THE BBC
ExECuTivE’S
REviEW ANDASSESSMENT
In addition to the information given in the following pages, you
can find out how we performed last year against a whole rangeof other commitments – including our Statements of Programme
Policy, the WOCC, Ofcom quotas and access services targets –in the Performance Against Public Commitments pdf available inthe download section at www.bbc.co.uk/annualreport.
Executive cover image: Photo shows Doctor Who’s TARDIS: let the BBC take you ona journey to where you want to go – sharing new places and new possibilities.

PART 2BBC ExECuTivE
OvERviEW
2-2
UnDERSTAnDIng
ThE BBC’S fInAnCES
2-4
DIRECTOR-gEnERAl’S
fOREWORD
2-10 PUTTIng qUAlITy fIRSTPERFORMANCE
2-14 ThE BBC’S PURPOSES
2-16 RADIO
2-24 JOURnAlISm
2-32 TElEvISIOn
2-40 fUTURE mEDIA & TEChnOlOgy
2-46 EnSURIng fUTURE qUAlITy
MANAGiNG THE BuSiNESS
2-60 OPERATIOnS
2-66 BBC’S ROlE In A WIDER
mEDIA lAnDSCAPE
2-72 RISkS AnD OPPORTUnITIESGOvERNANCE
2-76 ExECUTIvE BOARD
2-78 SUmmARy gOvERnAnCE
REPORTFiNANCiAL STATEMENTS
2-86 fInAnCIAl OvERvIEW
2-94 BEyOnD BROADCASTIng
2-95 SUmmARy fInAnCIAl
STATEmEnT
2-95 InDEPEnDEnT AUDITOR’SSTATEmEnT
2-96 SUmmARy COnSOlIDATEDInCOmE STATEmEnT
2-97 SUmmARy COnSOlIDATED
BAlAnCE ShEET
2-97 SUmmARy COnSOlIDATEDCASh flOW STATEmEnT
2-98 nOTES TO ThE SUmmARy
fInAnCIAl STATEmEnTS
2-104 glOSSARy
COnTACT US
CREDITS

2

Gross efficiency savings £mThis year the individual licence fee was £142.50.
The monthly charge per licence fee was:

Projected

2,000

£1.35
(11%)

548

2bn

08/09 09/10 10/11 11/12 12/13

Total

1,500

480

£0.67
(6%)
1,000

£2.01
(17%)

Television
Radio
Online
Other

£7.85
(66%)

404
316

500

0

237

Through the efficient and effective collection of the licence fee, by reducing the cost of running how we manage our business year-on-year, andby selling and licensing programmes and content assets to companies in the UK and abroad, we strive to increase the amount of money available
to invest in delivering the right portfolio of programmes and services for UK audiences.

Reach %UK population who use service each week

BBC ONE
BBC TWO
BBC THREEBBC FOURCBBCCBEEBIES
BBC HDBBC ALBA*

BBC RADIO 1
BBC RADIO 2
BBC RADIO 3
BBC RADIO 4
BBC RADIO 5 LIVEBBC RADIO 5 LIVESPORTS EXTRA
BBC 1XTRABBC 6 MUSICBBC 7
BBC ASIAN
NETWORK77.3 (77.6)
55.7 (57.4)
20.7 (18.7)
8.9 (7.8)
5.6 (5.2)
8.3 (8.0)
1.6 (0.6)
4.3 (n/a)

21.9 (21.3)
26.9 (26.1)

Costs per user hour p

How much to deliver service to users
6.7 (6.8)
7.7 (7.5)
8.6 (10.6)
14.0 (16.8)
8.8 (9.5)
1.8 (1.8)
1.6 (7.0)
20.6 (29.4)

Spend by service £mTotal content spend

1,113(1,142)
450 (451)
88 (87)55 (55)40 (36)18 (16)
2 (2)
4 (3)

0.6 (0.6)
0.5 (0.5)

32 (33)40 (40)41 (40)6.3 (6.3)

3.9 (3.9)
1.3 (1.3)
2.3 (2.3)
2.2 (2.6)

19.5 (19.1)
12.3 (11.9)
1.4 (1.4)
1.2 (1.1)
1.4 (1.2)
1.8 (1.7)
0.7 (0.8)

87 (86)55 (57)3 (3)3.6 (4.5)
2.7 (3.4)
1.7 (2.0)
8.5 (6.9)

7 (7)
7 (7)
5 (5)
9 (9)

(COST PER USER REACHED)BBC ONLINE**
BBC RED BUTTONBBC NEWS†
BBC PARLIAMENT†BBC ENGLISH
LOCAL RADIO

8.9 (9.7)

37 (–)
29 (27)48 (48)14.1 (18.5)2 (3)3.2 (2.9)

21.2 (21.6 includes RnG)

110 (109)

7.8 (7.1)

BBC RADIO
NAN GÀIDHEAL
BBC RADIO WALES
BBC RADIO CYMRUBBC RADIOULSTER\FOYLE

127 (112)
14 (14)7.6 (8.1)

8.7 (8.4)
0.3 (0.3)
16.9 (17.1)

BBC RADIOSCOTLAND

2.2 (2.7)

25 (25)16.7 (18.2)

5.9 (5.0)

16.7 (17.8)

13.7 (11.5)

5.8 (6.4)
35.4 (35.6)

4.3 (4.4)* BBC ALBA available on satellite only.
** BBC Online: CMI is a new measure. No comparable figure is available for 2008/09.
† Reach based on 15 minutes for all channels and services except BBC Online(3+ minutes). Three minute reach for BBC News channel and BBC Parliament– in line with industry standard for news services – would be 13.9% and 0.9%
respectively, both up again year-on-year.
( ) Figures in brackets from 2008/09.

4 (4)13 (13)12 (12)14 (15)

2009/10 at a glance
We delivered the following services to our audiences lastyear. You can find links to the service licences for each
BBC service – as well as any service reviews carried out
by the BBC Trust – at www.bbc.co.uk/bbctrust.

Services
NETWORK television

Overview

2-1

NETWORK Radio

Future media and technology

Journalism

Overview

Understanding
the BBC’s finances
The BBC creates, commissions and broadcasts more hours oforiginal television and radio programming than any otherbroadcasting organisation in the world – the vast majorityof it produced in the UK.

Overview

2-2

BBC Group Across all its activities, the BBC’s single vision is to be the most creative organisation in the world andenrich people’s lives with programmes that inform, educate and entertain.

BBC World
Service

COMMERCIALOPERATIONSLICENCE FEE
FUNDED SERVICES

£293m

£119m

£3,447m

BBC World Service first broadcast
news and information to the world via
radio in 1932. Today, the original radio
service has been enhanced with TV
and online.
Last year over 240 million people
across the world turned to the BBC
for impartial and independent news,
analysis and information.

BBC Worldwide is the BBC’s main
wholly-owned commercial subsidiary,
which works to maximise income from
BBC programme rights and properties,
to offset the licence fee.
BBC Studios and Post Production
works with the BBC, otherbroadcasters – ITV, Channel 4, five,and Sky – as well as other media andindependent production companies
to create great content.
BBC World News offers 24-hour
news, information and analysis in
English to more than 200 countries
and territories across the globe.
It is funded by subscription andadvertising revenues.

The BBC is established by Royal
Charter and our UK public service
broadcasting activities are funded bya licence fee paid by UK households.
Last year, we provided the following
to home audiences:• 10 UK-wide TV services• Nations and regions TV services
across England, Scotland, Wales andNorthern Ireland• 10 UK-wide radio networks• Two national radio services
each in Scotland, Wales andNorthern Ireland• 40 local radio stations in England• plus online

The BBc is required to ensure that its commercial
activities meet four conditions:
1. fit with the BBc’s public purpose activities
2. show commercial efficiency
3. do not jeopardise the BBc’s good reputation,
nor the value of the BBc brand
4. comply with its own Fair Trading guidelines
all commercial services met the above criteria
for the period 1 april 2009 to 31 march 2010.
For more information see
www.bbc.co.uk/info/policies/fairtrading.
For more information on these services, visit:www.bbcworldwide.com.
www.bbcstudiosandpostproduction.com.
www.bbcworldnews.com.

This annual report and accounts is primarily
concerned with this aspect of our business. For
more information about the BBc, or to catch up
on programmes you have missed, visit our website
www.bbc.co.uk and follow the links.

Grant-in-aid

BBc World Service publishes its own
annual report, which can be found atwww.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/specialreports/
annual_review2009.shtml.

Profit Before interestand tax

Licence fee incomeAn independent Deloitte report, The Economic Impact of
the BBC: 2008/09, published in March, demonstrated thatthe licence fee – and how the BBC actively chooses to invest
it – is a cornerstone of the UK’s creative economy.
This is particularly so at a time when commercial
considerations are squeezing programme budgets elsewhere.
Deloitte concluded that overall, the BBC makes an economic
contribution of at least £7.6billion to the UK economy –meaning over £2 of economic value is generated by every£1 of the licence fee.

In addition, their assessment of our spend in the creative
economy in 2008/09 concluded that our investment of licencefee money in the independent production sector, one of thecrown jewels of the UK creative economy, directly generated£867million of economic value that year, double the spend
figure of £435million. Including wider benefits this value
could be up to £1.4billion, with smaller companies receiving
increasingly more investment.
An assessment of the 2009/10 figures will be published laterin the year.

2-3

Table 2-1
Monthly charge per licence fee

Television
Radio
Online
Other
Total

Table 2-2
Breakdown of BBC spend

£
09/10

%
09/10

£
08/09

%
08/09

7.85
2.01
0.67
1.35
11.88

66 7.91
17 1.99
6 0.6011 1.13100 11.63

68
17
5
10
100

Less than

40p
Each licensed UK household pays lessthan 40 pence per day for all BBC services

479
435
460

Independent programmes transmitted
External programme facilities and resources
Acquired programmes transmitted

Television
Radio
Online
Other
Total

£m
09/10

%
09/10

£m
08/09

%
08/09

2,351
604
199
406
3,560

66 2,346
17 5906178
11 335100 3,449

68
17
5
10
100

Chart 2-1
Licence fee rates across Europe £277.32 Switzerland*
265.53 Norway*
261.98 Denmark*232.25 Austria*
202.96 Finland
189.53 Germany
186.45 Sweden
142.50 UK
140.51 Republic of Ireland
103.65 France
95.75 Italy*
73.31 Czech Republic
Source: Broadcasting Fee association. all licences run for a calendar year
except the uK which runs from 1 april to 31 march. euro exchange rateused as of 1 January 2010 (£1=€1.14). cost is total per licence to domestic
customer for Tv and radio. marked * includes vaT.

