Locked away in the BBC’s sprawling headquarters near London’s Oxford Street, executives spent the days leading up to Christmas poring over the details of a $10bn lawsuit from US President Donald Trump — and the UK government’s latest blueprint for the future of the British public broadcaster.
Across town, another set of executives were working through the detail of a £1.6bn deal, expected to be announced in the new year, that will combine ITV’s broadcasting business with that of Sky — a transaction that would have been almost unthinkable not so many years ago.
The plans being laid in these offices and in Whitehall will determine whether the UK’s broadcasting industry — long considered a world leader in entertainment and news — will have a fighting chance against the might of the US streaming, social media and digital platforms.