About the ��̳ Feed

Reaching in and out

2013-09-20T10:37:33+00:00

Head of ��̳ Outreach, Diane Reid, gives an insight into the department’s recent projects including a poignant film made in partnership with White City Estate residents.

Earlier this week I attended a screening of Tales of the White City – an extraordinary musical from the composer Benjamin Till, created with over 400 residents of the White City Estate in west London. This is an area which has been home to the ��̳ for over 50 years.

The film is made up of stories about individual people living and working on the estate, generally using their own words which have been set to music. These are intimate portraits revealing deep feelings about life, past and present, on the estate.

A still from the musical Tales of White City

What was striking at the screening was the reaction of the audience.

At the end of each story, the audience applauded and whooped – affirming and celebrating the individuals – each of whom had been brave enough to reveal something very personal and important about their lives.

The reason the film works so well is that it was made as a true partnership between the individuals and the film makers. Those being filmed trusted the film makers enough to let them into their lives and to get to know them, and this is reflected in the film. There are no trite sound bites here, but real stories, told by individuals in their own voices. And that is what comes across on the screen.

As a former film maker, I know that the moment when someone reveals a little bit of themselves on camera is the moment when the film comes alive, when the research and patience and re-takes and frustrations of filming suddenly come good. Because at that moment you know that you have made an honest film, which truly represents that person and their views.

It is this honest relationship which is at the heart of the ��̳'s outreach work. Across the UK, the ��̳ connects to individuals and communities on a wide range of activities, ranging from work experience with Radio 1, to ��̳ Children in Need’s Radio 2 CarFest, to Stargazing LIVE.

The breadth and reach of this work is reflected in the ��̳ Corporate Responsibility Performance Review 2013, published today. It complements the ��̳ Annual Report and is a summary of the ��̳'s corporate responsibility work from April 2012 to March 2013. It's produced for licence fee payers as part of the ��̳'s accountability process.

In the report you'll find information about the ��̳'s commitment to developing STEM (Science, Technology Engineering & Mathematics) skills in young people and its Women in Engineering Group. There's an account of the ��̳ National Orchestra of Wales' accessible concerts for more than 3000 schoolchildren, including a special concert for deaf and hard of hearing children, where members of the young audience were able to touch the musical instruments as they were played.

Children participating in a ��̳ National Orchestra of Wales accessible concert

There's also information about the ��̳'s environmental work. We raise public awareness of the issues through our broadcasts. We also set ourselves targets to address our own environmental impact. This year we exceeded our recycling target by 14%.

We've been working hard to achieve other environmental targets. For example, those connected to our properties. We are moving out of older buildings (such as Television Centre which accounts for nearly a quarter of our energy usage) to newer ones such as Salford and New Broadcasting House in London, which were designed with green credentials in mind. But this takes time, and we've had to restate some targets for 2016.

The ��̳ has established 'albert' - a system of measuring the carbon footprint of programme making which has been adopted by organisations across the broadcast sector. C��̳'s 'Wizards vs Aliens' - a science fantasy television series - is just one of the programme which has been piloting the next generation of albert, using hybrid generators on location to reduce CO₂emissions.

We're committed to working with local communities in skills development as well.

Across the UK, we run work experience programmes for young people from all backgrounds. In London, Radio 1Xtra DJ Charlie Sloth welcomed sixth form students from Hammersmith and Fulham and Westminster boroughs on a ��̳ Outreach work experience scheme to give them hands-on production experience, opening doors to a career in the industry.

In Bristol, the ��̳ has a partnership with the Domino Effect project, which works with people with a history of drug and alcohol abuse. The ��̳ is one of a number of organisations that have provided two week placements which are the first step back into full time work.

In MediaCityUK in Salford, where I work, we are in the second year of our Young Ambassador scheme. These are salaried six month entry-level work placements for 16-19 years olds from the boroughs of Salford and Trafford which enable them to gain core work skills and an NVQ qualification. The scheme is part of ��̳ North's commitment to the local economy and previous Young Ambassadors have already gone on to apprenticeships, jobs with the ��̳, other paid work and college.

