An excerpt from Jenny Abramsky’s speech to the Radio Academy

Students of BBC job titles, and I am sure there are many in this room, may have noticed that last summer the BBC had a Director of Television and a Director of Radio … but no longer. There is now a Director of BBC Vision and my title is now Director of Audio & Music.

Why the change? Not because we think radio doesn’t still exist, but because there’s a whole world of audio out there now, not just radio.

The fact is that all newspapers are going into audio online with their own podcasts and audio programmes. The Sunday Times offers a Music Show. The Guardian – a round up of European football action. The Observer – a weekly Film Review. Gillian’s own newspaper, the Telegraph, regards itself as multimedia, not simply print.

Individual artists like Ricky Gervais are going direct to audiences with their own podcast content. This is a world of audio where radio is just a part. There’s a new video world – of Google News and Microsoft – where television is just a part.

If the BBC is going to thrive in this 21st century global media market, it has to recognise the broadcasting world has changed and make the investment that’s needed in new ways of reaching audiences and delivering high quality content, even when it has a tight licence fee settlement.

It also has to make the case for its continued existence in a world that’s increasingly dominated by huge global players like Google and Apple…