Gavyn Davies Quotes

The BBC is part of the glue which binds the United Kingdom together. At those times of national moment - of joy or sadness, in the UK or around the world, at times when the nation wants to celebrate, mourn or just enjoy itself people turn to the BBC.

What's happened to broadcasting is that broadcasting really used to be... it used to have a very clear public service quotient. And it's more or less now. And it's been lost.

The BBC's television, radio and online services remain an important part of British culture and the fact the BBC continues to thrive amongst audiences at home and abroad is testament to a professional and dedicated management team who are committed to providing a quality public service.

The BBC fulfils a wonderful cultural function. Maybe the problem is that it feels it needs to be everything to everybody.

The BBC provides the commentary on our lives, the soundtrack of the nation. It is one of the most powerful unifying forces in the United Kingdom today.

As our leaders in Washington confront tough decisions about our budget priorities, I urge them to continue federal funding for public broadcasting.

I love the BBC and I think it's a really important thing.

I don't have any quarrel with the BBC.

The BBC is a huge part of the nation's cultural life.

And I believe that public broadcasting has an important trust with the American people, it's an intimate medium of television, and that we can do reading and language development for young children without getting into human sexuality.

Less money for public media means less access to the arts.

I deplore the loss of arts on BBC One and Two.

I don't think the BBC supporting digital switchover is top slicing. Top slicing is putting the license fee up for grabs for other broadcasters to bid for.

The BBC is a victim of its own independence.

Without the BBC, the proliferation of television and radio channels by the private sector would simply result in more and more channels, with tiny audiences, all seeking to do the same thing. The future would be one of fragmentation - fragmentation without either plurality or diversity.

The BBC can be infuriating at times but I love it with a passion.

The public airwaves provide a chance to affirm we want to be a good, decent people; a good, decent nation.

There is still an element of the BBC that feels it is somehow wrong, or it will be open to criticism, if it makes more money.

I'm quite grateful to the BBC. They helped me back onto the touring circuit.

All I can do is advocate changes at the BBC while respecting editorial independence upon which the success of the BBC rests. I can't do anything that requires the BBC to pay certain people certain amounts.

It's tough and it should be tough - it should never be easy to be given millions of pounds to make a drama. The coalition government is doing terrible things to the BBC, but drama will survive even if we end up putting on a play in a backroom of a pub.

That test should not be about ratings. What should weigh is the knowledge that a public broadcaster delivers programmes that matter.

It was an interesting question as to whether the BBC had a future in the digital world, and what form of market failure could justify the licence fee system.

It was regarded as a responsibility of the BBC to provide programs which have a broad spectrum of interest, and if there was a hole in that spectrum, then the BBC would fill it.

There was a time when the FCC tried to require a certain amount of television and media to be educational, a certain amount to be newsworthy and a certain amount of it to be public access.