Clarkson urges UK broadcasters to unite against streaming competition

Jeremy Clarkson has urged Britain’s major broadcasters to combine on a single platform, arguing that the television industry must produce larger and more ambitious programmes to withstand competition from streaming services and online creators. Speaking at the RTS London convention, the presenter proposed a unified service he called “Britflix”. He said the BBC, ITV, Sky, Channel 4 and Channel 5 should come together rather than continue competing separately for audiences and resources.

Clarkson said the pressure on the production industry was evident among the crew who had worked on his Amazon Prime programme, Clarkson’s Farm. After filming the show’s sixth season, he said dozens of crew members were now uncertain about finding their next jobs. He also said experienced producers and other television professionals were leaving the industry because there was too little work.

According to Clarkson, programmes were becoming smaller, with fewer people involved in making them, while the pool of established talent was being lost. Clarkson said a combined platform could support “bigger, fewer, better programmes”. He added that his own future work would need to be more ambitious to stand out against the volume of content produced for social media.

He suggested that BBC News should remain separate and continue to be funded through a licence fee. He also predicted that the BBC and Channel 4 would eventually merge, although both broadcasters have repeatedly rejected that idea. The discussion comes as the British television sector faces rising production costs and intensified competition from global platforms.

Sky has announced a £1.6 billion deal to buy ITV’s broadcasting and streaming arm, while Channel 4 has said it plans to cut 340 jobs before the end of the year. Channel 4 chief executive Priya Dogra said the broadcaster’s content could be hosted on BBC iPlayer, provided the platform could accommodate its advertising-based funding model.