Letter to the Clerk of the Committee from
the Director of the BBC World Service
I enclose BBC World Service's written evidence
for the Committee's Inquiry into the FCO Annual Report. It is
in two parts: the first part is a summary of BBC World Service
activity over the year, and the second part is a summary of BBC
World Service's strategy and vision to 2010, which focuses on
major changes to be formally announced on 25 October 2005 following
full approval by the BBC Board of Governors last week.
In preparation for the Committee's hearing on
the FCO Annual Report 2003-04, the World Service sent members
a briefing on its SR04 submission, which included a separate bid
for funding to establish an Arabic television service.
The Committee will be aware that the bid for
extra funds for Arabic television was unsuccessful and the World
Service was asked to look at ways of funding it through re-prioritisation.
This work has been ongoing throughout the year;
during this period, there have been two other major public exercises
which have contributed to our strategic thinking:
— In March 2005, the DCMS published
its Green Paper on BBC Charter renewal, A Strong BBC Independent
of Government. This included the recommendations that the
World Service should explore how it could face up to the arrival
of satellite TV in many markets; and that it should consider reducing
its portfolio of languages, particularly in Central and Eastern
Europe.
— And, as you know, at the beginning
of 2005, a Review of Public Diplomacy, led by Lord Carter of Coles,
was established. BBC World Service welcomed the opportunity to
provide information to the review. The review team is shortly
to report, and is expected to echo the Green Paper in proposing
that the language portfolio should be carefully scrutinised. It
is also expected to recommend that the World Service should continue
to exploit new technologies, services and platforms, and should
respond more quickly to changing geopolitical circumstances.
Both of these developments have reinforced the
BBC's own conviction that a far-reaching, radical strategy is
needed to ensure that the World Service can retain its pre-eminence
in a multimedia world.
The second attached paper sets out the main
elements of the BBC World Service's strategy to 2010, with specific
financial plans through 2007-08. It lays out the strategic principles
and priorities that will guide the changes in activities, and
details the areas of new investment. It also describes the reprioritisation
of activities that will be necessary to deliver this exciting
vision.
The paper was endorsed by the BBC Board of Governors
on 20 October. Consultations have also been held with the FCO
about the proposed changes. The Foreign Secretary has given written
approval, as he is obliged to do under the Broadcasting Agreement,
for the proposed investment in Arabic TV and the proposed service
reductions.
Nigel Chapman
Director
24 October 2005
1. BBC WORLD SERVICE: 2004-05 A YEAR IN REVIEW
In 2004-05 BBC World Service consolidated its
position as the best known and most respected voice in international
broadcasting
Independent research indicated that its reputation
for trust and objectivity was higher than for any other international
broadcasters in virtually all markets surveyed—including
in Egypt, Indonesia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Russia, and USA. Its reputation
also improved in markets in the Islamic world where it suffered
a reverse during and immediately after the Iraq war.
Throughout the year, the range, intensity and
geographical spread of major news stories was unprecedented. As
well as developments in Iraq and the Middle East, there was extensive
news coverage of the Indian Ocean tsunami, the Darfur crisis,
the Beslan school siege, the US and Ukrainian elections and the
enlargement of the European Union. BBC World Service produced
some of its strongest-ever news programmes, pioneered the use
of new interactive media and provided enhanced services where
most needed.
AUDIENCES
— BBC World Service's overall audience
figure rose to 149 million weekly listeners, a rise of three million
listeners compared to 2004's estimate of 146 million. This is
the sixth year in succession that BBC World Service has attracted
an audience over 145 million. This equates to over 50% more listeners
than any comparable international broadcaster.
— Listening in the USA increased to
5 million, the highest ever level, up from 4.7 million last year.
One in five opinion formers in New York and Washington listen
each week while the figure in Boston is even higher at over one
in four.
— In India, weekly audiences rose 4.8
million to a total of 16.4 million weekly listeners. The increase
has been due to improvements in Hindi language programming and
to a high-profile series of BBC Hindi road-shows in rural areas
of the country. This is the first increase in a number of years
following a dramatic drop in overall radio listening in India,
as well as a ban by Indian regulators on local FM stations carrying
news from foreign broadcasters. This had resulted in a drop of
over 12 million listeners between 1995 and 2002.
