SUBMISSION

BBC Charter Review: A generational opportunity for the BBC

10 March 2026

In its submission, the Public Media Alliance heralded the Charter renewal process as an opportunity to futureproof the BBC and set it up for a more secure, successful, and sustainable future.

The UK Government’s BBC Charter Review is a generational opportunity to futureproof the BBC and set it up for a more secure, successful, and sustainable future in a rapidly changing media landscape and at a time of growing geopolitical uncertainty. This Charter has the potential to renew the BBC in ways that speak to the heart of what it is and should be:

• relevant, accessible and universal, in an era of rapid change in the media market;
• independent from government with robust safeguards against political interference;
• visible and accountable to its most important stakeholder, the public;
• a trusted source of independent news and information at home and internationally at a time of growing geopolitical uncertainty;
• an essential cornerstone of UK democratic society, building resilience, media & information literacy, and social cohesion.

PMA welcomes the Charter Review’s focus on sustainable funding, public trust, and the BBC’s role in driving growth and opportunity across the nations and regions of the UK. Our submission addresses four aspects we believe are central to the BBC’s future: funding, governance, critical infrastructure, and accountability.

Separately, our submission includes perspectives from 17 public service media organisations worldwide on the importance of a strong, sustainable, and independent BBC to their news ecosystems. You can read these views here.

PMA’s position in summary

In summary, the Public Media Alliance makes its case on the following points:

1. Funding is the linchpin. Without a funding mechanism that adequately supports the BBC’s mission and independence, the ambitions set out in this Review cannot be realised. The most well-designed governance structures and accountability mechanisms will fall short if the BBC is not adequately resourced to deliver on them. Any funding settlement must be protected from government interference, provide long-term security, guard against real-terms erosion, and maintain a direct link between the BBC and the public it serves. PMA does not advocate for a single model, but any alternative to the licence fee must be assessed against these conditions, and we do not support advertising or subscription as viable funding mechanisms. We also support the BBC’s position that the World Service requires separate, long-term, and stable government funding, returned in full.

2. The BBC’s governance must be strengthened to reduce the scope for political influence, with the government’s role in board appointments further limited. A permanent Charter, subject to periodic review through a defined and transparent process, would further insulate the BBC from the structural vulnerability that fixed renewal cycles create.

3. The BBC’s role as critical infrastructure should be recognised in how this Charter approaches funding, preparedness, and independence – covering crisis communication, information integrity, democratic resilience, and epistemic sovereignty at home and abroad. This should include an expansion of the BBC’s Public Purposes to include fostering a media and information literate society.

4. The BBC’s accountability to the public must be strengthened in ways that deepen legitimacy without exposing editorial or organisational decisions to political interference. Accountability mechanisms should be visible, well-resourced, and genuinely usable by the audiences the BBC exists to serve.

PMA welcomes this Charter Review as an opportunity to renew and strengthen one of the world’s most important and recognisable public service media institutions. We urge the government to match the ambition of that opportunity with a funding and governance settlement equal to it.