The ��̳ also runs schemes such as Extend for people with disabilities, and our new technology apprenticeships.

All of these are examples of the ways in which the ��̳ links with its audiences, informing and enriching the content we make. Outreach for sure, but ‘in-reach’ as well.

And on a wet Friday evening, at a screening in a school hall in Shepherd’s Bush, with a red carpet and a real première atmosphere, it was a privilege to be part of what can be achieved when the ��̳ and its audiences work together.

Diane Reid is Head of ��̳ Outreach.

Read The ��̳ Corporate Responsibility Performance Review 2013.
Previous year's reports are available to download on the ��̳ Outreach website.

Northern Intelligence

2013-06-14T07:44:38+00:00

It’s been a fascinating week. One day we were helping deliver a Bollywood extravaganza live in Bradford, the next being quizzed by the Commons Public Accounts Committee.

The Committee visited MediaCityUK Salford following the NAO’s Value for Money audit of our move to Salford. Before the hearing itself, MPs toured the site, visited departments and the studios and met with some of our apprentices now working here at ��̳ North.

The NAO report found the ��̳ had "relocated to Salford on time and maintained broadcast continuity" as well as coming in under budget. During the PAC hearing itself my colleagues and I were robustly questioned on specific aspects of the move including our relocation policy, spending plans and our ambitions.

But I was pleased that the Chair of the Committee, the Rt Hon Margaret Hodge MP commented that "for a public sector project [the move to Salford] on the whole has got a good report" and congratulated us on a move that had been a "well managed and effective transition".

We remain mindful however that there is still a great deal to be done. We must continue to deliver value for money through greater efficiencies and firmly establish our presence across the region for the long-term. The Chancellor recently echoed these sentiments when he urged us "to keep the rocket boosters firing".

First and foremost, our major commitment is to make the very best programmes - from Old Jack’s Boat on CBeebies to our nation-uniting sports coverage to ��̳ Breakfast and North West Tonight - for the entire UK audience.

By making programmes across the North of England we also make a valuable contribution to the region. Not just in terms of our own direct investment but also through the value generated for the UK economy as a result of that expenditure in production and digital companies, in technology, publishing and other areas – our Gross Value Added. In 2011/2012 our GVA had risen almost twenty per cent to £391 million and it will continue to increase.

In the past two years, we have actively supported programming making and projects across the North which have had a direct impact on the creative and regional economy across the North of England.

As well as the spectacular Bollywood Carmen Live on the streets of Bradford, there was last year’s The Preston Passion and in March 2011 Frankenstein’s Wedding … Live In Leeds. These were all bold, innovative programmes, celebrating Northern culture and supported by local partnerships.

The North East has seen serious investment not only from ��̳ Children’s with the likes of Wolfblood and The Dumping Ground, but also from peak time drama like The Paradise and the comedy Hebburn. And the ��̳'s investment in Northern drama has stretched from Lancashire with In the Flesh to the hills of Derbyshire for The Village, to rekindled romance with Last Tango In Halifax.

With all these projects now successfully returning to our screens, it’s vital that we keep track of the impact of that investment. So we have created our own model to measure the economic footprint of ��̳ North across the region.

We have started to collect information on expenditure and employment not only from the ��̳ but also other companies in the sector, so we can build a map of our activity. Additionally as part of the process we will talk to companies big and small to help build the most accurate picture possible.

This ‘Northern intelligence’ will then help inform our strategy in terms of spending the licence fee and building partnerships to make a sustainable contribution to the creative and regional economy.

We intend to publish details of our progress and impact at regular intervals - but this isn’t about justifying our move to Salford.

It’s about ensuring that we keep our promise – to establish a centre of creative innovation here in the North of England, making programmes for the entire audience, and delivering a long-term and sustainable return to the regional and national economy. That feels like a virtuous circle.