Chart 2-2
Spend in creative economy £m
07/08
08/09
09/10

Overview

This year the licence fee was £142.50, a monthly increase of 25p on last year.
This is How it was spent:

248
265
267

90
101
93

299
305
299

Artists and contributors(includes copyright – excluded from Table 2-10)
BBC performing groups

22 1,138
23 1,129
24 1,143

Overview
Director-general’s foreword

Putting quality first
The 2010 General Election marked a turning point not justfor British politics but for British broadcasting. There were
the obvious firsts – like the Prime Ministerial debates achieved
through an unprecedented agreement between the three main
UK parties and the BBC, ITV and Sky News. New records too –the BBC News website, for instance, welcomed nearly 12 million
unique users on the Friday after polling day, the highest fora single day in the history of BBC Online.
Overview

2-4

But something more significant was happening. Bothnewspapers and social media phenomena like Twitter played
their part, but more than ever before from those historicdebates to Mrs Duffy to the results programme, this was anelection that happened on television and radio. The BBC’s
website performed so well at least in part because in content,
look and feel it was integrated so closely with our TV andradio offering.
Yet the election also confirmed how much public service
broadcasting in this country has changed. Only the BBC
commissioned a significant amount of special programming
for the campaign and, on the night five days after the election
when the Queen asked David Cameron to form a new
Government, only the BBC opened up the schedule of its
main channel to cover the unfolding events. We did it because
we believe that striving to produce the best journalism in
the world and making that journalism freely available to all
audiences is the single most important mission the BBC has.
It is also what the public expect and want – ten million people
turned to the BBC to watch the climax of that political dramaon BBC One.
Ambitious, properly-funded, universally accessible journalism
is one of the centrepieces of the BBC’s new strategy, Putting
Quality First. We delivered the strategy to the BBC Trust at
the end of the year. At the time of writing, they are considering
the proposals and asking the public for their reactions before
reaching conclusions in the autumn.
But there is common ground between the Trust and myself
on the five main themes of the strategy. The good news isthat, even before the strategy is finally signed off, there wasplenty of evidence in 2009/10 that the BBC was already taking
these themes to heart.

Doing fewer things better
The BBC exists to inform, educate and entertain its audienceswith programmes and content of excellence and originality.
That is why the first theme is simply that the BBC should
always put quality first. The second is we should do fewer
things better – in other words that, after a period in which
we used digital technologies to expand the BBC’s services
and offer licence payers wider choice, we should now focus
investment and creative energy on the programmes andprojects which make the biggest difference.
Projects like A History of the World, a unique partnershipwith the British Museum. The core is a magnificent series of
BBC Radio 4 programmes A History of the World in 100
Objects presented by the museum’s Director Neil MacGregor.
But it extends far beyond that – to a children’s TV series; apermanent, rich website; the involvement of the BBC’s local
services and many hundreds of other museums up and down
the country; and re-broadcast to global audiences via the BBC
World Service.
The BBC has always been one of the UK’s most important
cultural institutions –now we are learning how much more wecan do to bring knowledge, music and the arts into the lives of
millions when we partner with others. Whether that meansother big institutions like the Royal Society or the Royal Operaat Covent Garden, or just with individuals of talent, passion
and conviction, much more is possible. A great example wasthe Poetry Season which lit up our services for a few weeks
last spring. Expect to see many more major cultural andscientific projects in the years to come.
The same themes – scale, ambition, confidence – made it an
outstanding year for drama, from BBC Radio 4’s The Complete
Smiley to Occupation on BBC One. The public want brave,
serious, unexpected drama not just on BBC Two or BBC Four,but on our main channel. When we offer it – think of Criminal
Justice or the recent Five Days – the sense of appreciation
is palpable.

Overview

2-5“The BBC exists to inform,
educate and entertain its
audiences with programmes
and content of excellenceand originality.”
Mark Thompson
bbc Director-general

Overview
Director-general’s foreword continued

Overview

2-6“We will only achieve the fullcreative potential of the BBC
if we squeeze the best possible
value out of every penny thatthe public gives us to run theorganisation.”1

2009/10 was the year when BBC Three came of age. With
defining dramas like Being Human and hard-hitting current
affairs programmes like Blood, Sweat and Takeaways, it has seen
not just its audiences but its reputation steadily grow. Indeed
it was an unusually strong year across our services. BBC Two
was compelling both in serious mood – its season marking thefirst anniversary of the fall of Lehman Brothers – and in
comedy with Miranda arriving on the scene. From Glastonbury
to the Leeds Piano Competition, music was strong across ourradio networks and more visible and consistent on television.
Mark Damazer, who is stepping down as Controller of BBC
Radio 4, leaves the Home Service of the BBC in fine form –in his hands, it has stood for whatever the opposite ofdumbing down is: intellectually stretching, memorable,
topical and relevant without ever feeling opportunistic.
Network production from Scotland, Wales and Northern
Ireland increased both in quantity and quality – Five Minutes ofHeaven and Wallander were in their different ways formidable
creative achievements, while the remarkable Doctor Who
story continued with a deft handing of the baton from one
great doctor to another. For journalism, sport and the BBC’sinternational services, it was a busy but successful year. BBCWorldwide achieved record profits despite tough trading
conditions in many markets.

Guaranteeing access to all
Behind the scenes, the BBC was hard at work on the third
theme of Putting Quality First, which is to guarantee accessto all. Freeview remained the UK’s favourite way of accessing
digital television during the year; and, by December, ten million
homes were using Freeview on their main television set.
Groundbreaking BBC technology also enabled us to launch
our HD service on Freeview to bring the quality and impact ofhigh definition to the public via an ordinary aerial. The millionth
Freesat box was sold, while ‘Canvas’ – the project to bringinternet services like BBC iPlayer to main television sets inhouseholds across the country – came significantly closer
to fruition.
Freeview, Freesat and ‘Canvas’ are all examples of the BBC
working in partnership with others – another key theme of
the year. The BBC has always had a role in devising and helping
to set standards in the industry: today we stand clearly on the sideof universal access and, wherever possible, an open source,
open standards approach to media distribution and usage.
We believe that the BBC’s scale and its strength on researchand development should be put to the benefit, not just of theBBC’s own services, but of the industry as a whole. Eighteenmonths ago, when we first highlighted partnership as a theme,
there was some scepticism about whether we would or could
actually deliver. Today, as this part of the Annual Report makes
clear, there is a growing list of successful partnerships to report.
2This year 82% of adults saythat they would miss the BBC
if we no longer existed(Source: BMRB).

The BBC has a leading role in ensuring a smooth transition
from analogue to digital television across the UK. In 2009/10,
the process of switchover got under way in earnest,
with greater smoothness and fewer hiccups than many
had predicted. We look forward to talking to the new
Government about two more major digital goals: full transition
from analogue to digital radio and universal high-speed
broadband provision.
Making the licence fee work harder
We will only achieve the full creative potential of the BBC if wesqueeze the best possible value out of every penny that the
public gives us to run the organisation. That’s why the fourth
theme of Putting Quality First is to make the licence fee work
harder – and why it commits the BBC within a few years toensure that 90p in every licence pound goes into the task ofmaking outstanding content and getting it to the public.
The infrastructure and overhead costs of the BBC at justunder 12% of our budget are half of what they were in the
1990s. Once our digital transformation is completed we want
to reduce them by a further quarter to less than 9% and usethat money to make more great programmes instead.

3

4

We strive to bring audiences the widest range of
informative, educational and entertaining programmes
across all our services.
1 QI.
2 BBC Sport available via BBC Mobile.
3 My Life in Verse – Sheila Hancock, part of ourpan-BBC Poetry season.
4 Wounded.

2-7
Overview

Can we do better? Of course we can. Putting Quality First
identifies a wide set of new priorities. BBC Two and BBC
Radio 2 are both great services under outstanding creative
leadership, but we want to see both of them become more
distinctive and challenging. We want to put more original
British content on our children’s services and to invest in more
stand-out content for daytime television. While comedy is
showing real signs of renewal on many BBC services, we want
to see more confidence and creativity in entertainment. At its
best, our website stands comparison with any in the world,
but it needs greater clarity and focus – yes, to ensure that it
does not damage the chances of others to establish a viable
presence on the web, but also to improve the value it offers
to its users.

Overview
Director-general’s foreword continued

Overview

2-8“After a period in which weused digital technologies toexpand the BBC’s services andoffer licence payers wider
choice, we should now focus
investment and creative
energy on the programmes
and projects which make thebiggest difference.”

1

We recognise, given the tough economic realities they facethemselves, that it is quite reasonable for the public to raisequestions about how much the BBC pays its top on-air talentand its senior managers. We – and the public – want the best
people both in front of the camera and microphone andbehind it; if we fail to attract and retain the best talent in theworld, the quality and originality of the services we offer the
public will fall. But the reality of the market for media talent
has to be tempered by a clear understanding that the BBC
is different and that working for the BBC is a privilege. If you
work here, whether as an on-air star or as a senior leader, you
should expect to earn far less than if you were doing a similar
job for a commercial broadcaster.
That is why the BBC Trust has approved a new approach tosenior management pay at the BBC. The total bill will comedown by at least a quarter, bonuses have been suspended
indefinitely and for the most senior directors there is a four
year pay freeze. Already directors of the BBC are taking home
5% less in real terms than they did two years ago. Top talent
pay has also begun to come down. It will fall further in theyears to come – for the first time, you can track that fallin the Managing the Business section of this Annual Report.

2

3

1 Simon King’s Shetland Diaries.
2 Mrs Mandela.
3 Fearne Cotton.
4 Podcasting takes content out of the home toallow the user to listen any time, anywhere.
5 The Thick of It via BBC iPlayer.

Setting new boundaries for the BBC
The fifth theme in Putting Quality First is that of setting new
boundaries. It is quite clear that the British public want a BBCof scale and scope able to provide a wide range of content tosuit their diverse needs – the idea of curtailing even relatively
little used services provokes real and understandable disquiet
among their fans. But the BBC also has a clear responsibility
to ensure that its size does not crowd out other media players.
The drive to distinctiveness which is at the heart of Putting
Quality First is itself part of the solution.
In addition, we plan to set out clear boundaries so thatcompetitors know what the BBC will and will not do in the
future. We will demonstrate that our public service mission
and our purposes are what determine where our boundaries
are set. This clarity underpins our decision to cut our spend
on acquired programmes and limit it to no more than 2.5%of the licence fee. We will cap our spending on sports rights.
We will focus what we provide on BBC Online on those kindsof content which most clearly further the public purposes of
the BBC. We have proposed to the BBC Trust that, while weundertake this task of concentrating our efforts on the web– doing fewer things better – we should reduce our spend
against the service licence content budget by 25%. We plan to
publish a set of undertakings about the limits of our editorial
ambitions for our website.

