BBC Director General Matt Brittin Meets Netflix, Amazon, Apple and YouTube Leaders in Push for Strategic Partnerships

BBC Director General Matt Brittin has met with the senior leadership of Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV and YouTube in recent weeks as part of an effort to forge what he described as ‘strategic partnerships’ for the corporation, he told BBC staff on Wednesday.

The meetings represent Brittin’s most significant move yet to reposition the broadcaster for a streaming-first future, and they come amid a sweeping cost-cutting programme that has already led to programme cancellations and fears of further channel closures.

Streamer Meetings Revealed

Speaking at an all-staff town hall held at the BBC Radio Theatre on Wednesday October 7, Brittin said: ‘Since I’ve been here, we’ve met with the global leadership of Netflix, Amazon, Apple and YouTube in an effort to forge strategic partnerships.’

Deadline reported that the meetings included a sit-down between Brittin and Netflix co-CEO Greg Peters when Peters visited London in recent weeks. Brittin, a former Google executive who took over as director general in May 2026, has prioritised deeper collaboration with technology platforms since his appointment.

He told staff: ‘Because of our reputation and our trust internationally, I think we can get a lot more out of players like that, as well as the many partners we have in other parts of the BBC as well.’

At the Royal Television Society London Convention last week, Brittin said: ‘One of the things we’ve not been great at is strategic partnerships. We have to partner with tech companies [and] with government.’

A Streaming-First Vision

Brittin has repeatedly signalled that he wants BBC content to be accessible wherever audiences are. In September, he said: ‘I think BBC content should be on Netflix, on YouTube, on TikTok, on Spotify, and Instagram, and everywhere where audiences are. Particularly news. It’s our job to be everywhere.’

The director general has also outlined plans to overhaul BBC iPlayer with features that would bring it closer to competing with major streaming platforms. Among the proposals is an AI assistant called Iggy, designed to help viewers discover programmes, provide content summaries and communicate in multiple languages. Some of these ideas are expected to enter audience testing in the coming weeks.

Brittin told employees he wants the BBC to ‘be more Elvis,’ by which he meant: ‘A little less conversation, a little more action.’ He also conceded that the corporation was ‘going to be smaller’ but said it could still have a bigger impact.

Cost-Cutting Context

The partnership push comes as the BBC seeks £500 million in savings by 2028/29. In June, the corporation announced plans for savings across its news, nations and content divisions, accounting for £160 million of that total.

On Thursday October 8, the BBC confirmed it would cut a raft of Radio 4 programmes including the long-running consumer show You and Yours, which has been on air for 56 years. Thinking Allowed, Free Thinking, The Artificial Human and Open Country will also end from April 2027. The changes form part of plans across BBC Speech and Sounds to deliver savings of at least 10 percent of its overall budget.

Jonathan Wall, Director of BBC Sounds, said: ‘We are reshaping BBC speech audio to build a strong future for trusted journalism, distinctive storytelling and programmes that bring people together.’

The BBC has also begun a redundancy process in its TV and streaming division, heightening staff fears that BBC Three and BBC Scotland could be closed as linear channels and moved online. Brittin told BBC One’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg in September that ‘we wouldn’t guarantee any programme or any channel will exist forever.’

Staff Concerns Over AI Comments

Brittin also faced questions from staff at the town hall about his earlier praise for an AI-generated episode of Doctor Who. Some BBC employees voiced concerns that his comments could signal a willingness to embrace generative AI at the expense of human creators and jobs.

At the RTS London Convention in late September, Brittin said: ‘Somebody sent me a 50-minute episode of Doctor Who that was AI-generated the other day. It was pretty good.’ He later clarified that AI would not replace human creators, but staff concerns persisted. At the town hall, Brittin joked that he had ‘got in trouble’ over the remarks.

Licence Fee Review

Brittin has also proposed a major overhaul of the BBC’s funding model, suggesting that the licence fee is ‘no longer fit for purpose.’ He has called for BBC content to be available on streaming platforms as part of a broader reform of how the broadcaster is funded.

UK Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy has previously endorsed extending the licence fee to cover streaming services. The current Royal Charter runs until 31 December 2027, and the licence fee is guaranteed until that date.

The BBC has not announced formal agreements with any of the streaming platforms following Brittin’s meetings. The discussions remain exploratory, and no timeline for potential partnerships has been disclosed.