— The weekly audience for the BBC Bengali
Service has risen by 2.6 million to 13 million in the past year.
The growth of the audience to BBC World Service is mostly driven
by the increase in rural listening, and represents a strong recovery
from the audience drop in 2003, particularly in Bangladesh, following
the Iraq war. This latest survey reveals that the vast majority
of those who have ever listened to the BBC—more than 80%—consider
it to be trustworthy.
— Audiences in Indonesia rose by 1.2
million to 4.4 million.
— World Service audiences in the UK
were measured at 1.3 million regular listeners. Programmes are
now more easily available following the growth of digital and
cable services.
— In Nigeria, a Government ban on the
rebroadcasting of foreign broadcasters' news programmes by local
FM stations, imposed in April 2004, has resulted in an overall
drop of 1.5 million listeners in the country. However 20.2 million
Nigerian listeners still tune in every week—17.6 million
in the Hausa language, mostly on shortwave.
Growth of competition had a negative impact
on World Service audiences in some regions:
— Listeners to the BBC Urdu service
in Pakistan fell by 3.2 million to 9.4 million
— Kenyan audiences to BBC programmes
fell by 2.1 million to an overall total of 4.5 million.
— Listeners to the BBC Swahili service
in Tanzania fell by 1.3 million to an overall total of 10.2 million.
FMS
BBC World Service programmes are now available
in high quality audibility on FM in 146 capital cities (77% of
the world's capitals), up from 139 last year.
IRAQ
Research showed that BBC World Service is the
biggest speech radio station in Iraq. Weekly audiences in the
country increased to 3.3 million (22%) from 1.8 million weekly
listeners (13% of the radio audience) last year—an increase
of 1.5 million. The independent surveys also showed that 43% of
opinion formers in Iraq listen every week.
The BBC's new FM transmitter network in the
country has made a crucial difference in ensuring the World Service
remains competitive—we now have FMs in Baghdad, Mosul &
Irbil, Kirkuk, Al-Nasirya, Basra, Al-Kut, Salahuddin and Al-Amara.
The news bureau in Baghdad gave the organisation
an important edge in reporting from a country that remains difficult
and dangerous to cover. For World Service news teams it complements
the new bureau in Cairo, where a significant amount of programmes
are now made for the Arabic Service.
AFGHANISTAN
Despite limited survey work due to safety considerations,
the BBC attracted 2.8 million listeners in five provinces of Afghanistan—an
increase of 2 million on last year's Kabul only survey. That survey
showed that BBC World Service programmes in Pashto and Persian
had a 60% reach in the Afghan capital.
NEW MEDIA
Monthly page impressions to the BBC's international
news site, including bbcnews.com, increased to 351 million in
August 2005 from 284 million a year previously, an increase of
67 million (for the period of this review, figures were 324 million
in March 2005 from 279 million exactly a year previously—a
rise of 45 million).
In Brazil, online services now attract larger
audiences than radio. BBC World Service is pioneering the introduction
of video content and working closely with key media partners in
that country. In January 2005 the BBC's Brazilian website, bbcbrasil.com,
registered 14.3 million page impressions, up more than 120% in
a year.
Since the period covered by this review, a BBC
Persian Service programme became the first BBC language programme
to be available to audiences via a podcast in August 2005. The
podcast provided listeners with the flexibility to listen to a
15-minute highlight how and when they want to at bbcpersian.com.
FINANCE
In the SR04 settlement, the Government announced
an increase in funding for the World Service of £27 million
over the period 2005-08. The separate bid for an Arabic television
service was supported by the Government, but it said that funding
would need to come from reprioritisation.
BBC World Service will channel all the additional
funds into expanding FM in major cities, strengthening its impact
in the Islamic world, improving interactivity and partnership
development.
In order to maximise the value of new investments,
World Service strives to cover all rising costs from efficiency
gains. In this financial year, BBC World Service achieved efficiency
savings of £4.4 million. The organisation also commenced
a far-reaching reprioritisation exercise, the results of which
are given in the second part of this paper.
GENERAL EDITORIAL
OVERVIEW
BBC World Service continued to report on and
from the Islamic world, including powerful coverage on Iraq—especially
the elections and handover of power—enabled by a strong
presence on the ground, complemented by insightful analysis and
interviews.
