News Broadcasting
BBC implementing radical change : Michael Grade
MUMBAI: The BBC’s public service mission for the 21st century remains unchanged. But the BBC has to change to demonstrate it can and will deliver it..
This was the core of the message that BBC chairman Michael Grade delivered in his keynote address to the CBI annual conference in Birmingham
“The BBC has to return a dividend to the public whose licence fees support the BBC. A dividend not in cash. But a dividend nevertheless of real and measurable value to the public, both as individuals and as citizens”.
He described how the BBC’s five core purposes, together with new governance initiatives, like service licences and the public value test, will provide greater clarity to drive the BBC to deliver its public service mission and to be more accountable for its performance.
Grade said that an important element of the BBC’s reforms was the changes to the governance system. He said the need to change had been too pressing to await the outcome of the Charter review debate.
Grade said that, while the current system of governance had been in need of radical reform, he believed it remained the most appropriate model for the BBC and he explained why other governance models currently being discussed would not work for the Corporation.
“It’s sometimes said that there’s a fundamental design problem with a system that asks BBC Governors to be both cheerleaders and regulators. Of course there is a potential contradiction. But it’s not significant as long as the Governors don’t confuse championing the BBC with championing the management of the BBC.
“The supervisory structure appropriate to a commercial broadcaster albeit one with some public service obligations is not right for the BBC which receives nearly three billion pounds in public money.”
He added that one area of great importance to the Governors, and where they are looking to do more, is getting closer to licence payers in order to understand their concerns.
“I think that the internet and the new digital technologies should contribute to a solution. In the New Year, we will announce our programme of action to connect with the licence fee payers who are our customers and our owners. They deserve better than a passive role.
“We are publishing new, much more tightly drawn, objectives. They focus on how bbc.co.uk can be made more distinctive, and deliver more public value, in this developing and growing market.
“We’ve reviewed our portfolio of websites and closed some sites down because they would not meet our new test of public value.There are further closures and spending reallocations within online to come as we specify what we won’t do, as well as what we will.”
News Broadcasting
India’s AI Future Gets a Neural Kick-Off in Delhi
NDTV IND.AI Summit on 18 Feb 2026 to debate governance, ethics, and India’s big-tech ambitions.
MUMBAI: Artificial intelligence is about to get a very Delhi welcome smart, spirited, and ready to out-think the room. On 18 February 2026, New Delhi plays host to the inaugural NDTV IND.AI Summit, a high-stakes pow-wow that promises to put India’s AI ambitions under the brightest spotlight yet. Billed as a deep dive into how artificial intelligence is already rewiring the nation’s economy, policy playbook, and strategic dreams, the one-day event is curated by NDTV in partnership with the Startup Policy Forum. At its core lies a single, sharp question: how do you unleash AI’s transformative power while keeping trust, equity, and sanity intact?
The guest list reads like a who’s-who of global AI heavyweights. Former UK prime minister Rishi Sunak headlines a special session on AI in governance, sharing hard-won lessons on how the technology is reshaping statecraft and decision-making. Joining the fray are OpenAI’s Chris Lehane, UC Berkeley’s AI safety pioneer Stuart Russell, and Google’s James Manyika, voices that will anchor India firmly in the international conversation on accountability, risk, and cross-border cooperation.
Beyond the policy wonks, the Summit rolls up its sleeves for real-world impact. General Catalyst’s Hemant Taneja and other top-tier investors will unpack how AI is redrawing the rules of capital, innovation, and long-term value creation. Separate tracks will tackle AI’s footprint in workplaces, large-scale adoption, productivity shifts, evolving job roles, and organisational culture. India’s digital public infrastructure, often hailed as a global blueprint for inclusive tech gets its own spotlight, alongside a dedicated segment on AI sovereignty: what does true national control look like in a borderless tech universe?
NDTV CEO and editor-in-chief Rahul Kanwal framed the event’s bigger picture, “The IND.AI Summit is about the kind of future we are choosing to build. India has the scale, the talent, and the moral imagination to shape how AI serves society and this Summit is our way of bringing the most credible voices together to define that direction.”
In a world where AI chatter can feel abstract, the New Delhi gathering aims to ground the debate in India’s own story, one that ties cutting-edge innovation to public purpose, domestic priorities to global influence, and raw ambition to responsible stewardship. Whether you’re an algorithm enthusiast or just mildly curious about tomorrow’s headlines, this Summit is India signalling it’s not just catching the AI wave, it intends to help steer it.
