Armando Iannucci to give MacTaggart lecture
Armando Iannucci is to deliver the James MacTaggart Memorial lecture at this year's Guardian Edinburgh International Television Festival.
Iannucci, who wrote the political satire The Thick Of It and co-wrote I'm Alan Partridge, will discuss the future of the BBC's funding and the changing ways people view TV, organisers said.
This year the festival is celebrating its 40th year.
Past speakers include Kevin Spacey, James Murdoch and Jeremy Paxman.
The MacTaggart lecture has established itself as a platform for agenda-setting speeches in the media.
It was named after the writer, producer and director James MacTaggart, who died in 1974.
'TV still matters'
Iannucci, who also directed the 2009 film In the Loop and created American television series Veep, said he was "excited" to deliver the lecture.
He said: "In the current climate where no-one knows what the hell is going to happen to TV schedules, revenues, watching habits, funding, quality control, the BBC, investment, licence fees, charters, and government interference, I'm terribly excited to be asked to join the debate in this, perhaps our most spectacularly clueless year.
"Nobody knows anything, and in my MacTaggart lecture, I'm sure that will become abundantly clear.
"I'll do my very best, though, to show why TV still matters."
The festival takes place from 26 to 28 August.