Peter Salmon is Director, ��̳ North

The NAO report on the ��̳'s relocation to Salford

2013-05-17T06:02:13+00:00

"The ��̳ relocated to Salford on time and maintained broadcast continuity. The latest estimates show that the final cost of the move phase should be below the revised budget of £233 million…"

You might be mistaken for thinking that was something I would say. In fact it was the National Audit Office in their Value For Money report this week on the ��̳’s move to Salford published by the ��̳ Trust.

Even before we first started moving here two years ago this month, we knew that establishing a thriving creative base in the North of England was going to be a big challenge – both internally and externally.

For those people whose jobs were moving, the priority was to offer the right level of support. In the end fifty-seven per cent moved to the North - double the ��̳'s original target. Their skills and experience formed the backbone that ensured broadcast and production continuity. It also meant less was spent on redundancy, which is nearly twice as expensive as moving people.

And to be clear - no one was ‘induced’ or ‘bribed’ to move. People made their decisions based on their own personal circumstances.

For those outside the ��̳, we had to demonstrate that we were committed to the region and serious about making a difference.

In the end, we achieved what some scarcely thought possible. ��̳ North was delivered on time, under budget and the teams based here have continued to make some of the very best programmes for all audiences from Blue Peter to Match of The Day. And just this week ��̳ Radio 5 live won Sony UK Station of the Year.

��̳ Children’s is playing a major role in revitalising the region’s creative industry with a slate of original programmes like Wolfblood and Strange Hill High.

Comedy is getting a new lease of life with original shows like Hebburn, Citizen Khan and Peter Kay's In The Car, while drama has tapped the rich heritage of Northern story-telling. The last two years has seen some brilliant drama including The Syndicate and Prisoners’ Wives as well as recommissioned series Last Tango In Halifax, The Village and The Paradise.

Our news and current affairs output – from Breakfast to ��̳ Radio Manchester, from ��̳ Radio 5 live to our sports news and Newsround – is bringing a wider range of voices and opinions to a national and international audience.

And we are creating a new relationship with audiences. Starting with Frankenstein’s Wedding … Live In Leeds in 2011 and Preston Passion last Easter we are working with partners to create unique events. This week we are supporting Liverpool's Walker Gallery Rankin exhibition, subject of a ��̳ Two Culture Show special and in a few weeks ��̳ Three’s Bollywood Carmen will be live in Bradford’s City Park.

In terms of employment, we have created almost eight hundred new jobs. Half were recruited from the North West with two hundred and fifty four coming from Greater Manchester alone.

And Salfordians make up ten per cent of our staff with initiatives like our Young Ambassadors and ��̳ North Apprentices, and we are working with schools, colleges and universities to build the future workforce.

Of course, on a project of this scale and ambition there were some things we could have been done better.

We should have kept more detailed records in a small number of relocation cases. However the NAO did not find any irregularities at all and those learnings have been applied to the ��̳’s relocation policy.

While the report says it is too early to judge if we will deliver value for money, I believe we have made a promising start.

As well as identifying eighty per cent of our twenty-year efficiency savings, we have begun to make an impact in the creative and regional economy. The NAO highlight our increased economic impact in the region and we are forging a closer relationship with audiences across the North of England.

With two years under our belts, ��̳ North is in a strong position to make a sustainable and long-term contribution in the North of England and all Licence Fee payers across the UK.

Peter Salmon is Director, ��̳ North

The National Audit Office Value for Money Report on the ��̳'s relocation to Salford was published by the ��̳ Trust on Tuesday 14 May 2013.

Producing the 'Respect at Work' Report

2013-05-02T07:58:05+00:00

Today we are publishing a report called 'Respect at Work'. It’s quite a lengthy document and draws upon contributions from nearly a thousand staff, freelancers, ex-staff and contractors. It tries to answer a simple question – does the ��̳ live up to one of its most important values, that of treating each other with respect?

When I began this work, I was determined to make sure a number of principles were followed, namely that:

Everyone who wanted to contribute could do so
Everyone would feel safe to say whatever they liked without fear of consequence
We would publish what we heard, even if it was uncomfortable
We would address problems with tangible, decisive action

So, we took a number of steps. We asked Dinah Rose, a leading QC to give her professional advice about our approach to bullying and harassment and to challenge our thinking all the way through. We asked Change Associates, an independent organisation to run the sessions with staff, freelancers and ex-staff to provide an assured confidentiality and objectivity. We asked our trade unions to provide us with submissions from their members.

