3 BBC's performance
50. We have already touched upon the sequence of
well-publicised incidents over the last few years which uncovered
failings at the BBC and indicated a culture at the top of the
Corporation that appeared out of step with serving the public
interest and a public sector ethos. Coverage of these has undeniably
dented the broadcaster's reputation. Yet some caution that the
debate around the BBC is too often led by its detractors and that
recent events and the ensuing criticism ought to be kept in context.
We were reminded by several witnesses of the high esteem in which
the BBC is held abroad for the quality of its content when compared
to other broadcasters.[60]
Gavyn Davies argued that the mistakes made were relatively small
compared to the successes the BBC had achieved and that the debate
was too often dominated by the BBC's competitors in the press,
by its competitors in industry and by the political system.[61]
He did not believe that the "silent majority" who pay
the licence fee agreed with the critics.
51. It is without doubt the case that the BBC, over
the last few years, has at times been mired in mistakes of its
own making, and that it is essential, given its significant public
funding and purposes, that it is held to account when failures
occur. Yet many people will primarily judge the broadcaster on
the quality of its contenton television, radio and onlineits
programmes, its journalism, on the value for money they consider
it delivers and on the resulting societal and cultural contributions
it makes.
Reach and audience appreciation
52. Since 2007, BBC services have stood up remarkably
well to the fact that content is now available in much greater
volumes from more sources, and that it can be consumed in more
ways, than ever before. The internet and the emergence of new
media and technology and digital giants, with colossal incomes
at their disposal, have meant that the BBC and traditional media
organisations have been facing ever-increasing competition while
their conventional, once captive audiences have started to fragment.
Evidence of the BBC's success has been its ability to face these
challenges and evolve its services to satisfy new expectations,
whilst continuing to produce significant amounts of public service
programming and cater for specific demographics and niche tastes,
such as Radio 3, 6 Music and the Asian Network's audiences. Similarly,
the BBC provides services like BBC News 24 and children's channels
which many appreciate even if they are not regular or direct users
of these services.
53. In 2013/14, the overall weekly reach of BBC services
rose to 96% of all UK adults, up from 93% in 2007. The BBC's contribution
to digital switchover, through its role and investment in Freeview
and other distribution strategies, played a significant part in
digital television completely replacing analogue television in
the UK at the end of 2012. BBC iPlayer was launched in 2007 and
now receives over three billion programme catch-up requests a
year.[62] Furthermore,
BBC services have maintained high levels of appreciation among
their audiences and users.[63]
For instance, BBC One continues to reach more people than any
other channel in the UK and was rated highest for quality out
of 66 television channels in an international survey.[64]
In a similar way, BBC local and regional radio services are valued
by over nine million listeners who tune into them each week.[65]
For last year, the BBC reported that each week:
· audiences
spent on average 18.5 hours viewing and listening to BBC programmes
and content;
· two-thirds
of all adults listened to BBC radio; and
· half
of all adults used BBC Online (over 60% of "online"
adults).
54. While the overall reach figure is commendable,
it needs to be put in context. Viewers and listeners need to have
watched or listened to a service only for 15 consecutive minutes,
and BBC Online used for three minutes, in a week to count as reached.
Although overall reach when calculated this way is high, the reach
of some individual services is low, even to their target audiences.
As part of our annual scrutiny of the BBC and appraisal of individual
services, we and predecessor Committees have noted the position
of BBC Three on several occasions and queried claims being made
by the BBC Trust and Executive for the channel. In 2013/14, the
channel's reach fell to 20.5%, meaning only one-fifth of the population
watched the service for 15 consecutive minutes or more each week.
