FOLLOW-UP QUESTIONS
1. The BBC's in-house factual division was
described recently in Broadcast as suffering a crisis of confidence.
Have either budget or staff cuts had—or are they likely
to have—any adverse effect on the quantity or quality of
its output?
The 2008-09 commissioning process is not yet
complete (92% of programmes commissioned so far). However, looking
at commissions to date, the quantity of output made by in-house
factual producers has slightly reduced as a result of the WOCC.
The type of content being commissioned has changed,
reducing the volume commissioned of more traditional narrative
documentaries, affecting both in-house and independent producers.
This shift has particularly affected London factual production
areas due to their historical specialism in this area and the
increasing commitment to "out of London" production
in 2008-09.
There are no indicators suggesting that the
quality of in-house output has reduced.
2. What has been the effect of Window of
Creative Competition (WOCC) on your in-house producers? What feedback
have you had from independent producers?
The 2008-09 commissioning process is not yet
complete (92% of programmes commissioned so far). The quantity
of output made by in-house producers has reduced slightly as a
result of the WOCC. The WOCC is designed to be a "competitive
space" so it should be noted that BBC Vision would expect
that the proportions of business won by in-house/independent producers
would change from year to year.
In-house production has achieved the "In-house
Guarantee" level of business and has won some additional
business in the WOCC, though this has fallen slightly below commissioning
levels in previous years.
The reduction in the volume of in-house production
has had an impact on morale in some areas and some talent loss
may be attributable to this.
Vision Studios are currently embarking on a
review of structure to ensure it is in as strong a shape as possible
to compete effectively in the WOCC.
Feedback from independent producers regarding
the WOCC indicates that there has been a significant improvement
in perceptions of the BBC's editorial and business processes.
A recent Broadcast Magazine survey found that, for the
first time, the BBC was voted "best broadcaster to work with".
The same survey also found that the BBC was also voted "worst
broadcaster to work with", though the percentage of respondents
voting the BBC "worst" was lower than in previous years.
The PACT Census 2007 also reported that "54%
of respondents judge that the BBC offers the best opportunities
for the future, compared with 22% choosing Channel 4 and just
9% selecting ITV".
All WOCC-related specific complaints made by
independent producers have been resolved at early stages of the
escalation process.
BBC Vision will work to ensure that any future
budgetary or structural changes do not have an adverse impact
on quality.
3. The licence fee bid included figures for
additional income from household growth as part of the BBC's "self
help" initiatives. Are those figures still valid, or is the
BBC projecting that they will be reduced due to the licence fee
collection problems referred to in oral evidence (for example
at Q 17 and Qq 27-29)? If so, by how much?
Those figures are still valid but they are not
without risk. The key risks are:
— that household growth will not materialise
at the rate expected;
— that it will be extremely difficult
or uneconomic to collect the licence fee from a proportion of
new households due to the problems referred to; and
— some households may, over the period,
move only to consume television services in such a way that a
licence will not be required (eg video-on-demand). This could
impact either existing households or new households.
The BBC's Licence Fee Team seeks to mitigate
these risks through innovative collection techniques.
4. The Director General acknowledged a dip
in programme spending in Scotland in 2006-07. He then said that
he expected network programme figures for Scotland to look much
better in 2006-07 than in 2005-06 (Q 840): did he actually mean
the forthcoming year, 2007-08, rather than 2006-07?
Yes: the BBC anticipates that network spend
in Scotland will be higher in 2007-08.
5. The Director-General said (in answer to
Q 21) that it was necessary to preserve confidentiality regarding
individuals' salaries (including presenters) at the BBC, other
than normal disclosure of senior executive employees such as those
on the Executive Board. Would the Trust be prepared to publish
figures that are not attributed to named individuals, in the form
of tables disclosing the number of employees per salary bracket—for
example, the number of employees earning £5m+ per annum,
£1m-£5m, £750k-£1m, £500k-£750k,
£250k-£500k—and to do so on a separate basis for
programme talent and other employees, and in a way which makes
payments via third party companies transparent?
The Trust aims to exercise rigorous scrutiny
of public money and to ensure high standards of openness and transparency.
In considering what information the BBC publishes about talent
and other employee costs, the Trust must give due regard to issues
of commercial prejudice and to the BBC's duties under the law
to protect personal information.
The Trust recognises that the level of fees
paid to on-air and on-screen talent (eg presenters) is an area
of concern to some licence payers. The BBC's strategy for talent
must support the delivery of quality programmes that create maximum
value for the public. The Trust is therefore commissioning an
independent review of talent costs and how the BBC operates in
the market which will cover talent across all forms of contract
(freelancers, via third party companies, and BBC employees).
The Trust accepts the BBC Executive's position
that disclosing talent costs, even if grouped in bands, is likely
to cause commercial prejudice to the BBC. It could provide the
BBC's competitors with valuable pricing information, inflate costs,
and deter individuals from working with the BBC as against other
broadcasters. Disclosure may also expose the BBC to actions for
breach of confidence. The Trust is also mindful of legal advice
regarding protecting personal data and is therefore not seeking
a change in the BBC's publication policy at this time. The Trust
will be publishing the findings of its value for money review
in spring 2008 and will take a view then as to what ongoing reporting
may be appropriate.
