RESPONSE BY IBT (THE INTERNATIONAL BROADCASTING
TRUST) TO THE BBC TRUST’s SERVICE REVIEW OF BBC 1,
2, 4 AND BBC RED BUTTON
December 2009
INTRODUCTION
We believe that the output of BBC One, Two and Four, as a whole, has greatstrengths and, for the most part, successfully engages audiences across a
range of genres. (We shall not be addressing the Red Button service in thissubmission as it falls outside our range of expertise).
However, we are concerned that in some areas of television output there is alack of ambition and a need for greater risk taking. As a result, we believe that
BBC One and Two are not achieving the purpose remit ‘bringing the world to
the UK’ as effectively as they could.
We are also concerned that, because BBC Four is widely seen by programme
makers and commissioners as the home of international content, there is areal danger that BBC Four is super serving a small proportion of the television
audience that already has access to a range of sources of information about
the world, whilst a bigger, more mainstream audience which doesn’t haveaccess to such information is under served. We would like to see BBC One
and Two take more risks by broadcasting a wider range of programmes which
help to inform a mass audience about what is happening in the world.
We believe it’s vital that international content is not just restricted to news andcurrent affairs. Our own audience research published in The World in Focus inJune 2009 found that many viewers who do not watch news and current
affairs output would nevertheless be interested in international stories in othergenres for example drama, factual entertainment and documentaries.
We live in an interconnected world and we believe that BBC One and Two
with their ability to reach mass audiences have an important role to play inhelping UK citizens to make sense of the world and to learn about the lives ofpeople in other countries. If the UK is to develop and reach its full economic
potential we need a population of global citizens, who are well informed about
the world.
IBT RESEARCH – THE WORLD IN FOCUS
In June 2009, we published a new piece of research, The World in Focus. Our
aim was to explore exactly how audiences engage with television content
about the wider world, across a range of genres. We found that news andcurrent affairs were the dominant sources of information about the world
outside the UK and that, as a result of their focus on wars, conflicts anddisasters, UK audiences had a very distorted view of the world, andparticularly of developing countries. As the report noted: Participantscommented on how television coverage of developing countries was ‘allpicturesque safari or doom and gloom’. The dominance of news and ‘charity
appeal’ TV reinforces a particular stereotype of developing countries
dominated by disaster and extreme poverty in which little appears to change.

This has led viewers to see all programmes about developing countries as‘worthy’ or ‘difficult viewing’.
We believe there is an urgent need to redress this balance and present a
wider range of stories on mainstream channels with a conscious effort tomove away from the negative. The key to doing this is commissioning content
outside of news and current affairs, particularly on mainstream channels like
BBC One and Two. We appreciate that this involves risks and we would
encourage the BBC Trust and the BBC Executive to give thought to how
commissioners might be encouraged to take more risks in this area. The
World in Focus noted that there were some international programmes which
successfully appealed to mass audiences for example Amazon with Bruce
Parry (BBC Two) and The No 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency (BBC One).
We recognise that television drama with its high budgets is a particularchallenge but it is noteworthy that feature films with international storylines –like Slumdog Millionaire - have been hugely successful. The World in Focus
noted that: Participants reflected on how feature films and literary fiction set indeveloping countries had the ability to change their perceptions and enhance
understanding but television drama had failed to realise this potential.
The report also found that there were factual entertainment formats which
successfully highlighted international stories and issues and also gave an
insight into the day to day lives of people in other countries but these were not
to be found on the BBC’s mainstream channels. Blood Sweat and T-shirts(BBC Three) is a notable example and clearly one of the functions of BBC
Three is to take risks in trying out new formats but it is surprising, given the
success of this programme, that neither BBC One nor BBC Two has managed
to find a successful factual entertainment format of its own, dealing withinternational themes.
The World in Focus audience research found that drama and factual
entertainment programmes appealed to audiences who don’t watch news andcurrent affairs and therefore offered them a way of finding out about eventsand day to day life in other countries.
The World in Focus report also included some more detailed research onnews which is relevant to this submission. Whilst we recognise that thisreview concerns the whole output of BBC One, Two and Four and not
specifically news, we believe that news plays such an important role in BBC
One’s output that it is worthy of special attention. Despite the substantial
growth in internet use, television news remains the main source of information
about the wider world for most people in the UK.
The World in Focus presented the findings of a two week quantitative analysis
of international news in the UK, across tv, radio and online, and found thatwhilst there was much to celebrate about the quantity and quality ofinternational news available to UK audiences, there were several areas ofconcern.