Among its target audience of 16 to 34-year-olds its reach was
26.4%. Or, put another way, BBC Three reached less than three
in 10 of the target audience to which it was launched a dozen
years ago. Moreover, a proportion of its viewers watched solely
for the imported US programmes and BBC One and Two repeats shown
as part of its schedule, which in previous years has meant approximately
only two in 10 watch BBC Three's originated UK content. BBC Four's
reach is even lower than BBC Three's, with only 14% of the population
on average watching the channel each week.[66]
Comments submitted as part of web consultation on the Student Room:
"I think that it's completely wrong for BBC 3 to become a purely online service, as a) not everyone has good internet, and b) watching live television should not be only available to older people. It's discriminatory."
"I think the reasoning [for moving BBC 3 online] is that young people are less likely to sit in front of the TV and instead stream things and use Netflix and the likes. I know that's definitely true with me. I couldn't tell you the last time I watched the TV, I just stream everything either off the Xbox or my laptop linked to the TV."
|
55. Since
its launch in 2003, over £1 billion has been spent on BBC
Three. In March 2014 Lord Hall announced plans, subject to the
approval of the BBC Trust, to close BBC Three as a broadcast television
channel in the autumn of 2015. This would result in the BBC saving
over £50 million a year, £30 million of which would
go into drama on BBC One, with BBC Three being "reinvented"
as a channel online and on the iPlayer.
56. It was reported
in January 2015 that two independent television production companies
were planning to approach the Trust with a bid to buy the BBC
Three channel with an offer likely to be in the region of £100
million which would preserve the service as a linear channel.
However, there appeared to be a degree of scepticism as to the
feasibility of the proposition. For instance, given that the spectrum
used by BBC Three is a public asset, it would not be for the BBC
to avail or profit from its sale.
57. It is difficult
to see how BBC Three could be judged a success after more than
a decade and expenditure of more than a billion pounds of licence
payers' money, given the minority of the target audience reached.
We believe it is right that the BBC Executive is considering alternative
ways to reach BBC Three's target audience and recommend that all
BBC services be evaluated in terms of most effective delivery
and value for money.
58. The BBC Trust commissions and publishes research
on licence fee payers' perceptions each year. According to its
latest survey for 2013/14, only 47% of people thought that the
BBC provided programmes that no other broadcaster would make,
while 58% thought the BBC offered good value for money or else
did not know. Looked at the other way, this indicates that four
out of 10 people did not think the BBC offered good value for
money. Nevertheless, compared with 2007 survey results, last year
people overall rated the BBC higher for quality, trust and in
value-for-money terms than they did six years ago.
How audiences rated the BBC
|
Scores out of 10 or as a percentage
| 2007/08 | 2013/14
|
Quality | 6.3
| 7.6 |
General impression |
6.6 | 7.3
|
Trust | 5.9
| 6.5 |
Value for money | 4.9
| 5.8 |
Fresh and new ideas |
55% | 61%
|
Percentages |
| |
Provides high quality, independent journalism
| 67% | 66%
|
Good at representing my region
| 41% | 59%
|
Good at representing my ethnic group/culture
| 36% | 47%
|
Source: BBC Trust Annual Reports and Accounts
|
Provision of news and coverage of national
events
59. Several witnesses have identified the BBC's provision of news,
information and knowledge across its services as a core public
service function. Last year 82% of UK adults consumed BBC News
(network and original) across television, radio and online.[67]
Others have pointed to the BBC's position as being the "go-to
broadcaster" with capacity to cover national events and its
position in bringing the country together as an aspect people
closely associated with the Corporation. The BBC's Olympics' coverage
was highly praised around the world and watched by over 90% of
the population.[68] Lord
Grade advocated the continuing importance of the BBC's role as
an impartial provider of news, where its output is universally
available.[69] Given
the continuous changes in commercial broadcasting and the media
more widely, he expected the relevance of the BBC's output as
being likely to increase.
The World Service
60. The World Service's position as a reliable, respected foreign
and English language news service continues at home and overseas;
both the Foreign Affairs Committee and the House of Lords ad hoc
Committee on Soft Power and UK influence have recognised the BBC's
strength in promoting British values and the UK positively overseas.