The network carried strong coverage of the Afghan
and Iraqi elections, the Israeli-Palestinian crisis and other
key stories including developments in Saudi Arabia, the death
of Yasser Arafat—the World Service began broadcasting on
FM in Bethlehem on the day of his death, and the assassination
of the Lebanese prime minister.
Elsewhere, reporting was unparalleled, including
in-depth coverage of the Beslan crisis (for which the World Service
won the News Output Award at the Sony Radio Academy Awards), leveraging
editorial coordination and newsgathering strength under difficult
circumstances. There was extra programming across several languages
for the Tsunami disaster and comprehensive coverage of: events
in Darfur; elections in Ukraine, and the USA; the death of Pope
John Paul II; EU enlargement; the Davos summit.
LANDMARK PROGRAMMING
Landmark programmes included The Jigsaw in
Pieces, on diplomacy after the Iraq war; The New Europe,
broadcast across all European languages; and Profit and Loss:
The Story of African Oil.
The World Service played an important role in
the BBC-wide China Week, a week of original and groundbreaking
programmes. The organisation was given unprecedented access inside
the country. There was a high degree of editorial collaboration
across the BBC's Global News Division. Talking Point from
Tsinghua University was carried across all three media—radio,
television and online. Both BBC World and BBC World Service carried
the Shanghai edition of Question Time.
GLOBAL CONVERSATIONS
The World Service continued to expand its interactive
debates on radio and online. Opportunities for users to question
key decision-makers and to exchange views across nations and continents
included a groundbreaking initiative to connect families separated
by the Line of Control dividing Kashmir. For the first time in
years Kashmiris were able to communicate through a video conference
organised and webcast by bbcurdu.com. In May 2004, the Foreign
Secretary took part in Talking Point, an interactive debate
covering Iraq, the wider Middle East and the future of Europe.
BBC World Service interactive websites in Spanish, Russian, Arabic,
Persian and Urdu won awards for excellence.
The Indian Ocean tsunami prompted one of the
largest news efforts ever undertaken by the BBC, with correspondents
deployed on an unprecedented scale. Within hours of the waves
striking, the World Service launched notice boards for missing
people. In five affected regions—India, Maldives, Sri Lanka,
Thailand and Indonesia—more than two million people looked
at these pages. BBC World Service received over 25,000 emails,
and several families were reunited with the help of the BBC.
BBC MONITORING
BBC Monitoring continued to provide highly valued
material for stakeholders from areas such as the Middle East,
Darfur, Russia and Ukraine. Pan Arab TV coverage was enhanced,
including a supply of TV feeds to BBC World.
During the Beslan siege, Monitoring helped to
unravel a confused media picture of events. Our Russian teams
in the UK and overseas were able to reveal the widely differing
accounts being given in newspapers and on television, and the
differences between regional and Moscow-based media.
The benefit of following events over a long
period was demonstrated by the tremendous expertise and analysis
applied to explaining Ukraine's "Orange Revolution".
This year also saw the conclusion of the Cabinet
Office-led Review of BBC Monitoring. The BBC welcomed the outcome
of the review, and its endorsement of the role and value of BBC
Monitoring as a national and international resource of information
on the media.
The BBC believes that the new Funding and Governance
regime is a positive development, providing a framework within
which Stakeholders can join with BBC Monitoring to concentrate
on strategic developments, rather than on short-term funding issues.
The stability afforded by the Review outcome
will enable BBC Monitoring to focus on meeting the challenges
of operating in a rapidly evolving global media environment. In
addition, the Review provides a firm foundation for the future
of BBC Monitoring's long term partnership with the US-based FBIS.
BBC Monitoring is now working with the Cabinet
Office and others to establish the new Funding and Governance
Regime. It is also examining how to remove £2 million pa
from its annual costs by March 2007—a consequence of the
funding settlement agreed between the Stakeholders being lower
than that recommended by the Review.
BBC Monitoring believes that 50-80 net job cuts
(10-16%) will arise as a consequence of the funding profile in
the later years of the 5 year settlement. There will be some changes,
but BBC Monitoring estimates that coverage and services will be
broadly maintained.
BBC WORLD SERVICE
TRUST
The World Service Trust had a good year, with
income of over £13 million in 2004-05.