Whilst the report does make uncomfortable reading at times, I am reassured that all of these principles have been followed and I believe that the report we have produced is an honest and unflinching account about what is great about working at the ��̳ but also, what needs to be fixed.

Firstly, the great stuff. Our people said that they are immensely proud to be a part of this amazing organisation that they love what they do and feel lucky to work with some great managers and colleagues. They believe in the ��̳ Values and are committed to helping to make this an even better place to work.

They also said that, thankfully incidents involving sexual harassment were extremely rare and that the ��̳ culture of today is very different to the past. Clearly one example is too many but I was pleased to hear that sexual harassment is not something our people were experiencing.

What needs to be fixed is that we have let bullying behaviour go unchallenged and some of our people have had unpleasant experiences as a result. This shouldn’t happen in any well-run organisation. It mustn’t happen at the ��̳. Our audiences expect more of us and we expect more of ourselves as a result. No matter how junior or senior, no matter how short or long their time at the ��̳, regardless of whether they are a member of staff, a freelancer or a contractor, they have a right to be treated with respect. No-one in a position of authority or power is “untouchable”.

If bullying does occur then we need to help managers and staff deal with it more quickly and more effectively. Our people should know they will be supported if they raise a concern and where to find that support.

When Tony Hall joined the ��̳ as Director-General the report was well under way, but he has taken a close personal interest in making sure that the report’s outcomes are acted upon and lead to change at the ��̳. Tony, I and the ��̳ Management Board have agreed a number of actions to tackle the issues raised during the review. They fall into four broad categories:

Making sure everyone who works with the ��̳ knows the behaviour we expect from each other
Improving the way we tackle bullying and harassment
Helping our managers to create a great experience for their teams
Measuring and monitoring our progress.

I am very grateful to every person who took the time to talk or write to us during the review. Your honest contributions have really helped us shape the actions we need to take. I am grateful also to our trade unions and their members for working with us on this review and for their commitment to help us deliver on the actions.

Like many others, I too am immensely proud to work for the ��̳. It saddens me to think that some of our people have had negative experiences. I know that we have both chosen and have had to go through some difficult and challenging times in recent years, and this can create enormous pressures for our people at all levels and in all areas of the organization. But I believe that even in the most pressurised of environments, mutual respect is possible. As a colleague said to me recently, “the question we should ask ourselves is whether the ��̳ is the kind of place in which we would want our loved ones to work”. I want the answer to be a resounding yes. I believe the actions we are taking as a result of the Respect at Work review will go some way to make this the answer from all the people who work with the ��̳.

Lucy Adams is Director, HR

Read the Respect at Work report on the Inside the ��̳ website.

Tour Guide Industrial Dispute

2013-04-23T06:57:14+00:00

��̳ tour guides at Broadcasting House are taking strike action today. I’m disappointed about this as we have recently had some positive discussions and I know how keen both sides are to resolve the situation. However I’m pleased to say that we have still been able to accommodate everyone who had pre-booked a tour so visitors haven’t been affected.

There are two issues in dispute. Firstly the reduction of the length of shifts following the move of tours from Television Centre to Broadcasting House – this is because the tours are shorter meaning that the potential earnings each month is lower. The tours are shorter because the building is smaller and there are different retail and security arrangements. However even with the shorter hours available, guides will still have the opportunity to work significantly more hours than they are contracted to do depending on how may shifts they sign up for.

Guides are only contracted for 6.25 hours (i.e. one shift) per month. Many choose to do more shifts than that and to date we have always worked that way as it suited both sides. Our requirements fluctuate slightly depending on how many tours we are offering each month, and many of the guides have other freelance work such as acting and this type of contract allows them to easily take time away from the ��̳ to pursue other jobs when it suits them.