With regard to other employee costs, the BBC
already publishes information about Executive Board salaries,
remuneration policy and total employee costs; and makes available
on request further information about its employee profile, including
salary data. While continuing to be mindful of confidentiality
issues, the Trust has asked the Executive to give consideration
to publishing additional information about employee remuneration,
including by salary bracket, to improve transparency to licence
fee payers.
6. The Trust Chairman, in exchanges about
BBC3, said that each of the service licences would at some point
in the next five years "be going through a very exacting
test about whether the channel lives up to the original vision"
(Q 52). When does the BBC expect that such assessments will be
made for BBC3 and BBC4? Does it accept that there is doubt about
whether BBC3 and BBC4 do indeed live up to their original visions?
The Trust has not yet taken a decision on when
to review BBC3 and/or BBC4. It expects to take decisions on its
next service reviews (following bbc.co.uk which has already started)
later this year. The Trust expects to review every service every
five years. Its primary reason for reviewing a service will always
be that it is in the "public interest".
Has the BBC made an estimate of viewing figures
for BBC3 and BBC4 if repeats of popular BBC One programmes are
excluded?
The total weekly three minute reach of BBC3
in 2006, amongst its target audience of 16-34-year-olds, was 27%:
of this, 23.4% watched digital originated programmes while 10.2%
watched terrestrially originated programmes (such as narrative
repeats of Eastenders from BBC1). The numbers do not sum
to 27% because some viewers watched both digitally and terrestrially
originated programming.
A comparison with channels targeting a similar
audience shows: of ITV2's 24.9% reach, 21.4% watched digitally
originated programmes and 9% terrestrially originated, while for
E4's 26.9% reach, 11.4% watched digitally originated programmes
but 22.5% terrestrially originated programmes. The figures for
the whole audience are similar to those for the target audience.
7. Pages 21 and 22 of the BBC Trust Annual
Report describe perceptions of the BBC's impartiality as remaining
stable over time; yet audience research suggests that the proportion
of people rating the BBC as "fair and impartial" declined
from 57% in 2006 to 53% in 2007, while the proportion perceiving
bias rose from 16% to 18%. How does the BBC Trust justify its
judgement that perceptions of the BBC's impartiality are "stable",
given the audience research which suggests a decline in confidence
in impartiality?
The narrative statement quoted in the Trust
Annual Report reflects the long term trend however the figures
quoted gave the year on year comparison. The figure for 2006 was
the highest over the past three-year period. However this research
comprises part of a long term tracking survey and it needs to
be considered in that context. When looking at the data from the
past three years there is no discernible decrease in perceptions
of the BBC's impartiality and the trend appears stable with fluctuations
both up and down over the period. This is only the second year
that such figures have been included in the Annual Report. In
the light of the Select Committee's question the Trust will consider
carefully the context in which they are quoted in future reports.
8. Nearly £70 million of licence fee
payers' money was spent on BBC Jam before the plug was pulled.
Why didn't the BBC change or suspend the service at an earlier
stage in light of the compliance problems that were known?
The BBC did not accept that it was in breach
of any applicable requirements and had sought to defend its position
with the Commission over a considerable period. At the end of
2006 the Commission proposed that the Trust conduct an early review
to address complaints that it had received from the commercial
sector. This review would have been in addition to the review
that Trust was in any case committed later in 2007 under the service's
approval conditions. After careful consideration the Trust concluded
that two consecutive regulatory reviews would seriously hinder
the effective delivery of the service. Doing nothing however,
was not an option, because the Trust faced the prospect of the
Commission opening a formal investigation and seeking the suspension
of the use of licence fee funds for the service. In the circumstances
therefore, the Trust felt that it was in the best long-term interests
of licence fee payers to suspend BBC Jam and bring forward a fresh
proposition, building on the successes of the service and taking
into account changes in the market for online educational materials
since 2003 when consent for jam was granted.
Are there any other complaints about BBC activities
currently under consideration by the European Commission?
The BBC has not been notified of anything by
the Commission (or the Government).
9. Now that the BBC's Freesat proposition
has been approved, when will it launch? What is its annual budget,
and what will it cost consumers for the equipment and installation?
Freesat will launch in spring 2008. For reasons
of commercial confidentiality it is not possible to disclose the
annual budget of the joint venture company. The Freesat company
will not make or sell receivers itself therefore cannot control
retail prices, however it hopes that there will be a range of
price points for consumers from launch.
10. Does the Trust believe that the BBC should
have discounted access to spectrum compared to other public services
such as defence and the emergency services? Does the Trust believe
that HDTV will provide greater social and economic value than
using digital terrestrial spectrum for mobile TV, wireless internet
and other applications?
The Trust does not believe it is appropriate
for it to comment on the relative merits of different public services
in terms of which ones are more deserving of spectrum than others.
The Trust made its provisional PVT ruling on the HDTV proposals
by considering the public value that might be created and any
impact on the market place of the specific BBC service proposals.
In doing so it considered the options for the BBC's use of its
own spectrum.
The answers to questions 5, 6 (first part),
7, 8 and 10 have been provided by the BBC Trust and the answers
to 1, 2, 3, 4, 6 (second part) and 9 by BBC Management.
October 2007
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