BBC One’s Ten O’clock News was singled out for praise as it contained thehighest percentage of international news (48%), international lead stories(38%) and coverage of developing countries (47%). This is a significant
achievement for a bulletin that at the same time remains the most watchednews bulletin in the UK. It was also one of the few bulletins during the sample
period (February 2009) to give significant coverage to the impact of thefinancial crisis around the world and to make connections between the wider
world and the UK, putting the story into an international context.
However, The World in Focus also provides evidence that BBC news
bulletins, like all the main UK news bulletins, have a strong tendency to cover
the same, relatively narrow, international agenda in terms of topics, countries
and original stories. In the two weeks of the study, 53% of all international
coverage on the main bulletins concerned just three countries (USA, Australia
and Israel).
It is worth noting that Sky News’ 10pm bulletin had a significantly wider range
of international news stories than the BBC’s Ten O’clock News. It appears
that the decision by BBC News to report fewer stories has narrowed the range
of international stories which reach the screen. This is a worrying trend and,given the significant influence of television news on UK audiences, will
inevitably lead to a more insular world view.

IBT RESEARCH – SCREENING THE WORLDIn June 2008, we published Screening the World. For twenty years we havebeen tracking the international content of factual programming on UK
television. The results of this unique longitudinal study are published every
two years. Our most recent results were published as part of this is report. It
found that: The longitudinal element of this research reveals some striking
trends. International factual programming on the four main terrestrial channels
has now reached its lowest overall level since 1989-90. The increasing levelsof output on BBC 3, BBC 4 and More 4 point to the migration of international
factual content to digital channels.
This reinforces our concern, mentioned at the beginning of this submission,that there is a real danger that the BBC is super serving the BBC Fouraudience and under serving other audiences. The World in Focus audience
research found that many viewers had never watched BBC Four, and they
were unaware of what was on the channel.
The Screening the World research also found that there is a tendency forcommissioners to play safe when commissioning international content, andthis led the report to conclude that there is a need for greater risk taking. The
report provides evidence which demonstrates that the information we receiveon television about the world outside the UK is oversimplified and reinforces
stereotypes, rather than increasing our understanding: It noted, looking at
non-news factual programming as a whole, that: Africa receives relatively little
coverage and is dominated by wildlife programming whereas the Middle Eastis dominated by conflict and disaster programming. Europe and North

America together make up 47% of all international factual output and arecharacterised by high levels of travel and crime programming respectively.
There is a need for commissioners to think more strategically aboutcommissioning content which does not reinforce stereotypes, but rather
presents a more rounded view of life in other parts of the world.
BBC PURPOSE REMITS
While we recognise that the six public purposes should not be seen as
entirely separate aims but as parts of a whole, whose boundaries necessarily
overlap, in this submission we primarily focus on the delivery of the purpose
remit, ‘bringing the UK to the world and the world to the UK’ since this is IBT’s
area of expertise.
We believe the key to achieving this remit successfully is to have international
themes and stories across a range of genres and across all channels. We
recognise that different viewers watch different channels; some watch news
and current affairs; others watch drama or factual entertainment. We would
like to see all audiences, regardless of which genres they watch, having
access to information about the wider world. This ambition is well expressedin the in the annexe to the purpose remit which states that: ...a public service
imperative for the BBC [should be] to make UK audiences aware ofinternational issues, cultures and viewpoints. This should be achieved throughthe provision of engaging content across a wide range of genres and acrossall BBC platforms.
SERVICE LICENCES
It is clear from the language used in the service licences that there is ahierarchy of purposes for each licence with some being considered more
important than others. The ‘bringing the world to the UK’ purpose is no
exception. The BBC Four licence notes that BBC Four should make a very
important contribution to this purpose. Whereas the BBC One licence notesthat BBC One should play its part in contributing to this purpose. The BBC
Two licence notes that BBC Two should play its part in contributing to thispurpose.
This wording is of serious concern to us. We believe that both BBC One and
BBC Two, in their different ways, already make an important contribution toachieving this purpose and we would like to see this contribution reflected in
the wording of their licences. Therefore, we would urge the BBC Trust in its
Review to recommend that both the BBC One and BBC Two licences areamended so that the two channels both ‘make an important contribution tothis purpose.’This may seem pedantic but in fact the wording sends out an importantmessage that international content is an important part of the output of BBC
One and BBC Two. This also reflects the status quo and signals the BBC’s
ambition that appropriate international content should be available to all
audiences. It is ironic that the channel which is currently asked to prioritiseinternational content, BBC Four, is the channel which is aimed at an audience
which already has access to a considerable amount of information about thewider world. There is a real danger that a gulf is developing between aminority of UK citizens who are well informed about life in other countries andthe majority who are ill informed.

ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS POSED IN THE CONSULTATION
How well are BBC One, BBC Two and BBC Four performing against theterms of their services licences?
BBC OneWe believe that, overall, BBC One is performing well against its remit to be
the BBC’s most popular mixed-genre television service across the UK,
offering a wide range of high quality programmes.
However, we believe more thought needs to be given about the range ofprogramming which features international themes. At the moment, we feelthat this is largely limited to news and current affairs, with one or two notable
exceptions.
We would encourage the BBC Trust to recommend that more risks are takenin the output on BBC One. We note that the service licence states that BBC
One should be the BBC’s main platform for television drama and, especially inpeak time, drama should be one of the biggest creators of BBC’s One’s
impact with its audience. We believe drama with international themes andstory lines, is a key area where BBC One could show more ambition.
The No 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency is a good example of a series whichmarked BBC One out for its ambition and its willingness to try something new.
No other UK broadcaster had previously broadcast a prime time drama where
all the protagonists were black. We would like to see BBC One commission
more international drama. When we conducted our audience research for The
World in Focus we found that The No 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency stood out
and made a real impact on audiences. We are pleased to see that BBC One
is continuing to commission drama with international themes, with the recently
broadcast Small Island.
The World in Focus audience research demonstrated the significant impact
which television news has on UK audiences and their perceptions of the wider
world. We note that the BBC One licence states that BBC One should be theBBC’s most significant provider of accurate, impartial and independent
television news, with comprehensive news bulletins in peak time. Our
research singled out BBC One’s Ten O’clock News for praise, as has been
mentioned in the introduction to this submission. It is notable that this bulletinhas both maintained its position as the most popular news bulletin on UK
television and has also maintained its mix of international and domestic
stories. However, we would like to see this bulletin widen the range ofinternational stories which it covers by including more off-agenda stories
which present an antidote to the relentlessly negative stream of news items
which emanate from developing countries. The World in Focus noted that thisconstant diet of stories about conflict and disaster created an obstacle forviewers and put them off watching all programming about the developingworld. Some viewers even noted that when they watched The No 1 Ladies’
Detective Agency they found it hard to believe that life was really like this in
Africa, as it was so different from all that they had heard about Africa on the
television news. We believe that BBC One, as the BBC’s most populartelevision service, has a responsibility to present a more varied diet ofinternational stories on its main news bulletins.
BBC Two
We believe that, overall, BBC Two is fulfilling its remit to be a mixed-genre
channel appealing to a broad adult audience with programmes of depth andsubstance.
In our view, factual programming is a particular strength of BBC Two and thechannel has made significant efforts to commission a wide range ofinternational programming designed to appeal to a variety of tastes, with anumber of series which stand out for their ambition and innovative approach
including Around the World in 80 Faiths and Explore.
However, we believe there are two specific areas in which BBC Two could
improve its international coverage. The first is its international documentarystrand, This World. This should be a stand out series in a prime time slot, areal appointment to view at the heart of the BBC Two schedule. Instead, it is aneglected and under resourced strand which is lost in the schedule. There
have been some outstanding documentaries in the series such as the recent
An Iranian Martyr but few viewers know where to find this series and therefore
it is simply not having the audience impact which it should have. We havenoted earlier in this submission the importance of international content acrossa range of genres so that viewers are able to experience how people in othercountries lead their lives. Documentaries have the potential to deliver thisexperience to a mass audience yet This World is clearly not doing so. When
we look back on 2009 and pick out the most memorable international
documentaries on British television, we think of titles like Afghan Star, WhichWay Home?, Dancing with the Devil and Pray the Devil back to Hell. These
were documentaries that brought home the real experience of people living inother countries, yet they were all shown on Channel 4 or More4. Judgements
about quality are inevitably subjective but it is our view that the problem ofThis World needs serious and urgent attention. We believe the BBC Trust in
its Review of BBC Two should highlight the importance of This World being
given a regular prime time slot so that viewers know where to find it and theresources to deliver some outstanding programmes. We also believe that ThisWorld should be a true documentary strand rather than the current mix whichsits uncomfortably between documentaries and current affairs, and that its
brief should be to bring home to a British audience the real experience ofpeople living in other parts of the world.