Unfortunately there is no getting away from the fact that shorter tours means a financial impact for the guides because there are less overall hours available to work. Put simply, I don’t believe that we can justify paying tour guides from the licence fee for hours they are not working. Around a third of the costs of running the tours comes from the licence fee and we must ensure that money is used appropriately.

Secondly we are asking the guides to wear a uniform. Our other tour guides round the UK already do this and we believe it is appropriate that, as the face of the ��̳, they wear ��̳ branded clothes while working with members of the public.

Any strike action is regrettable and it will not alter these facts. We remain open to discussions with the guides and we are already looking at a number of suggestions they made at a meeting last week so we are hopeful that progress can be made.

Philip Almond is Director of ��̳ Marketing and Audiences.

Acting Director-General Tim Davie talks to ��̳ staff

2012-11-21T14:58:10+00:00

A short time ago, Acting Director-General Tim Davie spoke to all staff from the ��̳'s Dock House at MediaCity UK in Salford. He was interviewed by ��̳ Radio Five Live's Rachel Burden.

Tim later responded to questions posed by the audience in Dock House and staff (who could submit questions via email and text) watching across the UK via the ��̳'s internal TV service, the Ringmain.

Hannah Khalil is Digital Content Producer of the About The ��̳ Blog

Mark Thompson's letter to The Sunday Times, Sunday 3 June 2012

2012-06-01T14:12:56+00:00

��̳ Director-General Mark Thompson has written a letter published in The Sunday Times today that states the ��̳'s position on the Newscorp/BskyB takeover bid. The letter is published below.

Martin Ivens ("The ��̳ has a dog in this Murdoch fight" Comment, last week) is mistaken in two respects about the ��̳ and News Corporation's bid to buy the whole of BSkyB.

The first is that the ��̳ was or is opposed to the bid itself. We weren't and aren't. Our point was only ever that the bid should be referred by ministers to the relevant competition authorities.

The second error is in relation to the implication that any corporate position the ��̳ took on the bid was likely to impair our ability to cover the story with strict impartiality.

When it became clear in 2010 that the ��̳ would take a corporate view about the referral of News Corporation bid, I recused myself from my duties as editor-in-chief as regards both the bid and the wider phone-hacking story and handed responsibility for both to senior colleagues within our news division. That separation remains in place.

Mark Thompson

Director-General ��̳

��̳ Operations Group - meeting efficiency targets

2010-12-21T11:38:22+00:00

Delivering simpler, more efficient and more cost-effective ways of working - is vital if the ��̳ is to meet the target we set ourselves in Putting Quality First of reducing overheads to less than 10p in every licence fee pound by 2015

In October, Mark Thompson announced the creation of a new, expanded Operations Group, bringing together the existing Operations division with ��̳ People (HR and recruitment services) and the externally facing Marketing, Communications & Audiences, including functions as varied as audience telephone helplines and the teams who produce programme trails. And set us the task of streamlining the ��̳'s support functions.

As well as meeting our existing efficiency targets - we are on schedule to save just under £400million over this financial year - the Operations Group will work with the rest of the ��̳ to deliver the stretching extra efficiencies required from the new fixed licence fee settlement as well as integrating the ��̳ World Service and ��̳ Monitoring with our UK services and building our new relationship with S4C.

Delivering a new licence fee settlement is a key (and unexpected!) foundation for this strategy. Crucially it gives us six years of financial certainty against which to plan. All this change has been as unsettling for some staff as it has been exciting for others, but in many respects for many others recent months have been 'business as usual' for the ��̳: we have continued to make world-class programmes like Lip Service and Strictly Come Dancing, and projects like our ��̳ Bristol city partnership have seen colleagues get more involved in their local community. The pilot is now one year old and is being extended to other locations.

Of our major capital projects, we have successfully tested London's new Broadcasting House and will begin bringing together our news world service and radio services together next year. This allows us to substantially reduce our property footprint in central London and will also allow us to bring the ��̳ World Service physically closer to our domestic services. In MediaCityUK at Salford, the fit-out is proceeding to programme and the first teams will start moving in early next year.

