Paper from Peter Knowles, Notes on Audiences
to BBC Parliament
AUDIENCES
The channel has been measured by the BARB panel
since September, and the figures show a very encouraging figure
for the `reach' of the channel, which ranges between 700,000 and
800,000 viewers.
This figure represents the number of people
in total who have watched the channel in the course of a month—not
the same person, watching twice! A viewer is counted whether they
have watched a debate just for a few minutes, or throughout the
day.
In months where parliamentary debates become
the story of the day, we see a reach exceeding one million.
At its peak, on the Second Reading of the Higher
Education Bill, we saw a reach for a single day of around 280,000.
Briefly, this put the channel ahead of all the other news channels!
This was achieved in part through very good cross-promotion from
other news programmes and in the junctions of other channels.
Viewing (in a 15' period) on that day peaked
at 115,000, just before the division on the Higher Education Bill.
This more than halved at the Division.
All of the above under-represents the true viewing
figures, because the BARB panel is only concerned with home viewing,
and does not take account of office viewing, which we believe
to be substantial.
Future development will, we hope, come from
better distribution by way of the substitution of digital for
analogue cable. We also hope to use promotions around special
events to increase awareness of the channel. For example, 3 May
will see the broadcast of the original Election Night Broadcast
from 1979, on its 25th anniversary.
BROADCASTING PARLIAMENT
Divisions
We raised the question of whether there could
be a complete re-think of the rules around Divisions. The current
rules are, even for the most dedicated viewer, a complete turn-off.
Without any sound feed, and only a wide shot of an empty chamber,
this is the most austere form of broadcasting imaginable.
A sound and picture feed which gave some impression
of the bustle around the Division Lobbies, while respecting the
confidentiality of the conversations that take place there, would
be hugely welcome.
For its part, members of the Committee urged
us to think more creatively around the air-time, with some effort
to give context, (through interviews or commentary), or a re-run
of selections from the debate. These ideas differ from the current
interpretation of the remit for continuing coverage of the Commons—but
it doesn't mean we shouldn't consider them seriously, which we
will certainly do.
Cameras
We asked whether there could be a further relaxation
of rules of coverage, to allow greater freedom to show members'
reactions, and thus provide a more natural flow of pictures. We
think this would make debates much more watchable. We doubt that
other broadcasters are so wedded to the current, austere, style
of coverage that they would reject such a change.
not raised before the Committee:
We would wish to see a relaxation of rules in
recording and broadcasting sound: currently no atmospheric sound
is allowed, so a speaker may seem to start shouting for no reason
at all!
SELECT COMMITTEES
We would warmly welcome an extension of the
current practice around reporting the findings of inquiries. Oral
reports, by way of an extended news conference and in a format
that could be filmed by Bowtie TV, would be of value, especially
where BBC Parliament has covered an entire sequence of
hearings. BBC Parliament would wish to show such a news
conference, as a way of rounding off its coverage. Today in
Parliament would potentially be interested, too, on news value.
We would wish to access witnesses for interviews
in the Committee corridor: the current rules exclude the use of
that camera position for any interviews other than those with
correspondents or members of Parliament.
The log jam of Committees around Tuesdays and
Wednesdays means that some Committee choices for televising are
`forced' on us. It also means that Committees are competing with
each other for access to air-time on Today in Parliament
and Yesterday in Parliament.
We have appreciated the investment in press
officer effort for Committees, and find this valuable.
STANDING COMMITTEES
We think that press officer involvement in the
work of the Standing Committees would open up the possibility
of coverage. BBC Parliament might take extracts of proceedings,
where these have been successfully flagged in advance as being
of special interest. The same might apply to coverage on Today
in Parliament, where currently there is no effective coverage
of Standing Committees.
WESTMINSTER HALL
The proceedings in the second chamber get, we
feel good coverage, both transmitted in full on the channel, and
by way of short reports on The Record for BBC Parliament
and Today in Parliament. General news reporting is mainly
by way of reports for regional news programmes.
CHANNEL NAVIGATION
The Leader of the House raised doubts over the
ease with which viewers can find their way round BBC Parliament.
There are a number of ways in which we try to
achieve this:
— Continuous on-screen text, showing
the chamber and the date (or Live), the title of the item of business,
the name and party of the speaker, intermingled with supporting
text describing the context to the debate or statement.
— The EPG (electronic programme guide)
is for most viewers the simplest way of seeing at a glance the
running order of the channel.
— Regular and predictable scheduling
is another very valuable tool: broadcasts of Westminster Hall
(6am weekends) and Committees (6pm weekends) are scheduled at
the same time every week. The same goes for our daily round-up
programme the record, at 11pm and 9am next day.
— The website www.bbc.co.uk/parliament
is used by around 40,000 people a month and offers valuable scheduling
information.
— Broadcasts on analogue cable are
supported with a basic form of Ceefax, called Parlifax.
— By May, the channel on satellite
will be supported by the full range of BBC interactive services.
But there is work to do: it is not easy for
viewers to know what is coming up within a day's work in the Commons.
The EPG for all channels goes to press at 10pm the night before,
much too early to take new information about Statements. So we
are currently developing an additional on-screen information system,
which will enable us to put on screen "coming up" information,
which we think will be very helpful to everyone who hasn't got
an order paper to hand!
We struggle with the listings magazines. There
is little understanding that what we offer is a complex, `built'
schedule, and the channel is not listed in any of the major listings
magazines.
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