While the World Service's role remains vitally important, it is
the case that states such as Russia and China are now investing
far more in their global channels than the BBC.[70]
Last year the BBC World Service had a global audience of 191 million,
up from 181 million in 2007.[71]
Even though its traditional radio audiences have declined in part
owing to several shortwave signals being switched off, its now
established foreign language television channels are growing.
Nearly 60 million viewers watched either the BBC Arabic or Farsi
television services on a weekly basis in 2013/14.
61. Several changes have occurred in the last few
years. Since April 2014, the World Service stopped being funded
through grant-in-aid by the Foreign Office and its costs are now
met by the licence fee. The Service has left its old home at Bush
House and co-located with the BBC News division in Broadcasting
House, which is enabling savings to be made. A more recent change
is that the new director of the World Service will combine this
position with that of being the deputy director of BBC News and
Current Affairs.
62. We are concerned
that combining the role of the BBC deputy director of news with
that of the director of the World Service will dilute the influence
and the independent voice of the World Service within the BBC,
as the Service will no longer have a leader dedicated solely to
developing and representing its interests.
Given its new funding and
oversight arrangements, we fear the importance of the World Service
could be diminished. The extent to which the World Service's needs
will be met from within the BBC must be monitored very carefully
in the new Parliament. At a time when countries like Russia and
China are significantly increasing their investment in global
media outlets, including services aimed at the UK, we believe
that the World Service has an increasingly important role in what
is a global information war.
Cultural and economic contribution
63. The UK's creative endeavours are exhibited domestically
and more widely overseas through BBC content and its distribution
and promotion by BBC Worldwide. The Arts Council described to
us the BBC as an invaluable cultural asset to the UK which is
an internationally recognised example of what British creativity
and commitment can achieve.[72]
Similarly, many understand that through its funding, the BBC provides
a significant stream of venture capital to the UK's creative industries.[73]
In 2013, in spending £2.4 billion on its PSB services across
television, radio and online, the BBC was the single largest source
of funding for original content (excluding sports) in the UK.[74]
Last year, we considered the BBC's impact during our inquiry into
Support for the creative industries.[75]
We note that for every £1 of licence fee the BBC spent, it
generated £2 of economic activity.[76]
Serving all audiences
64. As part of its public purposes, the BBC aims
to make programmes which reflect the lives, interests and experiences
of its audiences. According to the BBC Trust, last year 52% of
UK adults believed the BBC performed well in representing their
nation or region.[77]
People were more positive about BBC drama and comedy's depiction
of their lives in their region.[78]
However, in one part of the UK, Northern Ireland Screen, a creative
industries agency, found that despite BBC Northern Ireland's strong
delivery of regional programming, Northern Ireland had been "grossly
short-changed by the BBC over a quite a considerable period of
time." They found there was almost no identification between
the Northern Irish audience and the BBC's network production.[79]
Out of London strategy
65. In 2004, the BBC outlined a plan to move half
of all its public service staff outside London by the end of 2016
and also to transfer several London-based departments to the North
of England.[80] The rationale
behind these proposals was that through moving people, resources
and creative investment out of London it would be better able
to reflect the life and experiences of the whole UK.[81]
In addition, the move would deliver economic benefits to the North
of England and realise financial benefits to the BBC. The BBC
has now moved around 2,700 staff to BBC North,[82],[83]
and has set up a new finance centre in Cardiff.[84]
A National Audit Office value-for-money study was largely positive
about the BBC's move to Salford. In light of this, the Committee
of Public Accounts concluded that the BBC had met the challenge
of moving several departments to its new regional centre in Salford
"on time, within budget and without disruption to broadcast
services".[85] Nevertheless,
it found the scale of some of the allowances paid to staff to
relocate to Salford had been difficult to justify. Following a
visit, we were left impressed by what has been achieved in Salford
at BBC North, but also by ITV and the other occupants who have
moved to the Media City UK Development area.