We are making good progress on digital switchover with just over one in four of the UK population now switched. We recently completed the STV North region (with roughly 610,000 households switched there) and the Channel Islands.

Freeview HD launched in April this year to complement our high definition services already available on satellite and cable, and is growing quickly. More than 500,000 receivers have been sold and more than one in seven of all new televisions now include Freeview HD as standard. We achieved our coverage target of 50% of UK households in time for the FIFA World Cup in July - up to 56% by the end of September.

This autumn has also seen the launch of ��̳ One HD bringing the excitement of HD to ��̳ One - the most watched channel in the UK - in time for Christmas.

The digital age has meant that the broadcast and information industries have evolved to move faster than ever before. We have to make sure that we're set up to address new and emerging challenges in the most efficient, effective way.

For me, this means keeping it simple: we need a ��̳ that is simple to work for, simple to work or partner with, and perhaps most importantly, simple for its audiences to access and use. And we need to stay open, transparent and accountable so that audiences understand the value they get for their licence fees. Achieving that will be the test of the Operations Group's success as we look forward to 2011.

Caroline Thomson is the ��̳'s Chief Operating Officer

Proposed changes to the ��̳ Pension Scheme

2010-06-29T08:45:01+00:00

Today the ��̳ has put forward a series of proposals to change the ��̳ Pension Scheme. If accepted, these would be the most extensive changes to the Scheme in its history. These are tough decisions, and the first major reform of pensions in the public sector. But we believe we have no option if we are to avoid a new burden on the licence fee payer while ensuring that staff, many of whom have paid into their pensions for years, continue to receive what they are due.

Why are we proposing this? The Scheme's assets, like those of many other pension schemes, have been affected by market volatility following the global economic downturn. Although financial markets have improved during 2009/10, the investments in the Scheme have not returned to previously expected levels and the outlook for the future remains uncertain. In addition, with people living longer, the cost of funding their pensions inevitably increases.

An interim valuation by the Scheme's Trustees has put the estimated deficit at nearly Â£2bn. This does not mean that we are short of money to pay pensions now. But our forecasts show that we need to build up more reserves for the future.

The ��̳ is not alone in this - pension schemes in both the private and public sector are facing similarly difficult decisions. John Hutton is leading a review of public sector pensions, and last week the Prime Minister warned public sector workers that their pensions would be considerably less generous in the future.

In the private sector, BA has announced measures to reduce their scheme's Â£3.7bn deficit, and 87% of private sector defined benefit schemes are now closed to new members. Companies such as IBM, Vodafone and Trinity Mirror only offer defined contribution pensions to all employees.

What are we proposing? The changes would affect all active members of the ��̳ Pension Scheme. The Defined Benefit Scheme would remain open to all existing members. Benefits would, however, be subject to a 1% limit on all future pensionable salary increases.

The Defined Benefit Scheme would be closed to anyone joining the ��̳ after 1 December 2010. From this point anyone would be able to join a new Defined Contribution Scheme. Under this scheme, contributions are agreed in advance, but the final benefits will vary.

Current Scheme members have the choice of remaining in the Defined Benefit Scheme or moving to the Defined Contribution Plan.

This has not been a sudden decision. When changes were made to the Scheme in 2006, we made it clear we would need to review the Scheme's performance. Our original aim of reviewing it in 2013 has had to be brought forward because of the impact of market performance and growing life expectancy.

We have spent over 18 months working to find the best solution for our staff. For the next 90 days, the ��̳ will consult fully on these proposals with staff, the unions, musicians unions and Equity.

I believe the solutions we have proposed today will deliver a Pension Scheme that is sustainable, affordable and flexible for ��̳ staff and the licence fee payer.

Zarin Patel is the ��̳'s Chief Financial Officer

Read our press release

Mark Thompson looks ahead

2010-01-05T12:29:04+00:00

Mark Thompson talks about pay, content and funding in this article published today in Ariel, the ��̳ staff magazine.

Mark Thompson looks ahead to a year when the size and shape of the post-switchover ��̳ will emerge; the Canvas internet TV partnership should forge ahead; some of question marks over ��̳ Worldwide may be removed; and a new government could be calling the shots on how a future ��̳ will be paid for.