The Trust continues its work on various projects
around the globe: Southern Iraq's first regional broadcaster,
Al Mirbad, developed from scratch by the Trust, began broadcasting
in June; the Trust's FCO-funded Media Dialogues programme in the
Middle East and North Africa is addressing training needs of journalists.
A major new TV drama—Taste of Life—is spearheading
the Trust's mass media health campaign in Cambodia. The first
Burmese-language soap opera Thabyegone Ywa (Eugenia Tree Village),
addressing health issues, celebrated its 100th episode.
2. BBC WORLD SERVICE THREE YEAR PLAN 2005-08
AND VISION TO 2010
1. INTRODUCTION
This paper sets out a series of significant
changes in the strategic direction of the BBC World Service (BBCWS)
to 2010. It includes specific developments funded by agreed Grant
in Aid levels to and including 2007-08, and outlines:
— The context of the changes.
— The proposed strategic vision to
2010.
— The proposed specific investments
to the end of 2007-08, including proposed service reductions.
— Aspirations beyond 2007-08.
— Success measures to 2010.
2. CONTEXT
2.1 This revised strategy for the BBC World
Service proposes the biggest single set of changes in its recent
history. It is designed to take advantage of geopolitical change,
specifically in Central and Eastern Europe, the development of
independent media there, and support from the FCO for reprioritisation
which will enable the BBC to shift resources to where audience
need is greater and where competition is intensifying.
2.2 In the context of limited funds, and
a more restrictive public spending climate by the Government,
the strategy is predicated on selective and increased investment
in key areas: television and video news in the most important
vernacular languages complementing the global role of BBC World,
increased interactivity across all three media (TV, radio and
online), modernised distribution for radio and stronger marketing.
2.3 While there is a strong case a priori
for the closure of some language services, funds released from
this, plus a refocusing of the English network, and the benefits
of a simpler management structure and savings in administration
and support areas will enable us to make the new investments.
In addition, over the 2005-08 period, other efficiency savings
and changes in the distribution portfolio will fund rising costs.
All this adds up to a demanding set of financial targets in a
part of the BBC that has already made significant efficiency savings
over many Spending Review periods.
2.4 The proposals have been thoroughly discussed
with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and we have secured the
written approval of the Foreign Secretary for the intended closures
as well as the launch of Arabic television.
3. PROPOSED STRATEGIC
FRAMEWORK TO
2010 AND FINANCIAL
PLAN TO
2008
3.1 Strategic framework to 2010
3.1.1 Vision
To be the world's best known, most creative,
and most respected voice in international news, thereby bringing
benefit to the UK, the BBC and to audiences around the world:
— To provide the most trusted, relevant,
and highest-quality international news in the world, and an indispensable
service of independent analysis and explanation, with an international
perspective which promotes greater understanding of complex issues;
— To connect and engage audiences by
facilitating an informed and intelligent dialogue—a Global
Conversation—which transcends international borders and
cultural divides; and to give audiences opportunities to create,
publish and share their own views and stories;
— And by so doing, to enable people
to make sense of their increasingly complex world and, thus empowered,
lead more fulfilling lives.
3.1.2 Target audiences
— We will target influencers—opinion
formers and decision makers—in every market;
— In less developed markets, we will
also target news followers—audiences with a wider need for
basic news and information;
— We will offer lifeline services to
audiences in areas of conflict or failed states.
3.1.3 Priority markets
We have assessed our existing services against
criteria of geopolitical importance and information need, as well
as prospects for continued impact. As a result we have redefined
our priority markets and services:
— English will continue to be our core
global offer. Alongside BBC World, the BBC World Service English
radio network and the international news online site will serve
audiences around the world as part of a multimedia offer from
the BBC;
— We will seek to provide a vernacular
multimedia service in priority markets—the Arab and wider
Islamic world including Pakistan, Iran and Indonesia; and China,
Russia, India, and Spanish-speaking Latin America.
— China is a critical market but there
is as yet no likelihood of better access to the TV market in the
time frame in question. We will work with BBC Worldwide to maximise
the value of our current offer; and we will continue to lobby
Chinese authorities.
— We will continue to serve less developed
markets in Africa and Asia, such as Nigeria and Bangladesh, as
well as a number of information poor markets with clear need for
independent information.