66. While we were in Salford, Peter Salmon, Director
of BBC North, told us the BBC planned to go further in collaborating
with others across the North of England and that it was still
"early days in a long term plan". According to City
Broadcasting, a producer based in Manchester, there was considerable
evidence that audiences in the North, in the North East particularly,
were less well served by the BBC than other parts of the country.[86]
Yet those we met believed the move of major BBC production departments
to Salford had provided an opportunity to rebalance this but that
there needed to be more BBC commissioning of independent productions
both for television and radio from companies in the North. Northern
Film and Media, based in Gateshead, recognised the BBC as being
"instrumental in forging partnerships in the region with
a range of organisations."[87]
TV programming spend by region as a % of eligible spend
|
| 2007
| 2013 | % of UK population
|
London | 64.7
| 47.5 | 13.13
|
|
Scotland | 3.3
| 10.9 | 8.31
|
Wales | 2.7
| 6.8 | 4.81
|
Northern Ireland | 0.4
| 2.2 | 2.85
|
Total Nations | 6.4
| 19.9 | 15.97
|
|
Midlands | 4.1
| 2.7 | 25.31
|
North of England | 10.2
| 17.3 | 23.48
|
South of England | 11.9
| 8.5 | 22.1
|
Multi-regional* |
| 4.1 |
|
Total Regions | 26.2
| 32.6 | 70.89
|
Total Nations and Regions
| 32.6 | 52.5
| 86.86 |
Sources:
1. Spend percentages taken from BBC Annual Reports
* Covers programmes made outside London but which the BBC say cannot be attributed to any one region or nation.
2. The figures in this table were compiled by the Campaign for Regional Broadcasting Midlands.
3. Population percentages taken from ONS mid-year 2013 population estimates mapped to the BBC Nations and Regions by the Campaign for Regional Broadcasting Midlands.
|
67. The Campaign for Regional Broadcasting Midlands has pointed
out that a region that has lost out in the current Charter period
is the Midlands.[88]
Over the last six years the percentage of BBC's spend on television
in the Nations and regions increased by 61%. Yet in the same period
the percentage spent in the BBC's Midlands region (which includes
the East of England) fell by 34%. By the end of 2012, hardly any
television and radio were being made for the national networks
from Birmingham, which Equity considered could cause lasting damage
to the local economy and the creative industries in the West Midlands.[89]
The Midlands region had the lowest operational spend by
the BBC in England in actual terms, lower than that in Scotland
and Wales, and only marginally higher than in Northern Ireland.
While 25% of the licence fee comes from the Midlands region (its
proportion of population), only 2.5% is spent in the region.[90]
Although the Campaign has highlighted this distribution as being
unfair, since the appointment of Lord Hall as Director General,
they have perceived a change of direction and are more optimistic
that BBC investment will return to the Midlands region.[91]
68. While we
welcome the BBC's success in shifting spend out of London during
the current Charter period through its move to Salford and through
the concentration on "Centres of excellence", it is
evident that some areas of the country have received a disproportionately
small return of the licence fee which has meant they have missed
out on economic activity. Although we accept the BBC cannot have
a significant physical presence in all regions of the country,
it must develop a more equitable commissioning and business strategy
that fosters cultural variety and spreads its activity, as far
as possible, across the country.
Diversity on and off screen
69. Over the last few years black audiences have
been consistently less positive about the BBC compared to white
and Asian audiences.[92]
Last year, when asked specifically about how well the BBC represented
their ethnic group, just 32% of black respondents agreed that
the BBC was good at doing this. During the course of our inquiry
we took evidence from Lenny Henry CBE, the actor and comedian,
following his 2014 BAFTA lecture when he highlighted the under
representation of black, Asian and minority ethic (BAME) people
on screen and behind the scenes in the broadcasting industry.