77% of adults say the BBC is an
institution to be proud of(Source: ICM).

The BBC and the public
Setting appropriate limits for the BBC does not mean that ourservices should ossify. The public strongly support the BBC’s
confident move into the digital era – both for the convenienceand quality of the BBC’s own digital services and also because
in many cases it was the BBC who encouraged them tosample digital devices in the first place.
It’s been a year of much debate about the future both ofbroadcasting as a whole and of the BBC in particular. Readingsome of the UK press, one could be forgiven for assumingthat public support for the BBC was on the wane. In fact theobjective evidence, in independent surveys as well as thosecarried out for the BBC itself, is that public pride and trust in
the BBC has actually grown over recent years.
Putting Quality First is evidence, I believe, that we do not takethat trust and pride for granted. We know that we have to goon earning it – by openness and honesty about ourselves asan organisation, by listening carefully to what audiences have to
say about our services, by addressing mistakes and problems
promptly and effectively. But above all by ensuring that wereally do put quality first.

Mark Thompson
Director-General
16 June 2010

4

5

2-9
Overview

During the year we have continued to increase transparency
around pay and expenses of those who run the organisation,
putting the BBC at the forefront of disclosure within the public
sector. We followed the BBC Trust’s practice of routinely
publishing the expenses of senior managers. We also decided
regularly to publish detailed information on the remunerationof more than 100 senior managers.

Overview

Putting quality first:
building on a rich heritage

Overview

2-10

1920s
1922 The British Broadcasting Company is created.
First regular News bulletin includes speech byConservative leader Andrew Bonar Law, and thelatest billiards scores.
1923 First outside broadcast – The Magic Flute fromCovent Garden. Live sport commentaries follow in
1927. Newspapers view radio as competition andrefuse to print programme schedules, so the Radio
Times launches.
1926 General Strike forces the BBC into confrontation
with government over editorial independence.
1927 British Broadcasting Corporation established by
Royal Charter, guaranteeing editorial autonomy.

1940s
1940 Churchill’s rousing speeches to the nation.
1942 First broadcast of Desert Island Discs.
1945 Richard Dimbleby’s revelatory reports from Belsen
concentration camp.
1946 Alistair Cooke’s Letter from America – ending after
2,869 episodes in February 2004.
1946 First television for children.
1949 Book at Bedtime first broadcast: ‘The Three
Hostages’ by John Buchan.

1930s1930 First broadcast by BBC Symphony Orchestra.
1936 TV service launches from Alexandra Palace.
Mass market radio still home of key public service
content such as Edward VIII’s abdication speech.
1937 BBC’s radio coverage of the coronation of George VI
united people across the land in celebration.
1938 First BBC foreign language service: Arabic.

1950s
1950 First radio and TV broadcast from House ofCommons; permanent televising starts in 1990.
1951 The Archers, the longest running radio soap in
the world.
1953 Coronation ceremony of HM Queen Elizabeth II.
Over 20 million people across Europe watch
the event on television.
1954 David Attenborough’s first exploration of wildlife
with Zoo Quest.
1958 BBC develops first video tape recorder, anddemonstrates it on Panorama.

1960s1962 First live satellite television from the USA to the BBC
station in Goonhilly, Cornwall.
1967 BBC Radio 1 starts broadcasting. The first record to
be played was The Move’s Flowers in the Rain.
1969 Revolutionary television from Pot Black – in colour for
the first time, launching snooker as a national pastime;and from Monty Python’s Flying Circus – pushing theboundaries of UK comedy and creating a new wordin the process: ‘pythonesque’.

1990s
1995 DAB launched, using technology and support from
BBC R&D.
1997 Teletubbies transforms pre-school television. And fora slightly different audience, the BBC’s rolling television
news service launches.
1998 BBC Choice, the first BBC digital TV channel. It will
become BBC Three in 2003.
1999 Walking with Dinosaurs, the highest rated science
programme in British history (nearly 19 million viewers).

Overview

2-11

1970s
1971 Partnership with Open University, helping to improveaccess to university education.
1972 Newsround, the first ever news programme forchildren – presented by John Craven.
1974 The Family ‘fly-on-the-wall’ documentary kick starts
reality TV.

2000s
2002 Freeview launches as the BBC Proms celebrate
75 years.
2004 Strictly Come Dancing inspires dance across the UK.
2007 BBC iPlayer transforms media consumption, with
360 million views in its first three months.

1980s
1980 After 25 years, Children in Need becomes a whole
evening event and raises £1million for the first time
ever. Pudsey debuts in 1985.
1981 Prince Charles’s wedding to Lady Diana Spencer, themost popular programme ever broadcast with anaudience of 750 million across 74 countries.
1982 Brian Hanrahan’s news reporting from the Falklands
Islands and hard-hitting drama The Boys from theBlackstuff each, in its own way, impacts on British
society at large.

2010 and onwards
High quality content – including drama across radio andtelevision – will remain central to the BBC offer.
Subject to BBC Trust approval, Project ‘Canvas’ due
to launch – part of a new management strategy tostay focused on the BBC’s first principles: Putting
Quality First.

For more about what the BBC has been up to since 1922, visit
www.bbc.co.uk/history.

BBC: withyou anytime,
anywhereThis section gives a tour of the BBC’s past year
on radio, TV and online.
The BBC is about distinctive services, programmes and content– consistently delivering impartial information, engaging andsurprising facts, or entertainment that grips or amuses audiences.
Here we give our assessment of our performance from the last
12 months, conveniently broken down by delivery platform, plus
a separate section on our journalism output and some highlights
for local audiences in Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland andacross England.
Building on our Putting Quality First plans, we also give a flavourof some of the programmes we hope our audiences will enjoy
next year and beyond.

Picture shows Chris Evans presenting his BBC Radio 2 breakfast show. The BBC Trust reviewed BBC Radio 2
during the year.

Performance

PERFORMANCE
2-13

PERFORMANCEThe BBC’s purposes
The BBC’s six public purposes – built on the principles toinform, educate and entertain – underpin all that we do.
CitizenshipInform: we have a worldwide reputation forreportage and analysis of the world we live in.
Our UK-wide, international, national and local
channels and services cover a wide range of stories,
issues and information tailored for a diverse range
of users.

BBC News channel had an average weekly reach last year of 7.9 million –and is the most watched 24 hour news channel in the UK. Picture shows
Matthew Amroliwala and Jane Hill.

Performance

2-14

Learning

Educate: we promote and support formal andinformal education for all age groups – frompre-school children to silver-surfer adults, across
television, radio and the web.

Alphablocks is an animated series which entertains our younger viewers,
and at the same time helps them to develop engagement and confidencewith reading and making words.

Creativity

Entertain: we offer unique and innovative content
that entertains and engages audiences, including
live music and the biggest range of radio, televisionand bespoke online drama from any broadcasterin the world.

We brought the immediacy and intimacy of theatre director Gregory Doran’s
production of Hamlet for the Royal Shakespeare Company to BBC Two ina widely acclaimed film. We are currently co-producing a contemporary
realisation of Shakespeare’s Coriolanus, from first-time director Ralph Fiennes.

Our audiences are accustomed to – and constantly expect –a stream of high-quality and original British content thatreflects their experiences, tells their stories, and exposes
them to stories from other people and places.
Our purposes help us to focus on offering audiences this.

Community

We reflect the UK’s diversity at national, regional
and local levels with services in English, Scottish
Gaelic and Welsh, and programmes in over
30 other languages. The BBC’s distinctive offer
across our portfolio means we have somethingfor everyone.
Our sporting commentary – especially football – brings together communities
united in passion. The Football League Show, shown here, averaged 1.1 million
viewers per week in its first year. Off-air, we present concerts and host
events across the UK – for more information on our outreach activities
visit www.bbc.co.uk/outreach or to apply for tickets to recordings, go towww.bbc.co.uk/tickets.
2-15

Global

Our global news services provide independentand internationally respected news and analysis,covering the key stories of the day like the Haiti
earthquake and the future of Afghanistan. BBCWorldwide offers the best UK content to new
audiences across the globe.

Lyse Doucet interviews Prime Minister Gordon Brown and President Hamid
Karzai for BBC World Service, and reported on our other outlets.

DigitalThe BBC is the most used online content provider
in the UK, and 12.1 million now listen to our radio
services via digital platforms. We are offering help
to the millions of viewers aged 75 or over, disabledor living in care homes, to switch to digital TV
between now and 2012.

EastEnders marked its 25th year with a live edition, and new online spin-off E20,
shown here. Audiences are increasingly watching content via new devices andtechnologies, bringing fresh challenges and opportunities as we seek to makeour content available in the most appropriate way.

Performance

For decades, UK audiences have enjoyed higher levels ofdomestic media production and content spending per headthan almost anywhere else in the world.

PERFORMANCERadio“THIS HAS BEEN A YEAR OF INCREDIBLE CREATIVEAMBITION ACROSS BBC RADIO. ABOVE ALL else,
WE REMAIN TOTALLY COMMITTED TO MAKING
THE VERY HIGHEST QUALITY PROGRAMMESFOR OUR LISTENERS.”TIM DAVIE
Director, Audio & Music

Performance

2-16

R

Quality

I

Value

66%
27m
54
1.6p

Two thirds of all radio listeners (66%) tune in to BBC radio each week.

27 million adults across the UK listen to BBC network radio news and current
affairs each week. Millions more listen to our speech-based local and nations
services. The expectation of authoritative journalism, insight and analysis draw ourlisteners in – and their trust in our editorial independence and impartiality keeps
them coming back as they make up their own minds on issues that matter.
BBC Radio won 54 Sony Radio Academy Awards including the UK Stationof the Year for BBC Radio 5 live.

The average cost per listener hour (the total cost of programmes divided bynumber of listener hours) across our portfolio of radio channels is 1.6p (2009: 1.6p).
Our most expensive services, by this metric, are the important and unique national
language services BBC Radio nan Gàidheal and BBC Radio Cymru; the cheapest –notwithstanding the amount of live music they each offer – are BBC Radio 2 andBBC Radio 1.

RADIO IS CORE TO THE BBC’S MISSION TO INFORM, EDUCATE AND
ENTERTAIN AUDIENCES WITH PROGRAMMES AND SERVICES OF
HIGH QUALITY, ORIGINALITY AND VALUE. LAST YEAR, ALMOST
60% OF ADULTS IN THE UK TUNED IN TO OUR NETWORKSERVICES ALONE EACH WEEK FOR AN AVERAGE OF 15.3 HOURS.
THIS SUCCESS IS ATTRIBUTABLE TO OUR PASSION FOR CREATINGDISTINCTIVE PROGRAMMES WHICH INSPIRE AUDIENCES ACROSSALL OF OUR SERVICES.

