Established in 1976, The Edinburgh TV Festival brings together leading industry figures and a broad, diverse range of delegates to celebrate creative success, their passion for television, debate the issues facing the television industry as well as its potential to have real-world impact.
From 2027 Greater Manchester will become the host city for the TV Festival, which has been looking for a new home since 2025.
Fatima Salaria, Chair of the Festival board said: “This was never a decision about wanting to leave Edinburgh, or about diminishing the extraordinary role Scotland has played in shaping the identity of this Festival for 50 years. Edinburgh gives the Festival a powerful origin story, and we respect that deeply.”
Councillor Bev Craig, Leader of Manchester City Council, and Deputy Mayor for Economy Business and Inclusive Growth, Greater Manchester, said:
“With the fastest growing economy in the UK, creative industries are a key priority growth area for us. As part of this we aim to make our region home to the strongest screen industry cluster outside London by 2028 – an ambition backed by our just-launched £10.5 million Screen Production Fund to support film and TV made in Greater Manchester, using local facilities and expertise.
“As new home now also to the prestigious TV Festival, we’ll be working closely with partners to ensure we deliver not just an exceptional annual Festival – with our own uniquely Manchester twist – but an event that supports new collaborations and partnerships locally, nationally, and internationally, that have the growth, sustainability, and diversity of the screen industry at their heart.”
The James MacTaggart Memorial Lecture is the Edinburgh TV Festival’s keynote and has formed the centrepiece of the Festival since it’s inception, with a starry line up of past speakers.
This year, VP Head of YouTube EMEA, Pedro Pina, is to deliver the flagship address. Lauded as a visionary leader, Pina oversees YouTube’s business, creator, and content ecosystem across Europe, Middle East and Africa.
Pina is also a celebrated champion for inclusion with his advocacy earning him global recognition. He has been named the world’s top LGBT+ executive role model on the OUTstanding 100 Global List; twice recognised by the British LGBTQ+ awards as one of the UK’s most influential and inspirational leaders; and was recently appointed by the UK’s Prime Minister to the Board of the Victoria & Albert Museum in London as a Trustee.
Pina said: “To be invited to give the MacTaggart lecture is an incredible honour, particularly at a moment when our industry has such a profound opportunity to redefine itself. Television has always been celebrated by its ability to connect us, and today, we are living in the most diverse and flourishing creative era in human history. The viewers haven’t vanished – they are more engaged than ever, they’re simply ready for us to meet them on their own terms.”
Sir Gary Oldman, one the UK’s most successful screen stars and a true industry trailblazer will receive the 2026 Global Icon Award, and will be in conversation with Edith Bowman reflecting on six seasons of Slow Horses and much more from his incredible career.
Highly regarded as one of the foremost actors of his generation, and an internationally renowned cultural figure, he has the distinction of appearing in more successful films than any other artist spanning the past twenty years. In recent years, Oldman has transitioned into a highly acclaimed television career, anchoring the hit Emmy and BAFTA Award-winning Apple TV espionage drama, Slow Horses.
Sir Gary Oldman said; “My heartfelt thanks to the Edinburgh TV Festival for this generous honour. To receive an award bearing the title “Global Icon” is both enormously flattering and faintly alarming! In all seriousness, I am touched by this generosity and thankful to all those whose creativity, trust, and collaboration have shaped my journey. My warmest thanks to the festival, and I very much look forward to being with you in Edinburgh.”
Media trailblazer, host, writer and producer Amelia Dimoldenberg and Footballing legend, world-renowned sports broadcaster and co-founder of Goalhanger, Gary Lineker are two more stars of the 2026 programme
Amelia Dimoldenberg will be in conversation with international correspondent for The Ankler, Manori Ravindran, reflecting on the craft she has been refining over the past ten years – from performance direction and casting, to the editorial architecture of an awkward beat – and how those same skills now underpin her evolution into scripted comedy.
Gary Lineker is currently covering the World Cup in America, where his hit podcast, The Rest is Football is being streamed on Netflix to a global audience. He will sit down with 2026 Advisory Chair Adam Hawkins to reflect on the success Goalhanger has found since launching in 2018 and their ambition as a media and entertainment juggernaut.
The BBC has a new Director-General, a job often described by many as the most scrutinized job in British media.
In his first major industry appearance in his new role, Matt Brittin CBE will appear at the festival to reflect on his first few months. Having come from the world of Big Tech, Brittin served as the head of Google’s EMEA region for ten years, he plans to begin his mission of reinventing public service broadcasting for the 21st century.
TV Awards’ Outstanding Achievement Award for 2026 will be given to Davina McCall; one of the UK’s most successful and beloved broadcasters.
From her TV debut on MTV, and playing Cupid on Streetmate to her era-defining decade hosting Big Brother, as well as multiple shows including BAFTA award winning series Long Lost Family, Million Pound Drop and The Masked Singer, McCall’s wit, warmth and wisdom has been lighting up TV screens for more than 30 years.
She is now at the vanguard of visualized podcasts, bringing her spritely curiosity and engaging, open interviewing style to her hit podcast, Begin Again, which explores the lives and experiences of a broad range of celebrities and experts who have stepped outside their comfort zones and reinvented themselves.
McCall said; “I can’t quite believe that I’ve been awarded such an honour for doing something I love so much. I have been very lucky to have worked on many amazing shows and with many incredible people over my career, and have learnt so much along the way. To be given the Outstanding Achievement Award is huge and I can’t wait to look back at the last 30 years in the session at Edinburgh this summer.”
The 2026 Edinburgh TV Festival – Tuesday 25 August to Friday 28 August