To rectify this deficit, Mr Henry has recommended that broadcasters
might take exactly the same approach the BBC took to tackling
the lack of production in Nations and regions, where it set production
and spend targets, introducing a similar structural solution by
ring-fencing money specifically for BAME productions.
70. According to Creative Skillset, since 2009 the
total number of BAME people in the television industry has fallen
by 2,000 while the industry as a whole has grown by over 4,000.
Mr Henry has identified several factors involved in BAME under-representation:
· The
demise of ITV's regional commitments which have reduced local
opportunities for employment and portrayal.
· The
increased casualisation of the industry, which poses challenges
to all working class communities, including BAME.
· The
near total absence of BAMEs in the key commissioning and controller
roles, which decide what gets made, who writes it and who presents
it.
· Ofcom's
2005 decision to allow ITV, C4 and others to keep their ethnic
monitoring information confidential.
· The
lack of BAME representation at the top of the industry, with only
one of the 61 Board members in the UK broadcasting industry having
a BAME background.[93]
71. Among the BBC Executive's priorities for 2014/15
are aims to increase access to the BBC for those from different
social and ethnic diverse backgrounds and to take measures to
increase the retention and development of disabled and BAME staff.[94]
In June 2014, Lord Hall announced a plan to improve on and off
air BAME representation at the BBC,[95]
including: a leadership development programme for six talented
people from BAME backgrounds; a £2.1million diversity creative
talent fund, and more training internships alongside the BBC's
existing apprenticeships. In spite of Lord Hall's commitments,
Mr Henry told us there was "initiative fatigue" among
BAME people in the industry.[96]
He said that the BBC alone, in the last 15 years had run 29 initiatives
to increase ethnic diversity and yet BAME representation had actually
gone down. Patrick Younge, former Chief Creative Officer at the
BBC, told us that initiatives will "ameliorate the pain or
help deal with some of the symptoms" but he saw a structural
problem that needed a more structural solution.[97]
As we have noted above, the BBC's adoption of a structural mechanism
to increase production in the Nations and regions has had success
albeit not across all parts of the country.
72. Ethnicity is only one of the barriers to working
in the industry: gender, social background and disability are
also factors that often prevent access to openings and work for
many writers, actors and others who work off screen.[98]
Low pay and high costs of living, particularly in London, can
act as a barrier to gaining experience and there is a perception
that the whole structure of the industry is biased towards a self-perpetuating,
middle class urban elite rather than being open to all on the
basis of their talent. Creative Skillset report that around two-fifths
of the television workforce are being forced to work unpaid in
order to get into the industry.[99]
We believe
it is crucial for the BBC and other broadcasters to broaden the
range of voices and backgrounds at commissioning level as well
as on screen and in other areas of broadcasting.
Children's programming
73. A key PSB genre is children's programming. The
BBC has produced and broadcast programmes for children since the
1930s and, in 2002, launched two designated children's channels,
CBBC and CBeebies. Following analogue switch-off at the end of
2012, the BBC ended the tradition of broadcasting children's programmes
on BBC One, using only these dedicated services for that content.
74. Ofcom notes that first-run UK children's originations
on PSB channels declined by 28% between 2008 and 2013. This it
attributed in a large part to the reduction in output by ITV and
Channel 5.[100] Ofcom
also reports that children are watching less television than they
did in 2008, when the last PSB review was conducted, with a sharp
drop in viewing by older children (10-15 years). As an alternative,
older children appear to be watching short online video clips
on sites such as YouTube.
75. According to the Children's Media Foundation,
the BBC is "the only player in town for commissioning content
for kids".[101]
Similarly, the Producers Alliance for Cinema and Television (Pact)
were concerned that the BBC had emerged as the last dominant investor
and buyer of children's programming over recent years, with ITV
and Channel 4 playing a noticeably lesser role in this space.[102]
Nevertheless, the Commercial Broadcasters Association reported
that its members' children's channels had increased their investment
in UK children's content by 60%, to nearly £30 million.[103]
76. Overall, Ofcom reports that the proportion of
children's content children are watching is rising, primarily
due to increased viewing to non-PSB commercial children's channels.[104]
However, CBBC and CBeebies still account for about a third of
children's viewing of children's programmes in 2013.