In-depth news, analysis and current affairs
27 million adults in the UK listen to BBC news and current
affairs programmes each week across network radio.
At the core of BBC Radio 4’s uniquely broad schedule isits powerful blend of authoritative journalism and insightfulcurrent affairs programmes. Last year, it launched The Report, a
new current affairs strand with each programme dedicated toa major story, allowing time for in-depth coverage and analysis.

2-17

Table 2-3 

BBC Network Radio hours of output by genre
The table shows the number of hours of each genre broadcast in total
from all our radio stations.
2009/10

2008/09M

40,43640,526

N

11,833

12,304

S

4,071

4,095

Factual

2,438

2,107

Current affairs

2,155

2,093

Drama

4,784

4,471

A

1,156

905

E

7,420

7,597

R

1,173

1,118

S

128

128

Children’s

1,414

1,484

P

1,969

2,000

N

292

286

T

79,268

79,113As a result of changes in the classification of some entertainment
programmes the comparatives have been restated. We welcomed
the National Audit Office’s review of radio production efficiency
last year, which recognised that some savings have already beenachieved. However, we are determined to increase efficiency
further, without compromising the quality of our programmes.
We will be reporting progress to the BBC Trust on this next year.

Performance

We have a truly distinctive role in supporting and encouraging
participation in British cultural and sporting events. BBC radio
brings a vast array of the most significant events, from the
Cheltenham Jazz Festival to the Ashes, to millions of listeners
every year.
Over the past year a significant amount of change has been
implemented across our radio services. Terry Wogan bid
farewell to the loyal listeners of his BBC Radio 2 breakfast
show and handed over to Chris Evans in January 2010; Simon
Mayo moved into BBC Radio 2’s drivetime slot, with Richard
Bacon taking over on BBC Radio 5 live. BBC Radio 4 launchedmajor series like A History of the World in 100 Objects,
and BBC Radio 1 not only introduced great new talent toits daytime schedule but also launched important social
action campaigns such as Bullyproof. We are also investing in
attracting new audiences to radio through innovative services
such as the ground-breaking industry-wide Radio Player,
which aims to bring many hundreds of the UK’s radio stations
together in a single online user experience.

PERFORMANCE
Radio continued

Performance2-18

special, BBC 1Xtra tackled gun and knife crime with a live
debate involving the best friend of a teenager fatally knifed
during a gang ambush in London and the Head of theMetropolitan Police’s Operation Trident. The BBC Asian
Network’s report Holiday Brides investigated the story
of British Asian men abandoning their Indian brides after
marrying them for dowries.

BBC Radio 5 live’s commitment to reflecting the widest rangeof voices, views and stories was powerfully illustrated in its
outside broadcasts, including Victoria Derbyshire’s reports
on everyday life from Zimbabwe and Peter Allen’s week
spent with the armed forces in Kandahar during Afghanistan’spresidential elections. The station’s Octoberfest from Hull saw
an ambitious mix of news, sport, debate and entertainment
in front of live audiences; Nicky Campbell, Simon Mayo, Colin
Murray, Anita Anand, Shelagh Fogarty and Richard Bacon all
brought their shows to the centre of the city.
BBC Radio 1, BBC 1Xtra and the BBC Asian Network offer
news tailored to serve specific audiences, providing uniqueinsight into areas highly relevant to their listeners.
BBC Radio 1’s Newsbeat focuses on delivering the highest
quality journalism and in-depth reports, with its uniqueperspective to challenging areas of interest to young listeners.
Newsbeat reporter Sima Kotecha was embedded with UK
and US Marine Corps in Afghanistan for a week in June andNovember. She captured first-hand life experienced on thefront line through radio, an online diary and video blog.
Following the BBC Trust’s review of services for younger
audiences, BBC 1Xtra introduced two 15-minute news
programmes modelled on Newsbeat. In an extended news

BBC Radio is home to a broader range of output thanany other UK provider, including more live music andoriginal drama than anywhere else, and a peerless slateof comedy and in-depth news, comment and analysis.
Pictures show:
1 BBC Radio 1’s Big Weekend.
2 Caroline Quinn from BBC Radio 4’s PM.
3 Actor Timothy Spall appeared in Stephen Poliakoff’s
Playing with Trains.
4 The Now Show.

1

2

Inspiring new, live and specialist music
We are committed to supporting the widest range of newmusic, live music, specialist music and contemporary British
artists. Not only does this commitment offer audiences
something unique, it is also a pillar of the BBC’s support for
the wider creative economy.
BBC Radio 1’s diverse corps of specialist DJs has been selected
for their expertise and reputation within their respective
fields of music. Its schedule boasts many specialist shows
including Zane Lowe championing new music, Gilles Peterson
showcasing modern jazz, and Mike Davies’ punk show. Overthe last five years, music supported by specialist programmes
has accounted for around three-quarters of new additions
to the station’s playlist, giving many bands exposure to far
bigger audiences than they would otherwise enjoy. Throughits commitment to specialist music, BBC Radio 1 breaks
new acts in a far more diverse range of musical genres
than other providers.
Last year, BBC Radio 2 broadcast over 1,000 hours of specialist
music including country and Americana, folk, organ music andbrass band music. It broadcast from an extensive range of
events including the Cambridge Folk Festival, The BBC Radio 2
Folk Awards, Cheltenham Jazz Festival, The Young Brass Soloistof the Year and the Country Music Awards.
BBC 6 Music’s Craig Charles Soul & Funk Show, Stuart
Maconie’s Freak Zone and Don Letts’ Culture Clash show
brought eclectic and surprising tracks to listeners while
musician DJs such as Jarvis Cocker and Guy Garvey guided
listeners through their personal song selections. Meanwhile,
the BBC Asian Network launched the first ever Asian music
chart show based on download sales.

3The Best of speech radio
Documentaries are central to our output, contextualisingmusic and culture and supporting the BBC’s commitment toencouraging audiences to appreciate and question the world
around us.
Radio 1 Stories, a new documentary strand, told the story ofleading UK and global artists including Jay-Z, The Killers andGorillaz. The Story of The Noughties was a compelling series
highlighting the key musical, technological and cultural eventsof the last decade. BBC Radio 1 debuted at the Edinburgh
Festival with Scott Mills: The Musical, partly written by listeners
and featuring the winner of an open competition in the lead.
4

It opened to five star reviews and had a sold-out three nightrun. It brought the spirit of the Edinburgh Festival to a newaudience of millions, who were able to follow the musical’s
development from conception to performance online.
As part of BBC Radio 2’s focus on distinctiveness, it
has increased its commitment to documentaries. The
network’s breadth of music output is reflected in its music
documentaries which included a series presented by Marc
Almond exploring the life and works of Jacques Brel, one of
the most influential yet largely uncelebrated Belgian singer/
songwriters of the 20th century. There were also two
documentaries marking the 50th anniversary of the deathof Billie Holliday, and a two-part series on iconic jazz musician
and composer Miles Davis.
BBC Radio 3 celebrated anniversaries for Purcell, Handel,
Haydn and Mendelssohn. Listeners were encouraged to rediscover the composers by looking at them in original ways,
such as exploring Handel’s investments in Liquid Assets: Tracing
Handel’s Thousands.

BBC Strategy Review
In March 2010, the BBC Executive announced a new
strategy that recommended reducing investment instandalone radio stations, and focusing on distinctive
programming across our portfolio. This has specificimpacts on two current network services:• the closure of BBC 6 Music was proposed – focusing
our popular music output on BBC Radio 1, BBC 1Xtra
and an increasingly distinctive BBC Radio 2.
• the closure of the BBC Asian Network as a national
service was also proposed – using the money saved
to serve Asian audiences better in other ways, forexample through a network of localised services
on DAB and Medium Wave with some syndicatednational programmes.
The strategy was put to public consultation, and these
proposals remain subject to approval.
Chart 2-3
BBC Radio weekly reach versus maincommercial groups %All BBC Radio
65.8
08/09
66.3
09/10
All Commercial Radio
08/09
09/10
Absolute Radio*
08/09 3.9
09/10 3.0
Classic FM
08/09 10.9
09/10 10.6
TalkSPORT
08/09 4.8
09/10 4.8
* Previously broadcast under Virgin brand.
Base: All adults 15+

61.6
61.7

2-19
Performance

BBC Introducing aims to discover and support unsigned
artists across the UK, and last year it showcased new talent
on dedicated stages at major festivals including Glastonbury,
Reading and Leeds, BBC Radio 1’s Big Weekend and T in thePark. New music also came from Huw Stephens on BBC
Radio 1, 100% Homegrown on BBC 1Xtra and Bobby Friction
on BBC Asian Network.
Our unique live sessions across a number of our services
provide insight into the important artists of the day. BBCRadio 1’s Live Lounge continues to attract an inspiring mix of
new artists such as Mumford & Sons and established stars
including Lady Gaga to perform acoustically. The format has
been extended to BBC 1Xtra this year to cover an even morediverse range of artists.
BBC Radio 3’s partnership with the London Jazz Festival
entered its eighth year with broadcasts across the schedule, anda newly commissioned work involving iconic guitarist Bill Frisell
performing with the BBC Symphony Orchestra at the Barbican.
Last year BBC Radio 3’s partnership with the WOMADFestival included more than seven hours of live coverage anda dedicated BBC Radio 3 stage at the event. BBC Radio 3’s
New Generation Artists scheme celebrated its 10th anniversary
last year, and it has now supported over 60 emerging classicalmusicians. The BBC Proms were more successful than ever,with over 100 concerts. There was an 11% increase in people
buying tickets for the first time, and 32% increase in under-16s
attending.

PERFORMANCE
Radio continued

1

2

3

4

Performance

2-20

Our music this year included live coverage of The
Proms and the Electric Proms, as well as genres notwell covered elsewhere. Pictures show:
1 Nanci Griffith, winner of the Lifetime Achievement
Award at BBC Radio 2’s Folk Awards.
2 Jez Nelson from BBC Radio 3’s contemporary
jazz show.
Just some of our speech output included:
3 Football commentator Jacqui Oatley.
4 Michael Foot: Champion of the Left, a special
programme from Donald Macintyre, former politicaleditor of The Independent, on the political life andcareer of the former leader of the Labour Party,
who died this year.
5 Topical features with Jeremy Vine.

5

27 million adults in the UK listen to our
network news and current affairs
programmes each week – around threequarters of all listeners to BBC radio.

