BBC assumed control of the digital terrestrial television (DTT) licenses previously allocated to the failed operator ITV Digital, offering a package of 24 digital channels “free-to-air” to viewers with set-top boxes under the name Freeview. Although the potential opportunities arising from the expansion of digital services were widely welcomed, some economizing measures cut deeply into what have been seen as traditional strengths. One particularly significant change in 2000 was the disbanding of the Education Department, the output of which was to be integrated with that of other relevant departments. Formed in the 1920s, the Education Department had pioneered radio broadcasts for schools and was admired worldwide.

In 2001 an independent panel was convened to appoint a new chairman of the BBC. The outgoing chairman, Sir Christopher Bland, was succeeded by Gavyn Davies.

In January 2004 a public inquiry into the death of David Kelly, a scientific adviser to the Ministry of Defence, had serious ramifications for the BBC, leading to the resignations of Davies, Dyke, and defense correspondent Andrew Gilligan. The inquiry found that allegations made by Gilligan against the British government in a report on BBC Radio 4’s Today program were “unfounded.” During the war with Iraq in 2003, Gilligan had claimed that the British government had probably knowingly included false information in an intelligence dossier on Iraq. Kelly, who was later identified as the source for the story, subsequently committed suicide. The government denied the allegations and called for them to be withdrawn, which the BBC refused to do. However, following the resignations of Davies and Dyke, the corporation’s new acting chairman, Richard Ryder, apologized “unreservedly” for any errors in the report.

Mark Thompson left his position as chief executive of Channel 4 to succeed Dyke as the BBC’s new director general in June 2004. Among Thompson’s first moves were a reorganization of the corporation’s management and the creation of a new board to oversee BBC journalism.

Also in 2004 Michael Grade, a BBC executive from 1984, was appointed chairman of the BBC. Grade left in November 2006 to become executive chairman of ITV (Independent Television). He was replaced in April 2007 when Sir Michael Lyons, former economist and local government council chief executive, was named chairman of the BBC.

In 2006 the BBC introduced new plans, called Creative Future, to deliver BBC programming and content across an increasing range of digital platforms, such as Internet broadband and cell phones, and manage the shift from conventional scheduling to a climate in which programs are made available to viewers “on demand.”