We note that the BBC Two remit states that the channel should work withBBC Four in order to maximise the impact of some of its programming, inparticular in factual and the arts. There’s no reason why, given the close
relationship between the two channels, that This World couldn’t also be thehome for some of the best of BBC Four’s international documentaries, like
Rageh in Iran. When we showed this BBC Four documentary to audiences
taking part in The World in Focus research, they praised it for presenting a
fresh perspective on life in Iran but said they would not have found it on BBC
Four.
Our second area of concern is the range of international stories which featureon Newsnight and the way in which this programme delivers the purpose
remit ‘bringing the world to the UK.’ The BBC Two licence notes that BBC

Two should contribute to this purpose amongst its audience, primarily bybringing the world to the UK, by following a broad international agenda in its
current affairs and by regularly covering international stories in its news
analysis.
We are concerned that there are severe constraints on Newsnight’s ability todeliver a range of distinctive international stories. There is no doubt that in thepast this has been a particular strength of Newsnight. There continue to be
examples of distinctive and impactful reporting like the recent report from Lyse
Doucet on maternal mortality in Afghanistan which was superb. However, weare concerned that there are few opportunities now for these potentially
agenda-setting international stories to break through. We believe that budget
cuts and the need to secure all rights have severely limited the ability of
independent producers to make short films abroad for Newsnight for themoney which is available. We would like to see a special ring-fenced fund set
up so that independent producers can continue to make international reports
for Newsnight and other news programmes. There is a real danger that this isa skill set which is being lost in the independent sector, yet independent
producers have the ability to find stories which broaden the news agenda.
BBC FourWe believe that BBC Four is meeting its remit to be a mixed-genre television
channel for all adults offering an ambitious range of innovative, high quality
output that is intellectually and culturally enriching. A particular strength of
BBC Four’s output is its international documentary strand, Storyville which
has included many superb films including Taxi to the Dark Side and The
Children’s Ward. It has also been responsible for playing a leading role in a
number of innovative partnerships including the Why Democracy? project. We
believe that these partnerships are of great value and by working with otherbroadcasters and film makers from around the world, that the BBC is able tooffer a range of new perspectives on contemporary issues. We warmly
welcome Storyville’s latest venture, its planned Why Poverty? Why the Gap?
project. BBC Four has also been widely praised for its seasons including one
on Japan. There is little doubt that BBC Four has internationalism at the heartof its vision. We have no quibble with that. Our concern, already expressed inthis submission is that BBC Four is so strongly identified in the minds ofcommissioners and producers as ‘the international channel’ that, as a result of
this, other channels are not placing internationalism at the heart of theirvisions.

To what extent are licence fee payers aware of and using the services,
and are some demographic groups better served than others?
It is our view that the ‘bringing the world to the UK’ purpose remit applies to all
audiences and therefore that there should be some programmes withinternational content which appeal to everyone. Our audience research
published in The World in Focus in June 2009 has raised concerns that there
are some viewers who are getting very little exposure to programmes withinternational themes. The audience can be divided into two groups. The firsthas a natural interest in international stories and a desire to find out what ishappening in the world. These viewers tend to watch news and current affairs
and documentaries and, for the most part, are well served by the BBC’s
television services. However, there is a larger second group which has little
instinctive interest in international content. This group tends to watch drama
series and serials and entertainment. We believe that BBC One and Twoneed to give more thought to commissioning international content aimed atthese viewers. This inevitably involves taking risks but there some
programmes which do succeed in breaking through, for example factual
entertainment formats like Amazon with Bruce Parry (BBC Two). In order toappeal to this group, programmes need to make connections that enableaudiences to relate to the wider world. This is a major challenge for the BBC
but we believe it is essential that this issue is addressed, if we are to avoid thegrowing gulf between the sector of the audience which is well informed andthe sector which has little or no immediate interest.
Are the services delivering high quality and distinctive content acrossthe full range of television genres?
We believe that there is much to celebrate in the range and quality of BBC
output on BBC One, Two and Four. However, as noted earlier in thissubmission, we believe there are several specific issues which need to beaddressed in the following genres:
Drama – we would like to see more distinctive output which deals with a wide
range of international stories and themes enabling viewers to makeconnections with the lives of people in other countries.
Factual entertainment – we would like to see BBC One and Two taking morerisks and pioneering international formats of their own in the way in which
BBC Three has grown a number of innovative formats which makeconnections for British viewers with what is happening in other countries, suchas Blood, Sweat and T-shirts and The World’s Strictest Parents.
News – we are concerned that news bulletins report a narrow range ofinternational stories, as noted in The World in Focus research. We would liketo see news editors and producers make more effort to make BBC news
output distinctive by reporting international stories which may be off theimmediate news agenda.