Ambitious and distinctive entertainment
BBC network radio is a vital training ground for new writers
and comedians and we are committed to maintaining vibrantradio drama and comedy programmes across our schedules.
We also offer a platform for literature classics, such as
Shakespeare and Chekhov on BBC Radio 3, and establishedwriters such as David Hare, whose play Murder in Samarkand
was a BBC Radio 4 highlight last year.
One of our most ambitious drama events last year was thedramatisation of all seven of John le Carré’s George Smileynovels in The Complete Smiley, featuring a glittering castheaded by Simon Russell Beale, produced by BBC Scotland.
BBC Radio 4 also scheduled a clutch of family dramas including
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and Matilda.
BBC 7’s drama Chain Gang was the result of an audience
participation experiment. Listeners were encouraged tosubmit their ideas for how the story should develop via
the website. Developed over a three month period, theideas were woven into a script by writer Robert Shearman,
culminating in a recording of the final episode at St Pancras
Station, to which listeners were invited.
BBC Radio 3’s distinctive drama schedule included full length
productions of classic stage plays, such as Henry VIII by
Shakespeare and John Fletcher. The network’s commitment to
new writing is reflected in The Wire, which continues to offer
original plays, such as People Snogging in Public Places. These
plays engage with the contemporary world in original andoften challenging ways.
The BBC Radio 4 comedy highlight was the return of I’m Sorry
I Haven’t a Clue after over a year away. David Mitchell’s new
comedy game show, The Unbelievable Truth, has establisheditself and now has the feel of a BBC Radio 4 classic. Meanwhile,
BBC 7 gave us a new topical comedy sketch show, Newsjack,fronted by stand-up Miles Jupp and offering new writers theopportunity to satirise topical events. BBC 7 strengthened its
partnership with Leicester Comedy Festival and broadcast thefestival preview show.
BBC Radio 2’s significant ongoing contribution to radio
comedy was strengthened last year with the arrival of PaulO’Grady, Alan Carr and Liza Tarbuck. BBC Radio 5 live
introduced comedian Chris Addison’s Seven Day Sunday,
a comic look at stories in the news.

Bringing communities and the nation
togetherLive music events such as The Proms, Electric Proms, theChildren in Need concert, major sporting events and BBC
Radio 1’s Big Weekend are an important way for us to bringour audiences together. We also bring a wide range of culturaland sporting events to our listeners.
BBC 1Xtra Live celebrated what was an amazing year for
urban UK music by hosting a live music event at the Sheffield
Arena. Featuring an all-UK line-up, BBC 1Xtra listeners
enjoyed performances from artists who were championed by
the station during their years of development, and who havenow broken into the mainstream.
BBC Radio 5 live worked intensively throughout the year tobring major sports events to its listeners from across the UK
and the world. Test Match Special significantly boosted theaudience reach of BBC Radio 5 live sports extra, reachingalmost one million listeners.
BBC Radio 3’s Free Thinking festival of ideas in Gateshead,
united thinkers, politicians and artists in direct dialogue withthe public. There was a high profile line-up including Tanya
Byron and Ken Livingstone. Audience participation was central
to the BBC Proms this year when the Royal Albert Hall was
filled with a ukulele-wielding audience who played along with
the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain, including a renditionof Beethoven’s Ode to Joy.
In the past year, we have highlighted particular issues which
affect the lives of our listeners in Social Action Campaigns.
BBC Radio 2’s Living with Dementia campaign took acloser look at what life is like for those who have the illness
and for their loved ones. BBC Radio 1 and BBC 1Xtra
joined forces to mark National Bullying Week with an antionline bullying season called Bullyproof. The stations were
instrumental in uniting the major social networking sites totackle online bullying for the first time. Research found thatnearly two-thirds of the audience had found the discussions
around bullying helpful, whilst an enormous 97% trusted theinformation given to them – one of the key reasons for thisbeing “it’s on the BBC”.

2-21
Performance

BBC Radio 4’s commitment to engaging speech output is
unmatched – from major series to strands such as Woman’s
Hour and In Our Time. A History of the World in 100 Objects,
created in partnership with the British Museum was one of
the most ambitious projects ever broadcast, and inspireda host of programmes and activities across the UK in
conjunction with our nations and local radio services.
We marked Black History Month on BBC 7 with broadcastsof To Sir With Love, The Color Purple and Benjamin
Zephaniah’s Listen to Your Parents.

PERFORMANCE
Radio continued

LOCAL AND NATIONS RADIO
Our local and nations radio services root us in ourcommunities. Outside broadcasts are an important pointof connection with audiences, and are often scheduled
to coincide with local summer shows, festivals and othercommunity events.

Performance

2-22

England
Listeners tell us how much they value our ability to pull
together those in need in a time of crisis, and offer support,
advice and practical help: a woman calling BBC Northampton
to say that her father’s funeral was going to be postponed
because the council had not gritted her road prompted scoresof listeners offering help. This was just one of many stories
during the severe weather we broadcast and often playeda part in, the length and breadth of the country.
And when big stories break, BBC Local Radio is a natural
home for public debate. As Kraft moved in to buy Cadbury,
BBC WM hosted an ongoing public discussion on radio about
the future of the company, culminating in a live debate in
Bournville during which the audience put their questions
to a panel including Lord Digby Jones.

1

2

Many projects this year benefited from a new ‘impact fund’that enabled stations to tackle key pieces of explanatory
and investigative journalism either individually or with otherstations: Facing the Cuts used a BBC survey of council
spending plans as the focus for hundreds of stories acrossall media including on-air debates, a comparative map andcontent on each of our websites.
Each week, reach for BBC Local Radio in England stands at
7.0 million listeners – including 2.5 million people who consume
no other BBC radio service.
ScotlandA creative year for BBC Scotland’s radio teams was rewarded
with a slew of awards and nominations, including Gold andBronze in the prestigious Sony Radio Academy Awards.
The month-long season of programmes – Under the
Influence – examined Scotland’s social and cultural relationshipwith alcohol and the drama Daniel & Mary focused on
the problems of a young girl dealing with alcoholic parents.
Another season – 30 Days in Europe – explored Scotland’s
links with the continent.

4

3

Across our nations and radio services, ourprogramming roots us in our communities, offering
entertainment and information, and providing afamiliar platform for listeners’ stories and concerns.
Photos show:
1 Cathy MacDonald hosts Feasgar on BBC Radionan Gàidheal.
2 The Stephen Nolan Show from BBC Radio Ulster –Stephen also has a show on BBC Radio 5 live.
3 Beti George, who celebrated 25 years of Beti a’I
Phobl on BBC Radio Cymru this year.
4 Local Kent band Floors and Walls live on BBC Radio
Kent’s Introducing…

Northern Ireland
BBC Radio Ulster/Foyle provides a popular forum for
debate and an important showcase for writing andproduction talent.
We made a number of changes to the format and style ofour news programmes during the year. Several presenterschanged roles and Inside Politics and Seven Days moved to
new slots in the schedule. Good Morning Ulster’s outside
broadcasts profiled people and stories from communities
across Northern Ireland whilst Talk Back and Evening Extra
took a new editorial direction. Initial audience reaction tothese changes has been positive.
Historical themes were explored in a new series ofprogrammes as part of Jonathan Bardon’s A Short Historyof Ireland and William Crawley’s examination of the eventsand legacies of the 1859 Revival. Our literary heritage
was explored in The Book of Irish Writers and more recent
publications were reviewed in The Book Programme.
Developments in the arts, both at home and around theworld, were profiled in Arts Extra which also included special
programmes about local writers and musicians.
Specialist music output featured across a range ofprogrammes. Colum Sands unlocked the BBC archives tobring our recordings of traditional and contemporary folk
music to a new audience in The Festival Sessions whilst ATL
showcased the work of emerging bands. Tommy Millar’s
Pipes and Drums and Strike Up the Band both reflectedmusic-making at community level and we have ambitions toextend our programming in this area to include local choirs,
gospel and contemporary music.
A Kist o Wurds developed its coverage of Ulster-Scots
stories and events and was complemented by Burns Nightand Hogmanay programmes. Our Irish language output
included Blas and An Domhnach Mor’s coverage of thenational Hurling and Football Championships.

Wales
News and current affairs is at the heart of BBC Radio
Wales output, with Good Morning Wales and Good Evening
Wales providing detailed analysis of local, national, UK andinternational affairs. This authoritative output was enhanced
as Eye on Wales, Wales@Work and Called to Order all
provided strong coverage of current affairs, business andpolitical matters.
Sports coverage once again loomed large in our schedules.
As well as extensive Six Nations coverage, we provided
commentary of Heineken Cup rugby, and football matchesfeaturing Cardiff, Swansea and Wrexham. At the first Ashes
test in Wales we supplied build up, coverage and analysis
across all our output.
On St David’s Day, BBC Radio Wales’ first Wales Music Day
offered a range of live performances featuring some of Wales’
brightest talents. This ambitious output built on our live
Evening Show sessions (many of which were filmed and madeavailable online).
In a competitive digital world BBC Radio Cymru remains
the most popular radio station amongst Welsh speakers.
Highlights included the short series Unnos, hour-longprogrammes, supported by a lively website, that challenged agroup of musicians to create an EP between dusk and dawn.
Presenter Huw Evans followed the night’s progress and played
the four new songs produced.
On network radio our drama team contributed a major series
to BBC Radio 4’s long-running Writing the Century strand
which explores the 20th century by dramatising the diaries andletters of real people. And our music output included
lunchtime recitals, The Choir, Radio 3 Requests and a wide
programme of Welsh Music festivals. Composer of the Week,
presented by Donald Macleod, continued to delight audienceswith rare interviews with John Rutter, John McCabe andStephen Sondheim.

To find out more about the BBC’s local, regional or nations
activities – many of our outside broadcasts are scheduled
to coincide with local events – or to find out how to takepart in our radio and online debates, visit our websites:www.bbc.co.uk/england.
www.bbc.co.uk/scotland or www.bbc.co.uk/alba.
www.bbc.co.uk/wales or www.bbc.co.uk/cymru.
www.bbc.co.uk/northernireland.
Table 2-4

BBC Radio: hours from the nations and regions
2009/10

2008/09

London

8,760

8,760

England

243,075

246,531

Scotland

14,694

14,860Wales

15,67016,073

Northern Ireland
Total

9,355

9,357

291,554295,580

The vast majority of our radio hours are live – which enables us
to keep our listeners updated on key developments and issuesof the day.