Canvas
Thompson has no doubt that the joint venture to bring catch-up TV into the living-room via broadband will be one of the biggest developments and challenges. "Canvas has the potential to utterly transform the way people think about broadcasting, the internet and universal take-up of broadband, with ��̳ iPlayer, itv.com and 4oD accessed by millions of households via their main TV set," he says.

Funding
Expected any day, Greg Dyke's heavily leaked creative review for the Conservatives will almost certainly call for the licence fee to be scrapped and replaced by funding from central taxation.

But Thompson would be surprised to see any great change this year. "[Culture Secretary] Ben Bradshaw has said he believes in the licence fee and [Shadow Culture Secretary] Jeremy Hunt that the Tories will abide by the multi-year settlement."

Meanwhile, ��̳ Worldwide - restricted to a tighter remit by the commercial review - may be heading for a record trading year, the Director-General says. And ��̳ World Service will talk to the government about grant-in-aid, amid immense pressure on public spending, ahead of its next settlement in 2011.

Strategic review
Thompson plans to publish his first proposals in February. He has already suggested that the ��̳ website might be trimmed back and that there will be fewer acquired programmes.

"For the public, the biggest question marks are around programme quality and distinctiveness," he notes. "So our focus is on big-impact, quality content that makes a difference. In 2010 that will include Radio 4's A History of the World in 100 Objects and content around the Year of Science."

What about the onward march of bbc.co.uk? "The website is an amazing media success, with 27million users a month, but it's grown like Topsy and some parts are less focused than others."

Is it inevitable that broadcast services will close? "There is not one service that's not there for a good reason, but in a world where there are lots of ways to get quality content, it's reasonable to ask whether there are other ways to access that content."

On Worldwide: "It's right to keep an open mind [on ownership] but continue to look at all the opportunities to develop ��̳ intellectual properties, not just simple privatisation."

And the proposed joint venture with Channel 4? "A partnership around secondary exploitation of great programmes makes good sense. I hope we can make progress. That will depend on Channel 4's new chief executive."

Salaries
On the continuing pressure over executive pay and star salaries, Thompson - grilled on the subject by Today guest editor PD James - says "We've been tougher on bonuses and executive pay than any other public company or broadcaster."

"The public sector pay debate will continue... but we're not a county council. If you want someone to run ��̳ One or develop iPlayer, you need the very best people in the world. And they're paid much less here than they would be at ITV or Sky."

He adds: "The public has every right to know what we spend on stars' salaries as a whole, but there is no public interest served in revealing individual [details]."

Out-of-London
"There were," says the Director-General, "dire predictions that no one would want to go to Salford [46 per cent have said yes]. We'll soon be recruiting new talent in the North West. Salford is looking good."

The commitment to base 50 per cent of network TV production out of the capital will be "one of way we add value": "You've only to go to Glasgow and see the critical mass that is developing along the Clyde."

IT systems
The Director-General is candid about the lessons to be learned from recent massive IT failures affecting phones and PCs.

"The frailty of our overall systems has been exposed. We have a legacy of IT systems which we've been trying to do more and more with, and we've now had a series of warnings. We're working hard to minimise the same thing happening again - thinking strategically to make sure we've got the infrastructure we need."

Content
The World Cup and another F1 season will make it a great sporting year, Thompson says, and drama highlights will include Patrick Stewart's Macbeth at Easter.

"Radio 4 is on amazing form and, internationally, Persian TV will continue to have huge impact." At home, the general election promises to be "one of the most interesting in my time in broadcasting".

Confidence
Given everything on the horizon, can the ��̳ feel confident at the start of the new decade? "There was an interesting moment in 2009, after James Murdoch's MacTaggart lecture. Yes, there was criticism of the ��̳, but did people want to lose it? No, and that includes most politicians. There won't be any less noise around us in 2010, but yes, we have room to be confident."

Bridget Middleton is editing the About the ��̳ blog this week. Chris Jones is on holiday.