77. While conceding that younger teenagers are one
of the most difficult audiences to provide for with specific programming,
the Children's Media Foundation claims that BBC output has little
of relevance to the 10+ audience and that Radio 1 is aimed at
the 15+ audience.[105]
The Foundation attributes this deficit in part to the BBC not
having sufficient funding to cater for this audience but also
to Channel 4 falling short on its promise to this group. Similarly,
it has been accepted by Ofcom, in its relicensing of Channels
3 and 5, that there will be no requirement for the commercial
PSBs to produce content for children. Without
the BBC's supply of UK-originated content and programmes for children,
many younger people would have to rely largely on a diet of acquired
US television programmes, as the BBC is pretty much by itself
in the provision of UK-originated children's output. This content
plays a vital part of children's early learning experience and
understanding of their cultural identity. Children's content must
remain a core and priority PSB genre for the BBC beyond 2016.
The BBC will need to be able to continue to innovate and develop
new media and distribution strategies for children as the audience
for traditional linear television programmes continues to decline
over the next few years. We commend the BBC for the quality and
provision of its content for children over the current Charter
period.
Stewardship of the licence fee
78. The BBC's success in holding a 42% share of television
and radio consumption in the face of the massive proliferation
of alternative television and radio outlets is to be commended,
despite the obvious advantages given to it to attract audiences
through gifted UK-wide digital spectrum and significant levels
of public funding for the creation of high-quality original content.
Nonetheless, this success has been overshadowed at times by its
stewardship of the licence fee. As Equity put it to us, the public
perception of the BBC could be that of an organisation that is
at times incompetent and at other times complacent, but despite
the real difficulties it has had to face (not least a significant
real-terms cut in its licence fee), it has continued to produce
good-quality programmes.[106]
During the Charter period, the BBC's financial propriety has been
called into question on several occasions. For instance, significant
losses occurred owing to the mismanagement of a major IT project,
the Digital Media Initiative, and (within its commercial arm)
as a result of a misguided acquisition of the Lonely Planet publishing
business. Furthermore, the pay of its senior executives and managers,
and their number, and the reward paid to its top talent and performers
became at odds with the ethos of a publicly-funded organisation.
After directions from the BBC Trust, the Executive has reduced
the costs of both but there still remain too many executives with
extremely high levels of pay, pensions and entitlements.
79. The BBC's drive to reduce its senior manager
cadre exposed a further disregard by the BBC of its status as
a public body. Severance pay and terms made to many of its senior
managers were extremely high and some beyond the contractual terms
that should have applied. Since November 2010, the BBC has made
at least 10 severance payments to senior managers, each worth
more than £250,000. The highest payment was £949,000
to the BBC's former Deputy Director General, Mark Byford, and
George Entwistle received £450,000 payment despite the criticism
of his handling of the Savile affair and only 54 days as a director
general. In its resulting review of BBC's severance payments,
the NAO observed that although the savings that the BBC had made
by reducing senior manager numbers had exceeded the cost of severance
payments, the BBC had breached its own policies on severance too
often without good reason, which had resulted in payments that
had not served the best interests of licence fee payers.[107]
Savings and efficiency
80. In 2010, as part of a licence fee settlement
agreed between the Government and the BBC behind closed doors
and without any public or parliamentary consultation, the level
of the licence fee was frozen for six years and the BBC agreed
to take on approximately £500 million per annum[108]
of new funding responsibilities during this period, including
for the World Service, S4C, BBC Monitoring, and for distribution
of local TV and a contribution to the roll-out of rural broadband.