News analysis programmes – we are concerned that the strength of these
programmes lies in their domestic coverage and would like to see special
efforts made to encourage ambition and innovation in their international
coverage, by the setting up of a special fund for independent producers tomake international films which can be shown on Newsnight and on othernews programmes.
Are the services making an effective contribution to delivering theBBC’s public purposes?
As noted earlier in this submission, there is much to be applauded in the
BBC’s delivery of the ‘bringing the world to the UK’ purpose but there are
specific areas of weakness:

We believe that on BBC One and Two the global purpose is mainlyinterpreted as falling within the responsibility of news and current affairs. If the
BBC is to be distinctive in delivering this purpose then more thought needs tobe given to the best way to incorporate international themes and stories
across all genres. This ambition is clearly articulated in the annexe to the
purpose remit which we have already quoted in this submission.
Are the services delivering good value for money?
We believe that, on the whole, these television services offer good value formoney.
Are BBC One, BBC Two and BBC Four equipped to deliver their service
licence commitments in the future, in particular to meet audience
expectations of high quality and distinctive content?
We believe that these services have the means to deliver their licencecommitments provided that some of the issues raised in this submission are
addressed.
Do the services have appropriate strategies in place?
At the moment we do not consider that BBC One and Two have appropriate
strategies for the delivery of the ‘bringing the world to the UK’ purpose. Ourview is that more thought needs to be given to formulating a strategy so thatthese services broadcast appropriate content across a range of genres so that
all audiences are catered for, not just those who have already demonstrated akeen interest in watching international content.
Are resources appropriately allocated to meet objectives?
As stated earlier in this submission, we do not believe that resources havebeen appropriately allocated, and we would like to see more resources
devoted to drama and factual entertainment programmes with international
themes and a special fund set up for independent film makers to make shortinternational films for Newsnight and other news programmes.
Should the service licences for BBC One, BBC Two and BBC Four bechanged?
We would like to see the BBC One licence amended so that instead of thecurrent wording, under the heading ‘Bringing the UK to the world and theworld to the UK’, which reads BBC One should play its part in contributing tothis purpose the licence should instead read BBC One should make animportant contribution to this purpose.
Likewise, under the same heading, the BBC Two licence states that
BBC Two should contribute to this purpose. We would propose that thewording be changed so that it reads BBC Two should make an important
contribution to this purpose.
We believe that, unless these changes are made, the whole broadcast
community will continue to believe that this purpose is largely the
responsibility of BBC Four, whereas, far more programmes across theschedule and across a range of genres need to have international themes sothat television truly reflects the globalised world in which we all live andenables all viewers, regardless of which types of programmes they watch, tobecome global citizens. There is a real danger that we are promoting a lasting
division in our society, with a well informed elite having access to high quality
programming about the wider world on BBC Four and an less well informed
majority having little or no access to information about life in other countries.
Background: About IBT
IBT (International Broadcasting Trust) is an amalgamation of two sisterorganisations: the former Third World and Environment Broadcasting Project(3WE) and the former International Broadcasting Trust (IBT). The new IBT isa charity which seeks to promote high quality television and new media
coverage of matters of international significance. In the past, 3WE has been
active in this area and this submission fully reflects 3WE’s long history of
campaigning on these issues and arguing that international coverage on
television is a necessary tool in informing us all, as global citizens.
IBT represents a coalition of international charities. Its members include:
ActionAid, Amnesty International, British Red Cross, CAFOD, Care
International UK, Christian Aid, Comic Relief, Concern Worldwide (UK),Friends of the Earth, Help the Aged, HelpAge International, Malaria
Consortium, Merlin, MSF, ONE, Oxfam, Plan International UK, Practical
Action, Progressio, Save the Children, Sightsavers International, Tearfund,
TVE, UNICEF UK, VSO, WaterAid and World Vision.
IBT is a registered charity, number 326150.
The views in this submission reflect the concerns of IBT’s member agencies
regarding adequate common understanding of the world in which we live.
These concerns are shared by millions of UK supporters of theseorganisations. IBT’s members, being intimately and operationally concernedwith the effects of ‘globalisation’ on communities and environments aroundthe world, and with communicating across the world, welcome the advent of
the global information society.
IBT’s position, reflected in all our policy work since 1997, is that television
coverage of the developing world should not just focus on images of suffering
which is more often than not what is presented in news coverage. It is IBT’sview that an international dimension should be an integral part of all
programming.