2-23
Performance

There was continuing support for live music in Scotland withcoverage of RockNess, T in the Park, Celtic Connections,
the Glasgow International Jazz Festival and the Homecoming
finale concert at the SECC. In mid-summer, MacAulay & Co
and Festival Café took up residence in Edinburgh, offering
coverage of the festivals there.
Comedy also added sparkle to our festive schedule with the
new series of Desperate Fishwives being stripped across one
week in the run-up to Christmas. The sketch show also founda new audience on BBC 7 and is now being filmed for atelevision pilot for BBC Scotland.
Production teams in Scotland continued to provide
programming for the UK radio networks. There was criticalacclaim for BBC Radio 4’s The Complete Smiley plays, basedon the work of John le Carré, as there was for A Very Scottish
Homecoming, Who Pays for the High Road North? and Johnny
Cash of Easter Cash.
BBC Radio nan Gàidheal introduced a new daily lunchtime
topical programme Feasgar, and the re-launched drivetime
sequence Siubhal gu Seachd now has a Facebook presence,
facilitating audience participation.
The Monday evening edition of the popular music strand
Rapal was re-focused to target a young teen audience andnow offers a platform for developing new presentation talentdrawn from its audience.

PERFORMANCE

Journalism“ACROSS TELEVISION, RADIO AND ONLINE
THE BBC OFFERS A TRULY DISTINCTIVE MIX OFDAILY JOURNALISM, WEEKLY ANALYSIS, POLITICS
AND COMMENTARY, COVERING LOCAL TO
GLOBAL ISSUES IN AN AUTHORITATIVE AND
IMPARTIAL WAY, AND GIVING VOICE TO OUR
LISTENERS’ CONCERNS.”MARK BYFORD
Deputy Director-General

Performance

2-24

Reach

Quality

Impact

Value

35m
53%
69%
7.8p

Over 80% of the UK population use our news services each week, including 35 million adults
who watch our weekday news, 29 million adults who listen on the radio, and ten million
unique online browsers. Globally, our news services reach 241 million adults – more thanany other international broadcaster.
On the biggest stories of the year, the majority of domestic audiences – 53% – rated BBC
News as the best news provider in the UK on TV, radio, online or print.
Awards this year included RTS ‘News Programme of the Year’ for The Ten O’clock News;other RTS awards went to Panorama for ‘What Happened to Baby P’ and This World for‘Gypsy Child Thieves’.
69% of UK respondents, when asked, said that their understanding of a wide range ofstories they had followed had improved. These stories included the economy, winter’s severe
weather, the Haiti earthquake, European and Local Elections, MP’s expenses, Afghanistan,
Pakistan, and the Iranian Elections.
The average cost per viewer hour (the combined cost of programmes for BBC News
channel and BBC Parliament divided by the total number of viewer hours) on our television
news channels is 7.8p (2009: 8.4p).

BBC JOURNALISM PROVIDES THE MOST WATCHED, LISTENEDTO AND USED NEWS AND CURRENT AFFAIRS SERVICES IN
THE UK. THIS YEAR WE CONTINUED TO REACH OVER 80% OF
THE UK ADULT POPULATION EVERY WEEK, WHILE THE BBC’s
GLOBAL NEWS SERVICES CONNECTED WITH 241 MILLION IN
A TYPICAL WEEK.
OUR OFFER COVERS A WIDE AND UNIQUE RANGE OF NEWS AND
CURRENT AFFAIRS OUTPUT AND SERVICES. WE WORK AT LOCAL,NATIONAL, UK-WIDE AND GLOBAL LEVELS, ON TELEVISION,
RADIO AND on INTERACTIVE platforms.

THE NEWS AT HOME
As the world began to emerge from recession, we reported
on its impact across the UK using our specialist editors andcorrespondents. In September 2009, the Aftershock season
marked the anniversary of the collapse of investment bank
Lehman Brothers, the biggest bankruptcy in corporate history.
During this season a special edition of Newsnight reflected on
the political, financial and ethical repercussions of the crash
while BBC Business Editor Robert Peston reported on the
global repercussions from New York.
The varying effects of the recession in different parts of the
UK were illustrated by a Special BBC News at Six, on the daythat the recession formally ended. Regional and nations optouts discussed the story from a local perspective. In February
our local radio initiative Facing The Cuts analysed possible
local government cutbacks and job reductions over the next
three years, and a survey of local authority leaders was used
extensively across all BBC platforms. Newly recruited local
government reporters in local radio are helping to enhance
this coverage.
It was a winter of extreme weather. The reporting of the
Cumbrian floods, in particular, proved the value of co-operation
between the English regions radio and TV teams and UK-wide
programmes. We showed not just powerful pictures but the

2-25

Chart 2-4
Average audiences to TV news programmes
2009/10 (million)
Breakfast news
BBC One 1.2
GMTV 0.9
Lunchtime news
BBC One
2.7
ITV1
1.0
Early evening network news
4.2
BBC One
ITV1
3.2
CH4 0.7
FIVE 0.7
Early evening regional news
BBC One
5.2
ITV1
3.1
Late night news (10pm)
BBC One
4.5
ITV1
2.4

Performance

In a strong year, audiences rated the BBC as the best news
provider on coverage of the leading stories of the year: the UK
and global economy, MPs’ expenses, the war in Afghanistan,
winter’s severe weather, and the General Election campaign.
Our coverage combined strong eye-witness reportage withrigorous analysis – all underpinned by our commitment toaccuracy, independence and impartiality.

PERFORMANCE
journalism continued

Performance

2-26

practical and emotional impact on people caught up in the crisis.
And the January snows were part of the UK’s longest cold
snap for almost 30 years, causing chaos for millions and closing
hundreds of schools. Through our local services we were able
to provide a comprehensive news and information service while
our Network coverage, particularly the BBC News channel,
reported from across the UK. Our local websites attracted arecord number of users and our weekday 6.30pm programmes
on BBC One attracted their highest audience for at least ten
years on 6 January 2010 – with an average 10.3 million viewers
tuning in.
And from the devolved nations, BBC News channel also
reported on early signs of a rise in dissident activity inNorthern Ireland, and took the official announcementof the new Welsh First Minister live.
The release of the Lockerbie bomber – a national story that
had international ramifications – was covered comprehensively
by our teams in Scotland, with in-depth analysis andcommentary from our world affairs correspondents. BBC
Scotland’s Political Editor, Brian Taylor provided important
context across the network, and Glenn Campbell, who broke
the story, won an RTS Award for Scoop of the Year.

1

BBC News channel broadcast and analysed proceedings ofthe Iraq War Inquiry, with half hour specials every weekend
bringing together all the week’s coverage of the Inquiry.
INFORMING DEMOCRACY AND CITIZENSHIPThe biggest political story of the year was, of course, the build
up to the General Election, which we covered in depth across
our programmes and services.
For the first time in a UK General Election campaign, there
was a series of Prime Ministerial Debates, on ITV and Sky as
well as one hosted on BBC One by David Dimbleby. Other
television coverage leading up to Election Day included the
Paxman Interviews on BBC One and Jon Sopel’s daily review
in the News Channel’s Campaign Show – all culminating in ourElection Show on 6 May. More than 25 million people watchedsome of our live results coverage.
Audiences also valued our online election offer with theelections seat calculator, Election blogs, the poll tracker andconstituency maps being particularly popular. The Where They
Stand pages provided clarity on the parties’ policies on the
key issues of the campaign. The News online site received
its biggest ever footfall with over 11 million users.
On local radio, in England, we hosted over 100 constituency
debates alone. And – as part of our mission to inform
democracy and take the issues to the people – we had
bespoke content aimed at young people: on BBC Three,Dermot O’Leary hosted First Time Voters Question Time,and interviewed the party leaders. BBC Radio 1’s Newsbeat
also spoke to party leaders, and CBBC Election: Your Votesaw children interviewing senior politicians.
Before the General Election, the political development mostclosely followed by audiences was the revelations over MPs’
expenses. We sought to report the facts in a meaningful
way as well as assessing the long-term political implicationsof the story.
The local and European elections in June 2009 were covered
comprehensively across all BBC outlets. The Record: Europe
broadcast three days a week on BBC News channel during
the European elections, and Dominic Hughes was live inBrussels for the election of the new European President.
2

THE NEWS FROM ABROAD
Internationally, the developments in Afghanistan and Pakistan
dominated the agenda. The north-west frontier between
the countries has become more dangerous than ever,presenting a particular challenge to the BBC’s brand ofeye-witness journalism.
BBC News ran a week of special programming in June 2009,
while BBC Radio 4’s Today examined the political, military anddiplomatic strategies with John Humphrys in Afghanistan andPakistan. Today also carried a series of reports from David
Loyn from both sides of the border. In addition, John Simpson
interviewed the new US commander General McChrystal,
while Panorama reported on the inside story of the battle forSwat. We also had comprehensive coverage of the Afghanpresidential elections with the BBC’s Kabul Correspondent
Ian Pannell finding evidence of bribery and fraud in thevoting process.
The withdrawal of British troops from Iraq merited special
coverage on all outlets, including live pictures of the memorialservice for the 179 British personnel who died during the conflict.

BBC SPORT
We provide global, network and local coverage of sport,
from the biggest national and international moments tolocal football commentary, across television, radio andinteractive media. Last year we broadcast live and recorded
highlights of 31 sports – just under 2,000 hours on network
television and just over 4,000 hours on network radio
alone. Our nations and local services also offered great
sports coverage. Highlights included:• Formula One – first time on BBC television since 1996.
Over half the population watched it with us.
• Wimbledon saw Andy Murray playing under the roof
on Magic Monday, and an audience high of 11.8 million.
• BBCSports Personality of the Year had a sell out crowdof over 11,000 in Sheffield.
• And our coverage of the Winter Olympics was a multiplatform event – our preparations for London 2012
continue.
• The Ashes boosted BBC Radio 5 live sports extra’s
weekly reach to a record 963,000 listeners.
Our event coverage is complemented by a comprehensive
sports news service. 43% of the UK population used ourSport coverage on an average week last year, up from 40%
in the previous year.

2-27
Performance

BBC Parliament had a series of programmes from Brussels
and Strasbourg, and a special programme looking at the
campaign in Germany and in Brussels.
The decision to invite the BNP leader on to the Question
Time panel caused some controversy. It was taken because of
our commitment to due impartiality, and the party’s previous
electoral success in the local and European elections in June.
We launched Democracy Live on BBC Online – part of ourongoing commitment to build a greater understanding of
the democratic institutions. It provides live and on demand
video coverage of the UK’s national political bodies andof the European Parliament, allowing the public to follow
developments and debates using state-of-the-art video andsearch technology. Democracy Live is a unique BBC service –no other offer like it exists anywhere else in the world.
This year marked ten years of devolution. Programmes
created by BBC Parliament and relayed from BBC Scotland
provided an entire day’s output on the anniversary of theScottish Parliament.