To fulfil its commitment under the 2010 settlement, the then Director
General, Mark Thompson, set a savings target of 20% under an efficiency
programme called Delivering Quality First[109]
(DQF), which followed a series of previous savings programmes
stretching back to the early 1990s. This was forecast to deliver
savings of £700 million a year by 2016/17 and a loss of about
2,000 posts across the BBC.[110]
81. Since 2007, the BBC has stated that £1.1
billion of cumulative annual savings have been made out of its
controllable costs.[111]
These savings are intended to absorb inflationary costs, and to
cover its new funding obligations. According to the BBC, so far
70% of its savings achieved have been through productivity gains
and only 30% have been cuts expected to have an impact on audiences'
appreciation or usage of BBC services. The NAO is auditing the
BBC's progress in reducing its costs; it will report its findings
shortly. The BBC needs to make over £1.5 billion of cumulative
savings over the entire Charter period but has said the proportion
of DQF savings made in the latter part of programme which are
expected to impact on BBC output or quality of services will rise
to 50 per cent. As Anne Bulford, BBC's Managing Director of Finance
and Operations, put it:
It's really important that everyone gets that
the efficiency programme is not something you can just keep on
doing. It would be a worry if people thought you could sell Television
Centre two or three times.[112]
82. The BBC has highlighted to us that over the last
20 years, the licence fee has stayed almost flat in real terms,
but the BBC had expanded its offering, suggesting greater value
for money and organisational efficiency.[113]
David Elstein has, however, pointed out that the BBC's income
has risen by 50% in those 20 years owing to the increase in the
number of households paying the licence fee.[114]
83. The BBC's
achievement of cumulative savings of £1.1 billion since 2007
is commendable given the relatively small negative impact they
have had on audiences' appreciation and on reach of its services.
Whilst efficiencies of this magnitude may have been challenging
for them to accomplish, especially on the back of earlier initiatives,
the fact that the BBC achieved the savings demonstrates it was
right that the Corporation faced a tight spending settlement in
2010, notwithstanding the criticisms of the way that settlement
was conducted.
84. The BBC
still has £400 million of savings to make by 2017. Given
that the likely opportunities for further productivity gains must
be diminishing, the BBC will need to be bold and upfront in presenting
the options for cuts to services or output which would allow it
to stay on track for the savings target, while still meeting its
public purposes and audience expectations.
85. We believe
that the BBC has done well in the current Charter period, in light
of increased choice and competition, in terms of overall reach
and audience consumption and appreciation, but it has also had
a few notable failures and underperformance in certain areas which
the BBC has not always been ready to acknowledge until well after
the fact. Over the course of the Charter period, in their annual
reports, in our view, the BBC Trust and the BBC Executive have
often tended to highlight favourable performance figures over
the less favourable, burying the latter in lengthy narratives,
or supplementary documents online, which has not facilitated an
easy scrutiny of where the BBC had been doing well and where it
had been less successful. In the remaining part of the current
Charter, the BBC should aim to be a better, more transparent,
self-critic. It should not be deterred from summarising and publishing
the least favourable performance figures alongside those where
it is doing well. We recommend that the independent panel, and
the Charter Review process itself, must appraise the BBC's current
performance measures and manner of reporting in order to determine
whether changes should be made in the future to ensure the BBC
presents a more balanced picture of its results.
