But, according to the Guardian, the corporation (for which I work) should be worried. Its unmatchable history in this genre has made it prey to a younger, wealthier beast:
The announcement comes after senior staff left the BBC’s Natural History Unit, lured to the commercial sector by the prospect of working for rapidly-growing streaming services, which can offer bigger budgets.
Soon, Netflix will be airing One Planet, a nature documentary voiced by David Attenborough and produced by “former staff” from the BBC’s Natural History Unit:
The Blue Planet II creator, James Honeyborne, left the Natural History Unit last month after almost 30 years to found an independent production company, which instantly signed a deal with Netflix to produce nature and science series.
The shift of this expertise from a public broadcaster to the commercial sector is sad. This programming shouldn’t be accessible only to those with a Netflix account, particularly if it’s to have its goal of influencing how we appreciate and treat our world.
I believe David Attenborough is passionate about the true power of public broadcasting, and for that reason I hope he continues to work with the BBC. That said, he clearly cares deeply about quickly getting out his message about a global crisis. And so, if he were to leave, none of us should blame him for it.