3

4

On television, radio and online, our news and analysis
gives audiences the information that they want – fromup-to-the-minute headlines and sport, to in-depth
current affairs. Pictures show:
1 Michael Cockerell’s Great Office’s of State.
2 Newsnight – marking its 30th anniversary on-air
during the last year.
3 Cricket commentator Mike Selvey.
4 BBC News channel, with presenters Simon McCoy
and Carrie Gracie.
5 John Pienaar, host of BBC Radio 5 live’s
Weekend News.

5

PERFORMANCE

2

1

News and politics do not just affect people – they
involve them too. Pictures show:
1 Ex-Prime Minister Gordon Brown during Prime
Minister’s Questions on BBC Parliament, also on
BBC News channel.
2 Democracy Live – an online resource launched thisyear – see www.bbc.co.uk/democracylive.
3 Jane Corbin reporting from Afghanistan.
4 First Time Voters’ Question Time: Dermot O’Learychaired a panel that included MPs from each of thethree main parties in front of an audience of young
adults. It was broadcast live on BBC Three.
5 BBC London’s main news presenter Riz Lateef
works with school students during this year’s BBC
News School Report project.

53

Performance

2-28
4

WE OFFER TRULY DIVERSE NEWS, POLITICS AND
CURRENT AFFAIRS – AND WILL INCREASINGLY
FOCUS ON WHAT MAKES US DISTINCTIVE.

DEVELOPING OUR PROPOSITION
In July last year we announced our news video sharing deal,
where we committed for the first time to share online video
news content with leading UK newspaper websites. UK
newspapers are now able to feature certain BBC video news
content on their own websites, complementing their own
news material. The Daily Telegraph, Guardian, Independentand Daily Mail were among the first newspaper websitesthat were able to embed BBC video news content. The
newspapers can choose specialist video material that has
already been generated for the BBC and has been publishedon BBC Online.
We offer a truly diverse news, politics and current affairs slate.
Looking ahead, we will focus increasingly on areas where weare distinctive from other providers, or where partnerships
can add more value to licence fee payers.

REPORTING THE WORLD TO THE WORLDThe BBC Global News division brings together BBC World
Service radio, the BBC World News television channel, theBBC’s international online news services, BBC Monitoringand BBC World Service Trust, the BBC’s international
development charity.
Last year, BBC Global News collaborated more closely than
before with the domestic services on the leading storiesof the day. Highlights included:• The Aftershock series of programmes marked theanniversary of the collapse of Lehman Brothers
and offered a global dimension on the state of theworld economy.
• Seven BBC Global News centres provided theirperspectives on the Climate Change conference in
Copenhagen, and helped to explain the complexity of
the negotiations and the tensions between China, thedeveloping world and the West.
• Owen Bennett-Jones presented a series of special
reports from Yemen in December, heard across global
and domestic news services, and including the story ofa young girl married and divorced by the age of ten.
• BBC Urdu teams explained developments in Pakistan,with interviews with US Secretary of State Hillary Clintonand pieces on the Pakistani army about the offensive
against the Taliban.
Last year, our international news service delivered a stableweekly global audience of 241 million people. For more
information visit the BBC World Service website:www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice.
Table 2-5

Weekly Reach 2009*000s

BBC News channel

7,896

Sky News

5,279* Based on three minute reach.
In response to the Lambert Review of BBC News 24 in 2002 theBBC offered to consider the relationship between BBC News and
BBC World News, including a triennial benchmarking exercise
by independent consultants to confirm that marginal cost pricing
remained in line with market practice and the BBC’s Fair Trading
guidelines. The latest benchmarking exercise was completed in May
2010 and confirmed this to be the case.

2-29
Performance

We provided comprehensive coverage of the earthquakethat struck Haiti in January, and the subsequent relief effort.
Correspondent Matthew Price was one of the first to arrivein capital Port-au-Prince, and reported with sensitivity and tact,
despite the human and technical challenges that faced the team.
83% of those following the story thought we provided the rightamount of coverage, and the same percentage considered they
had a better understanding of the story as a result. BBC World
Service launched its first ever Haitian Creole programme in theimmediate aftermath of the earthquake.
President Obama’s first year saw us cover key developmentsin the economy, the passage of the health bill and foreign policy,
including the dispute with Israel over settlement building. Justin
Webb, the outgoing North America Editor, secured the first
British media interview with the new President.
Mobile phones and digital cameras captured the Iranian
government’s crackdown on protesters after the elections
there. Tehran correspondent Jon Leyne continued to provide
expert analysis from London after Iran’s decision to expel
him. This election was an example of how the ‘blogosphere’
is changing the face of journalism: faced with official closure oflines of communication, people turned to social media, anxious
to share their stories. Eight User Generated Content items
were received each minute by BBC Persian, all of it sifted toensure accuracy.
The BBC News channel reported the opening day of theRadovan Karadzic trial in The Hague, and Ben Brown anchored
a BBC News special which was also simulcast on BBC World
News. The channel also marked two 20th anniversaries:
commemorating the fall of the Berlin Wall saw live coverage
from Brian Hanrahan in Berlin and reports from our Europe
Editor Gavin Hewitt; and a series of special reports fromChris Rogers revisited the harrowing story of the Romanianorphanages whose images caused such horror around theworld in 1990. The quality and breadth of the stories it covers
saw the BBC News channel grow its weekly reach over the year
to 7.9 million (from 7.6 million the previous year).

PERFORMANCE
journalism continued

Journalism across the UK
BBC local journalism plays a pivotal role in UK life. Ourinvestigations across radio, television and online shed lighton important issues that concern our audiences, scrutinisingpeople and policy for the public good.

Performance

2-30

Northern IrelandNews and current affairs remain a defining part of BBC
Northern Ireland’s local television output.
BBC Newsline’s late-evening weekday bulletins were extended
to ten minutes duration and our television news output was
further enhanced with the introduction of new weekend
bulletins. Work is currently underway to extend our networkof area-based correspondents, with new reporters in northDown, south Antrim and Tyrone. Other developments inrecent months also included the conclusion of Let’s Talk
and its replacement with a new series – Spotlight Special.
It will continue to provide audiences with the opportunity
to question, and debate with, senior politicians anddecision-makers.

1

The 40th anniversary of the outbreak of the Troubles featured
in a series of reports on BBC Newsline. It also provided thebasis for The Trouble with 40 which included reflections froma generation whose growing up had taken place against thebackground of community conflict.
Spotlight’s regular investigations meanwhile looked at subjects
including stem-cell treatments, the demise of the so-called
Celtic Tiger; the work of the Commission set up to recover
the bodies of ‘the disappeared’; issues surrounding the actionsof former MP Iris Robinson; the European election campaign;and the impact of the economic downturn on businesses andcommunities across Northern Ireland.
Our coverage of politics included interviews and reports inever-popular Hearts and Minds and The Politics Show strands,
and live programmes from the main party conferences. The
Assembly’s work was covered extensively through Stormont
Live and was enhanced with the launch of Democracy Live
which provides live online coverage of plenary debates at
Stormont and some of the work being undertaken by the
Assembly’s scrutiny committees.

2

3

4

EnglandAcross England, a focus on journalistic impact – especially in themorning and at drivetime – has been supported by investment
in local government reporters and a stronger commitment tolocal radio being the home for local public debate.
Our regional TV teams have continued to break new ground,embrace new audiences and set a journalistic agenda which
has cemented the BBC’s position as the UK’s most popularsource of local TV news. This is particularly important against
the background of ITV’s reduction in its commitment toregional news which has seen regions merged to form muchlarger coverage areas.
BBC London’s coverage of a number of important stories
related to the London mayoralty has delivered a series of
exclusives. The West Midlands region sent a team to the
1 BBC Wales’ Vaughan Roderick and his colleagues across the UK bring impartial
news, comment and analysis from the local, general and European election trails.
2 Our early evening weekday bulletins – like BBC Northern Ireland’s BBC Newsline –are the most popular daily news programmes in the UK, with a combined average
audience of 5.2 million viewers.
3 Gary Robertson, one of the presenters on BBC Radio Scotland’s weekday
morning news programme Good Morning Scotland.
4 BBC Essex weekday breakfast show presenter Ray Clark shares some trade
secrets with school students during this year’s BBC News School Report project.

United States and worked with BBC Business Editor RobertPeston to bring insight into the Kraft takeover of Cadbury.
And, of course, our teams across the country kept us all
informed as the country struggled with extreme winterweather, and were rewarded with the highest audiences forEnglish Regions daily TV news for ten years with 10.3 million
viewers at the peak of January’s snow. In addition, every
weekly Inside Out current affairs strand programme in Englandproduced a film on the knock-on effects of the snow acrosstheir patch. The North East team also produced a special halfhour film to mark the Cumbria floods. Inside Out audiences
average around 3.6 million each week.
ScotlandReporting Scotland’s audience increased for the second year
in a row. The early evening programme, along with Newsnight
Scotland, was in the vanguard of media coverage of the releaseof the Lockerbie bomber. Glenn Campbell won one of themost prestigious TV News awards, the Royal Television
Society’s Award for ‘Scoop of the Year’, for breaking the story.
We marked a decade of devolution with Brian Taylor’s
documentary, Holyrood and the Search for Scotland’s Soul,and a live televised debate with Glenn Campbell.
Throughout the year Business Editor Douglas Fraser provided
analysis of the ongoing economic crisis, with a particular focus
on the Scottish financial sector.
In sport, live Scottish Cup and CIS Insurance Cup action, and
the World Cup qualifier between Norway and Scotland, wascomplemented by Sportscene’s weekly SPL highlights andonline clips of all the goals. Shinty’s Camanachd Cup Final was
webstreamed live, allowing global access. Elsewhere in theschedules, rallying, bowls, athletics, golf, rugby and cricket allfeatured this year.
In September BBC ALBA marked its first year on-air, on
satellite. Its unique news programme An Là will continue
to provide a focus for local, national and international news.
Eòrpa, also available on BBC Parliament, will continue to assess
European current affairs for the Gaelic language community.
To find out more about the BBC’s local, regional or nations
activities – or for news and other local information – visit
our websites:www.bbc.co.uk/england.
www.bbc.co.uk/scotland or www.bbc.co.uk/alba.
www.bbc.co.uk/wales or www.bbc.co.uk/cymru.
www.bbc.co.uk/northernireland.