— We will also continue to serve a
number of other markets such as parts of Eastern Europe, the Balkans
and Turkey, but review our offers there regularly based on political,
market developments and audience impact.
— We will close our services in 10
languages that no longer fulfil these agreed strategic criteria:
Czech, Greek, Hungarian, Polish, Slovak, Slovene, Bulgarian, Croatian,
Thai and Kazakh. These currently attract under four million weekly
listeners for a spend of ca. £12 million. Portuguese for
Brazil will become an Internet-only offer, and we will reduce
spend on Hindi online.
3.2 Specific investment proposals through
2007-08
3.2.1 Arabic Television
Developing an Arabic television news service
is our highest priority. We would launch a 12-hour offer in early
2007, supported by a text and audio service for the remaining
part of the day, with a view to going to full 24-hour provision
as funds become available.
— TV is the dominant news medium in
the Arab world.
— Audience research commissioned in
2003, and repeated in 2005, has indicated a very strong demand
for a BBC Arabic television service. Between 80-90% of those surveyed
said they would be "very" or "fairly likely"
to use the service—with about half in the "very likely"
group. The trusted nature of the brand—its independence
and strong record in news—is cited by most potential users
as the reason for their strong interest.
— The offer would build on the trusted
legacy of the BBC's Arabic radio services. In surveys from the
region over recent years, and in bespoke focus group research,
the BBC emerges as the most trusted international news provider
on radio.
— Even though there are strong competitors
in the region—mainly Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya—the
Middle East is still relatively immature as a TV news market.
There is a clear opportunity to occupy a genuine "high ground"
in the market, away from the perceived pro-US offer of Al Hurra
and with a different and wider perspective to the Arabic regional
channels such as Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya.
— The establishment of an Arabic television
service would mean the BBC was the only media player with a genuine
tri-media offer and all the opportunities which flow from this
in terms of cross-promotion and awareness raising.
— We would maximise synergies between
a linear TV offer and emerging on-demand opportunities on broadband,
mobile and other platforms, especially video news reports.
— The channel proposition would consist
of world class news and current affairs about international and
major regional issues. This would be complemented by discussion
programmes and debates mounted in conjunction with our radio and
online services.
— We believe the commercial impact
on BBC World will be minimal as the channel propositions will
be complementary rather than competitive.
— In five years' time, we would expect
at least 25 million weekly viewers, as part of an overall BBC
tri-media portfolio, and to be the largest international Arabic-language
TV news channel in terms of reach after Al Jazeera.
3.2.2 Digital interactive services
— BBC World Service will aim to deliver
broadband video news reports in vernacular languages and make
them available on broadband (inc. as downloads), mobile, and other
platforms.
— High priorities for video investment
will be Arabic, Spanish, Portuguese for Brazil, Persian and Russian.
— We will invest in a wide range of
opportunities for audiences to engage with our content and to
publish and share their views and stories—the Global Conversation.
3.2.3 Strengthened distribution on FM and
other platforms
We will invest in the acquisition and management
of distribution partners on FM and other emerging audio platforms
and in ensuring our product portfolio remains competitive.
3.2.4 Marketing activities
We will invest further in marketing our services
in the context of increasing competition
These investments will total over £33 million
over three years:
3.2.5 Other television aspirations
We will also move quickly to explore the viability
of priority TV services outside Arabic—focusing on Russia,
Latin America, and India, by leveraging partnerships with local
and regional players, given the difficult financial climate.
3.3 Funding change: 2005-06—2007-08
We are proposing to achieve a balance of efficiency
savings and reprioritisation representing up to 20% of our total
operating budget in order to enable new high-priority activities
and absorb rising costs.
3.3.1 Language service reductions
The strategic analysis shows that there are
10 language services that no longer fulfil the key criteria for
investment. Eight of these (Czech, Greek, Hungarian, Polish, Slovak,
Slovene, Bulgarian, and Croatian) are in Central and Eastern Europe,
where the huge changes in the political and media environment
of the last fifteen years now means that the need for BBC language
services is far lower, and in many cases the trend is of audience
decline. We also propose to close the Thai service and Kazakh
for reasons of lower impact. Furthermore, we propose to reduce
our investment in Portuguese for Brazil, retaining the online
service.
