Media: You saw it on BBC first

I won't lose my nerve and I won't follow in ITV's footsteps

I'VE SAT on the fence when it comes to the question of whether a parallel universe exists. Until reading ITV's director of programmes David Liddiment's article ("I will not be defeated by the News at Ten elitists" 6 July) on these pages last week, that is.

He and I must be in parallel universes, because his assertion that the BBC follows in the footsteps of ITV simply doesn't stand close inspection - the BBC's Changing Rooms and Ground Force were made over by ITV as Better Rooms and now Better Gardens. Clampers was Denver-booted by ITV when it created Parking Wars. ITV's People's Vet snapped at the heels of the BBC's Animal Hospital - ITV's Airline got caught in Airport's slipstream - the list goes on and on.

Programmes like these were pioneered by the BBC. They have a role to play in reflecting Britain as it is today, but as part of a much bigger, richer jigsaw.

BBC1 is the ultimate BBC challenge. A big broad church of traditional and cutting edge responsibilities. It is the gateway to the BBC, with an unrivalled reach of more than 90 per cent of all viewers every week. To achieve that, BBC1 must provide a unique range of genre in peak time each week of the year, from news to science, from drama to sport, and religion to comedy - nearly a third more than ITV, for example.

Daily, the BBC1 schedule meets our public service commitments. Series like Tomorrow's World, Newsround and Everyman are the life blood of the channel, yet they tend to get taken for granted in a noisy world of new entrants.

The ambition is to grow, around that backbone, programmes which meet our public service commitments in innovative and creative ways. For that the channel needs constant reappraisal. New concepts and genres need the opportunity and time to succeed - or fail. Traditional genres need to be reassessed to connect with changing audiences.

Of course there is some convergence between ITV and BBC1, but, due to the distinct ways UK television is funded, we have different priorities.

BBC1's continued commitment to its remit is illustrated by the twin towers of the News at Nine and Panorama. When ITV scrapped the News at Ten, BBC1 could easily have lost its nerve. But we held firm. Viewers deserve in-depth news reporting, scheduled when they are available to view, but also at a time when content can truly reflect events. A position borne out when we consider how ITV's late regional news has suffered, with a near 50 per cent cut in viewers after it was moved from 10.30pm to 11.20pm.

Our "twin towers" are beacons in a perplexing multi-channel world. With increasing programme choice, viewers can still be sure of when and where they can find thought-provoking current affairs output and a committed news service. BBC1 cleared its schedules on the day of the momentous Good Friday agreement; again for the opening of the Scottish Parliament; and again for Cardinal Basil Hume's funeral - no other broadcaster did the same.

Writer Lucy Gannon has paid tribute to BBC1 as the only channel that would have committed to Hope & Glory, her original, warm drama about a struggling comprehensive. After the first episode, a viewer e-mailed us to say: "I'm an ex-teacher who left the profession for the worst reason - money. I'm going back. Thank you BBC."

But Hope & Glory sits alongside programmes like Aristocrats, EastEnders and the forthcoming David Copperfield in a diverse portfolio - a diversity that you find across every genre. The Human Body, for example, uncovered a desire above and beyond the weekly Tomorrow's World - we're taking that forward this week with Professor Robert Winston's series The Secret Life of Twins.

The challenges for the future are immense for every channel. Saturday nights, daytime, new comedies - they are never easy issues, but we are determined to crack them.

New comedies and entertainment shows are coming, and existing ones are returning. Victoria Wood's dinner ladies will, of course, be back, but so too will Kiss Me Kate, for example. This series, which stars Caroline Quentin, will blossom into a third season because, unlike our competitors, we can take risks - we won't give up mid-run, or change our scheduling on a weekly basis.

Factual programmes of scale and ambition are integral to the BBC's success. Life of Birds and The Human Body were startling evidence of this. This autumn Walking with Dinosaurs, from BBC Science, is another contender.

Going forward, there will be a number of landmarks to provide BBC1 with an utterly distinctive mix: David Attenborough's conservation series, State of the Planet, will be followed by The Blue Planet; Robert Winston's Superhuman will be complemented by the arts series, The Human Face.

BBC1 is about finding inclusive points in the schedule for the whole family to enjoy - together. We will hold our nerve. We'll continue to demonstrate long term commitment to ambitious projects. We'll thrive on innovation and creative competition - not on competition for audience share. I believe our commitment to enrich our viewers lives, to diversity, and to quality will shine through over the coming months.

Peter Salmon is controller, BBC1