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Bloomberg Talks

Howard Stringer Talks Trump's Threats to BBC

17 Nov 2025

Transcription

Chapter 1: What is the background of Sir Howard Stringer?

0.571 - 1.834 Stephen Carroll

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2.135 - 9.09 Caroline Hepka

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69.016 - 91.421 Tom Keene

I need to set this up for our American audience. Sir Howard Stringer is from the low side of Wales called Cardiff. David Blanchflaw of Dartmouth is from Cardiff as well. And he had the most interesting, interesting start to his career. You know him, of course, from Sony. You know him perhaps from CBS. Paul Sweeney and I can do a three-hour discussion with Stringer.

Chapter 2: How does Sir Howard Stringer view the BBC's current challenges?

399.493 - 403.418 Sir Howard Stringer

But I think the BBC knows what its responsibilities are.

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404.279 - 411.328 Paul Sweeney

Howard, do you believe that the damages being sought by President Trump are reasonable? Or how do you think about that side?

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412.507 - 442.096 Sir Howard Stringer

I think it's reasonable, but I also think that President Trump knows Britain very well. I knew him personally, and he was very generous to me. And suing the BBC is sending a message that be fair, be true to yourself, whether or not England will play a billion dollars. I doubt that they will, and I doubt that President Trump really wants that.

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442.156 - 447.171 Sir Howard Stringer

I think he wants the BBC in a funny kind of a way to behave.

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448.298 - 472.483 Tom Keene

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497.067 - 513.068 Tom Keene

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514.668 - 536.272 Tom Keene

We welcome all of you worldwide on YouTube, our new digital distribution, and of course on radio from our various sources, 99.1 FM in Washington, 92.9 FM in Boston, Bloomberg 1130 in New York. Sir Howard Stringer with us this morning with his decades of work. You heard him speak of General Westmoreland there, what takes us so far back.

536.292 - 559.333 Tom Keene

Just to give you a little vignette, Sir Howard Stringer at a very young age answering telephones backstage for the Ed Sullivan show. This goes back a few decades. Sir Howard, let me ask a delicate question of the United Kingdom. The present beleaguered and resigned leader of the BBC is perceived as a marketing guy. You were in the New York Times talking about this.

Chapter 3: What steps can the BBC take to regain public trust?

609.6 - 634.686 Sir Howard Stringer

In my dealings with him, I think he knew it, and he was always fair and generous. I think he's fired the shot across the brows of the BBC. They will pay attention, they have made changes, and that will be good. But the BBC is an important global institution, and I don't believe you stop breaking up great institutions during a crisis.

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634.97 - 659.408 Tom Keene

Look, Sir Howard, just one final question, if we could, on the BBC, and we must turn to so much going on in Paul Sweeney's world in New York as well. And talking to our Eric Larson off our desk on Queen Victoria Street, and looking at the litigation here as well, how will that play out in the United Kingdom? Inform our American audience.

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659.388 - 679.388 Tom Keene

of how a lawsuit in London is different than a lawsuit wherever in the United States? I'm not sure I really understand that question. Well, I mean, the litigation is going to be in the United Kingdom. How is it different there if the president sues the BBC than it would be here?

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680.469 - 709.957 Sir Howard Stringer

Well, I was sued in America, as you remember, over the General Westman. I think it went on for years. And I don't think... I don't think President Trump will keep at this. I think he is much bigger fish to fry. I think he has sent a very important message. I think the BBC will respond accordingly. And I hope he doesn't expect the British public to pay that kind of money.

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710.738 - 714.522 Sir Howard Stringer

I think his generosity will save the day.

714.687 - 740.124 Tom Keene

Sir Howard Stringer with us, so thrilled to have him with us this morning. Let me migrate, Sir Howard, to the United States and ask a question that so many will resonate with so much of our listeners and viewers. Could Dan Rather do the news today? Does Dan Rather what? Could he do the news today? Could Dan Rather grind out his leadership in news off the desk of CBS as he did years ago?

740.565 - 744.405 Tom Keene

Could he do that in this environment today? Well, he can't do it now.

744.525 - 768.14 Sir Howard Stringer

I mean, he's still in good shape. The last time I spoke to him, and I spoke to him quite recently, but no, I don't think he would want to become an anchor man in his 90s, and I don't want to become a director general in my 80s either. But I think so much has changed in America. It's been fractionalized, and the networks aren't as strong as they used to be.

768.181 - 792.589 Sir Howard Stringer

When I was running the evening news, we had a 26-share network, of the news compared to ABC 20 and NBC 20. That combined audience was almost 70% of the national audience. That isn't possible in the United States today because of the fractionalization and the growth of competitive social media.

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