In addition, with the roll out of an Arabic
tri media service, savings will be sought by 2007-08 on production
and distribution synergies. Once Arabic TV is proven, we will
also examine Arabic radio with a view to reducing investment in
non-peak areas.
3.3.2 English output
— The English schedule is also changing
to reflect increased focus on news and information. A number of
non-News programmes will be decommissioned in the area of factual
and music and there will be a merging of programme titles in other
areas. These changes have already been announced to the relevant
staff.
— There will be significant savings
in the way BBC News currently produces its output for the World
Service. This will involve a re-organisation in the way the teams
are set up and their senior producer supervision.
— Initial estimates indicate a number
of job losses in BBC News which supplies the World Service with
its English news and current affairs programmes. This is in addition
to 16 post closures in non-News programmes.
3.3.3 Regional structures and support areas
We will reduce the number of managerial regions
from five to three. This rationalisation will lead the way to
further savings when we complete our review of support staff and
business development which has been on hold pending the outcome
of our review.
3.4 Rising costs and efficiencies
— Before funds can be refocused for
new investments in 2005-08, we must also meet our obligations
under Spending Review 2004 in relation to rising costs. We will
continue to achieve further efficiency savings of at least 2.5%
on baselines throughout the 2004 Spending Review period, in order
to fully fund all rising costs.
3.5 Overall financial picture
The overall financial picture over the 3 year
plan shows that:
— We will absorb most of our rising
costs, via efficiency savings and changes in distribution methods.
— We will invest new funds granted
under SR02 and SR04 in the vital developments outlined earlier,
and towards the savings generated by language service closures
and other programme/managerial changes.
— Funds have been set aside to cover
expenses such as increased employer pension contributions, from
2007-08.
3.6 Impact on jobs
— It is currently forecast that there
will be 236 overall job reductions from these restructuring proposals.
However more job reductions will be announced after the impact
of the restructuring on BBC News has been discussed with unions
and staff.
— The current forecast total is made
up of 218 posts due to the closure of 10 language services (around
127 jobs in the UK and 91 overseas); and a further 18 posts lost
in other reprioritisation, such as the Portuguese for Brazil service
concentrating on news bulletins and online.
— In all around 201 new jobs have been
or will be created by the new investment. It is expected that
148 new jobs will be created by the new Arabic channel; 41 new
posts for New Media and interactive initiatives; and 12 in international
offices.
3.7 Aspirations beyond 2007-08
To deliver the 2010 vision we also aspire to
further initiatives beyond 2007-08. Where possible, we plan to
bid for additional funding in Spending Review 2007 to fund these.
— We will seek to upgrade our 12-hour
Arabic television offer to a full 24 hour service.
— We will seek to launch a limited
Persian television offer funded through Grant in Aid.
— Depending on the evolution of television
markets elsewhere, we will continue to explore opportunities in
other languages, emphasising partnerships as a cost-effective
route to market.
— We will invest in further digital
interactive services.
— Video production in further languages:
Urdu, Mandarin and Hindi.
— Continuing expansion of interactive
and user-generated content.
— We will continue to invest in strengthening
radio distribution where relevant.
— We will continue to invest in strengthening
marketing initiatives.
3.8 Strategic success measures by 2010
— BBC World Service aims to achieve
the highest reputational ratings of any international news provider
in all priority markets, overall and among target audiences.
— By 2010, we aim to have increased
the global reach of the BBC's international news services—including
through the World Service—around the world from over 190
million to over 250 million weekly users. While we expect radio
audiences to decline somewhat, despite a migration from short
wave to FM and other platforms, growth in digital media and vernacular
television will more than compensate, alongside growth in BBC
World.
— The services operated by the BBC
World Service will make a key contribution:
— We are aiming to vigorously defend
radio audiences, though by 2010 we expect a slight decline in
radio listening.
— We are aiming to reach significant
new audiences through vernacular television by 2010, with about
half through Arabic. The balance would come through a presence
in a further range of vernacular TV markets—depending on
partnerships and additional funding.
— We are aiming to multiply our reach
in new digital media like online, broadband, and mobile.
— We aim to secure the highest reach
of any international news provider in all priority markets—both
overall and among target audiences.
— We also aim to be recognised as providing
the most innovative interactive services of any international
news provider.
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