Investing in quality and value

2010-01-04T12:06:34+00:00

How is your licence fee being spent? Is it on great programmes and content or, as some parts of the media would have you believe, largely on 'excessive' talent pay, managerial salaries and expenses?

My job as Chief Financial Officer at the ��̳ is to deliver value for money by making sure that every pound works hard for licence fee payers, by us working more efficiently and more innovatively and ensuring that we adapt to changing economic circumstances.

We're almost halfway through our current licence fee settlement and it goes without saying that our benchmarks have changed unrecognisably as the financial climate has changed around us.

This affects our three key measures for delivering value for money (which are very different from those of a commercial organisation based on profits or growth). These are: the licence fee costs and income; how we maximise the returns from the licence fee (in other words, profits returned to the public service by ��̳ Worldwide); and net efficiencies.

So, which of these is keeping me awake at night?

First, the security of our income. In a time of recession young people are less likely to flee the nest and set up home on their own, and inward migration also slows. The net effect is slower household growth (currently down to 0.49% versus 0.84% last year), which has a negative impact on licence fee income. During tough times evasion also rises and is currently at 5.4% (compared to 5.1% last year). At the ��̳ we have managed to offset these factors by reducing the cost of licence fee collection. Have a look at the new TV Licensing website. It's one of the ways to help more people to manage their account online or to pay by phone or direct debit. This has ensured that just as much of your licence fee goes into programmes as if the economy had continued to grow as predicted back in 2007.

Second, ��̳ Worldwide's ability to continue to deliver growth and returns to the ��̳. It has invested significantly in growth over the past two to three years and, despite the downturn, we expect to see a return from that investment. Happily, we are seeing the strategy pay off with, for example, more than doubling of revenues in our new international channels year on year.

Third, can we cut costs without affecting the quality of programmes? One of the most encouraging aspects of the last year has been that we are sustaining or improving overall performance, including reach (92%) and share (42%), while delivering ever stronger listener numbers (especially on Radio 2 and Radio 4) and reduced cost per user hour on our digital channels. Our audiences also tell us that quality has risen over the last year.

For me, the figures are not just encouraging in themselves. The continuing success and quality of our services is particularly important in the middle of an efficiency drive which sets new challenges for production teams by looking for 4-5% efficiencies each year, which will be nearly 25% over the life of the programme.

There has been some discussion recently of the analysis by Oliver & Ohlbaum showing that content spend across the main terrestrial broadcasters has fallen this year by about Â£0.5billion - a warning shot to the health of our whole industry. Some of this is due to the recession and reduced advertising revenues, but the ��̳'s spend is also down slightly, because of our investment in transforming content distribution channels as well as our obligations to fund digital switchover. But it's worth recognising that it is also the product of an efficiency drive which is focused on production processes instead of the 'back office'. So we are spending slightly less but delivering just as much as before.

The core of investment that the licence fee provides becomes even more crucial in a slower economy and, as Mark Thompson said in his speech to the Voice of the Listener and Viewer last November, the post-switchover world does offer us the opportunity to spend a higher proportion of the licence fee on original British content.

This is just one of the considerations of our Strategic Review, the outcome of which will be announced in the spring. It will set out the ��̳'s purpose and scope for the digital age ahead, as well as focusing on delivering the services and content that you really value.

And I did receive another form of reassurance recently. As you can imagine, unsolicited offers of financial assistance from licence fee payers are pretty unusual. However, the other day a cheque landed on my desk from an avid ��̳ radio listener, who, without a TV and therefore a licence, still wanted to make a fair contribution to the cost of ��̳ Radio. One cheque may not be an indicator for millions, but I did allow myself to think that we must be doing something right.

You can see exactly how your licence fee is being spent here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/info/licencefee/

The 5 live blog: Answering your questions about 5 live

2009-11-20T11:58:30+00:00

Over at the excellent 5 Live blog, controller Adrian Van Klaveren has engaged with questions raised in a comment on a previous post concerning the schedule changes. For your chance to enter into this lively debate, head over to the 5 Live blog.

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