60 Pact (FBB0080), para 4.2 Back
61
Q83 Back
62
BBC Annual Report and Accounts 2013/14, page 63 Back
63
Last year audiences rated BBC's network channels between 81.5
to 85.1 where scores were an aggregate of how people rated individual
programmes, expressed as a number out of 100. On the same basis,
BBC network radio stations scored between 71.3 and 83.8; BBC radio
stations in the Nations between 78.1 and 83.8; and BBC Online
had an audience appreciation score of 78.5. Back
64
Public and Private Broadcasters across the World-The Race
to the Top, 3 December 2013 Back
65
RAJAR Q4 2013 Back
66
BBC Annual Report and Accounts 2013/14, page 67 Back
67
BBC Annual Report and Accounts 2013/14, page 62 Back
68
See ITV (FBB0066), para 7; Professor Phil Redmond (FBB0076),
para 39; NUJ (FBB0079), para 15 Back
69
Q130 Back
70
Professor Beckett (FBB0022), para 1.3 Back
71
BBC Annual Report and Accounts 2013/14, page 70 Back
72
Arts Council England (FBB0094), para 2.1 Back
73
Q18 Back
74
Enders Analysis (FBB0098) Back
75
Culture, Media and Sport Committee, Third Report of Session 2013-14,
Supporting the creative economy, HC 674 Back
76
BBC Trust (FBB0096), para 9 Back
77
Purpose Remit Survey Report 2013/14, page 28 Back
78
Ibid, page 31 Back
79
Q461 Back
80
Building Public Value-Renewing the BBC for a digital world,
page 18 Back
81
Ibid, page 98 Back
82
See www.mediacityuk.co.uk/occupiers/bbc Back
83
The BBC has reported that 37% of the staff at BBC North relocated
from London, 29% came from its old centre in Manchester and 34%
were new staff. Back
84
Driving efficiency at the BBC, To deliver quality content
for the licence fee payer, page 24 Back
85
Committee of Public Accounts, Twentieth Report of 2013-14, The
BBC's move to Salford, HC293 Back
86
City Broadcasting (FBB0073) Back
87
Northern Film & Media Limited (FBB0048), para 2 Back
88
Ideas for the BBC in the Midlands, Campaign for Regional
Broadcasting Midlands, December 2014 Back
89
Equity (FBB0038), para 25 Back
90
Q481 Back
91
Ideas for the BBC in the Midlands, Campaign for Regional
Broadcasting Midlands, December 2014 Back
92
For example, see Purpose Remit Survey UK report Winter 2012-2013,
NatCen Social Research, page 4 Back
93
Lenny Henry, Marcus Ryder and Patrick Younge (FBB0129) Back
94
The BBC plans to increase BAME representation at a senior level
from the rate of 8.3% in 2014 to 15% by 2020. Back
95
BBC plan to increase on-air BAME portrayal from 10.4% to 15%
by 2017 Back
96
Q423 Back
97
Q424 Back
98
Creative Skillset note that with just 5.4% from a BAME background,
36% women and 1% disabled the creative industries are well below
the national employment averages. Back
99
Creative Skillset (FBB0084), para 2.14 Back
100
Ofcom-Public Service Content in a Connected Society: Ofcom's
third review of public service broadcasting-Consultation,
15 December 2014 Back
101
Q401 Back
102
Pact (FBB0080), para 1.7 Back
103
Commercial Broadcasters Association (FBB0072), para 3.4 Back
104
Ofcom-Public Service Content in a Connected Society: Ofcom's
third review of public service broadcasting-Consultation,
15 December 2014 Back
105
Q401 Back
106
Q472 (Christine Payne) Back
107
Severance payments and wider benefits for senior BBC managers,
Report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, presented to the
BBC Trust Finance Committee, 20 June 2013, para 17 Back
108
See: Driving Efficiency at the BBC, to deliver quality content
for the Licence Fee payer, page 9. BBC World Service costs
taken on from April 2014. Back
109
Delivery Quality First, October 2011 Back
110
Ibid, page 11 Back
111
The BBC has pointed out that £566 million of costs met through
the licence fee are not under its control. These include costs
of rural broadband rollout, local TV, its pension deficit reduction
payment, and licence fee collection costs. See: Driving efficiency
at the BBC, to deliver quality content for the licence fee payer,
page 12. Back
112
See: 'BBC finance chief Anne Bulford: There are £400m in
savings still to go', The Telegraph, 22 November 2014 Back
113
BBC (FBB0097), para 25 Back
114
Q8 (David Elstein) Back
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