2-31
Performance

Wales
Across our output, our aim was to investigate andreport modern Wales, revealing the rich diversity acrosscontemporary Welsh society and politics.
Our news and current affairs output continued to makewaves. Who Cares in Wales was an important investigation
into the regulation of care homes, and Why Do You Hate Me?
was a revealing exposé of the prejudice sometimes faced bypeople with disabilities. Our current affairs team also produced
an illuminating profile of the retiring Wales First Minister
Rhodri Morgan.
Sport has also played a central role, with Scrum V continuing
to deliver an outstanding service to rugby followers.
As part of our commitment to provide content for S4C, ourweekly politics programme, CF99, continued to offer a robust
forum for debate, while current affairs strand Taro 9 and Ffeil(the daily news bulletin for children) built on their distinctive
journalistic strengths and expertise. Pawb a’i Farn broadcast
live from locations around Wales, providing opportunities forcommunities to voice a Welsh perspective on local, national
and international issues.
Digital switchover also enabled us to expand the BBC News
service on S4C to offer a wider range of bulletins.

PERFORMANCE

Television“We’re setting new standards inquality and originality, creating
the best television and online content
in the world, wherever and wheneveraudiences want to watch.”Jana Bennett
Director, BBC VisionP

erformance

2-32

Reach

I

Quality

mpact

Value

85%
71%
200+
7.0p

85% of the UK watches BBC television each week – more than any other television
broadcaster – for an average of almost ten hours each week.

Over two thirds of programmes (71%) across BBC One, Two, Three and Four scoreda high appreciation score of 80+, indicating how much audiences value our content.
BBC Three’s documentary Women, War, Weddings and Me scored the highest everappreciation score for a factual programme on any recorded channel.
Programme-makers working for BBC television received over 200 major awards last year.
Highlights include special recognition for Stephen Fry; an impressive seven wins for Kenneth
Branagh’s Wallander; BAFTA wins for Carey Mulligan, in BBC Film’s An Education, and Andrea
Arnold’s Fish Tank; Emmys for Ben Whishaw, Criminal Justice, and Julie Walters for her
performance in A Short Stay in Switzerland.
The average cost per viewer hour (the total cost of programmes divided by the number ofviewer hours) across our portfolio of ten UK-wide television services is 7.0p (2009: 7.1p).

FIFTY YEARS OF BROADCASTING FROM TELEVISION CENTRE– A REAL LANDMARK FOR OUR SERVICES in A YEAR OFOUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENTS BY BRITISH TALENT ON THE BBC.
IN A WORLD OF INCREASING CHOICE, OUR PROGRAMMESCONTINUE TO SURPRISE AND DELIGHT AUDIENCES EVERYWHERE,
MAKING BBC TELEVISION THE MOST WATCHED AND APPRECIATED
UK BROADCASTER.

BRINGING PEOPLE TOGETHERBBC One is Britain’s favourite channel. It is at the heart of ourcultural life, and part of the national conversation: the place we
all come together at times of real significance.
When the BBC puts all its creative energies behind a projector a programme, the results can touch people in communities
right across the country. From Sport Relief and Eddie Izzard’s
breathtaking marathon challenge to Gary Barlow’s concert
for Children in Need; from coach of the year, Smithy, to Sir
Alan crowning his Apprentice; from David Tennant’s magicaladventures as the Doctor to a new talent, Matt Smith, andhis exceptional promise in the role: these were big broadcast
events, shared and celebrated by us all.
Sport too brings communities together – from Formula One
returning, football highlights in Match of the Day to Amy
Williams’ gold at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, we
broadcast nearly 2,000 hours of sport last year, including over
275 hours in high definition – including some HD ‘firsts’ like theGrand National. We will continue to showcase the diversityof British sporting talent and, looking ahead to London 2012,
we will be bringing the nation together for the biggest sporting
spectacular in the world.

2-33

Chart 2-5
Network television weekly reach versus maincommercial groups %All BBC Television
84.6
08/09
84.9
09/10
Total other channels
08/09
09/10

75.0
79.9

All ITV
08/09
09/10

75.1
74.8

All Channel 4
08/09
09/10
All five
08/09
09/10
All Sky
08/09
09/10

66.7
66.1
44.4
43.9

35.2
39.3

Performance

Working through seven production centres across England,
Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and collaborating withhundreds of independent production companies – from theglobal superindies to single specialist producers – we continue
to build a worldwide reputation for excellence.

Performance

2-34

PERFORMANCE
Television continued

THE BRITISH PUBLIC SAYS THAT IT
WANTS THE BBC TO BE AT THE
HEART OF THE UK’S CREATIVEINDUSTRIES, AND THAT MEANS
BEING BOLD, INNOVATIVE ANDIMAGINATIVE.

BACKING BRITISH TALENT
Signature drama on BBC One, including Peter Moffat’s
Criminal Justice and Peter Bowker’s Occupation gained
tremendous acclaim for the quality of the writing, the castand the creativity of the scheduling. Also in peaktime, The
Street, Small Island and Five Days were striking pieces of
television, showcasing some of our finest talent.
Our drama investment this year really paid dividends forthe diverse audiences we serve. On BBC Two, Five Minutesof Heaven explored the legacy of violence in Northern
Ireland; BBC Three’s hit series, Being Human, returned taking
audiences into a world of werewolves, vampires and ghosts;
and the Women We Loved season on BBC Four, with threeof Britain’s most respected actresses today, Helena Bonham
Carter, Jane Horrocks and Anne-Marie Duff, portraying someof our finest artists of the past.
The BBC is the only television broadcaster offering original UK
drama in daytime. As part of the BBC’s commemoration of
the 70th anniversary of the start of WWII, period drama Land
Girls graced the daytime schedules, while Moving On gave
opportunities to new writers, supported by one of television’s
most distinguished talents, Jimmy McGovern.

It has been a highly successful year for BBC Films, wellestablished at the heart of the British film industry with hits
such as An Education, Fish Tank and In the Loop, a spin-off
from BBC Two’s comedy series The Thick Of It. Supporting
fresh British talent, we have championed the world’s first 3Dfeature film outside the US with StreetDance.

1

INVESTING IN CREATIVITY
We have a special commitment to support comedy fromacross the UK, celebrating our lives, our sense of humour,
our culture. This year has seen several big successes: Miranda,
Caroline Quentin’s Life of Riley, the return of Rab C. Nesbitt,
Michael McIntyre’s Comedy Roadshow, The Thick of It, thepart-improvised sitcom Outnumbered, Gavin and Stacey,
Getting On: these shows are raising the bar for British
comedy, touching audiences with their new and fresh
approach to laughter.
We have also approached arts programming with renewed
confidence and vigour, creating seasons and complementary
programme schedules across BBC Two and BBC Four on
subjects as diverse as poetry and modern art.

2

A world of wonder
Public service broadcasting has a vital role to play in building
knowledge and making science accessible to audiences.
In January we launched World of Wonder, a special year ofscience across TV, radio and online, with some exceptional
series on BBC Two and BBC Four: Chemistry: A Volatile
History; Prof Iain Stewart’s How Earth Made Us and Brian
Cox’s Wonders of the Solar System.
On BBC One, Bang Goes the Theory returned, putting
science to the test for a mass audience and driving its viewers’
curiosity to find out more. The series is accompanied by a BBC
Learning campaign, with roadshows reaching tens of thousandsof people across the country, and a substantial offer online.
Our Bang and Lab UK sites continue to provide a uniquespace, delivering original and accessible science in collaboration
with the science community and hundreds of thousands ofour viewers.
This year’s natural history landmark, Life, was watched byaround 11 million people each week across the series. Whileon BBC Two, Stephen Fry and Mark Carwardine travelled tosome of the most remote places on earth in search of animals
on the edge of extinction, offering their highly appreciative
audience a unique Last Chance to See.
QUALITY AND IMPACT
Over the last year, we have increased the impact of factual
programmes in peak-time with higher levels of quality,
originality and innovation.

Louis Theroux: A Place for Paedophiles, Rosa Monckton’smoving film When A Mother’s Love Is Not Enough and theunforgettable stories of Ranger Andrew Allen and Lance
Corporal Tom Neathway’s time in Afghanistan in Wounded.
These were challenging pieces: documentaries delivered withhonesty, courage and conviction.
We are also bringing topical stories to wide-ranging audiences
on BBC One.
The One Show averages 4.4 million viewers five nights a week,featuring stories from history to current affairs from acrossthe UK. Alongside our commitment to established news andpolitical programmes, we are constantly innovating with newformats, with successes like The Day The Immigrants Left from
Evan Davis and Famous, Rich and Homeless, each bringing
broad audiences to current debates.
On BBC Two, Andrew Marr’s The Making of Modern
Britain and Simon Schama’s exploration of Obama’s America
offered audiences timely insights, making sense of our pastand present. While The Love of Money, with its unparalleledrange of eye-witness contributions from key decision-makers,
expertly captured the story of the global banking crash,providing an authoritative first draft of history.
BBC Three offers ground-breaking factual content, including
last year’s standout Adult Season on growing up and theexceptional documentary The Autistic Me, alongside news,
drama and comedy entertainment from a host of young
television stars like Russell Howard. Really hitting its stride,the channel’s share of younger audiences has grown thisyear, proving how readily young audiences can connect todifficult material, provided it is commissioned with theirinterests at heart.
2-35
Performance

BBC Four has notably raised the profile of its arts output,
with programmes including art historian Andrew GrahamDixon’s exploration of Russian art and a season celebrating
the centenary of the Ballets Russes in documentary and new
performance. The channel continues to grow in audience
numbers, as it pursues an unashamedly expert and in-depth
approach to arts and culture.

3

6

4

BBC Television offers the most diverse range of top
quality programmes of any UK broadcaster. Examples
this year included:
1 David Dimbleby’s the Seven Ages of Britain.
2 Chemistry: A Volatile History, with Professor
Jim Al-Khalili.
3 New comedy this year, The Bubble, presented
by David Mitchell.
4 On Thin Ice saw Ben Fogle, Olympic gold medallist
James Cracknell and Bristol doctor Ed Coats race
to the South Pole.
Last year we acquired programmes from29 countries, including:
5 Award-wining German movie The Lives of Others.
6 Mad Men – stylishly set in 1960s New York.
As part of Putting Quality First, we have proposed
reducing the amount spent on acquisitions from£100million to £80million by 2013.

5

PERFORMANCE
Television continued

3

4

1

5

Performance

2-36

1 The Gruffalo.
2 A History of Christianity.
3 Wallander.
4 Ashes to Ashes.
5 Natural World.
These programmes were showcased in high definition.
BBC HD is Britain’s most popular HD channel, offeringa mix of sports, entertainment and events, along with
top brands like Doctor Who, Top Gear, The Culture Showand Dragon’s Den. Viewer numbers have more thandoubled year-on-year.

2

Table 2-6

Table 2-7

BBC One peaktime repeats

BBC Two peaktime repeats

2007/088.3%

2007/0829.3%

2008/098.2%

2008/0932.6%

2009/108.0%

2009/1029.0%

BBC One’s level of peaktime repeats dropped once again
year-on-year.

BBC Two’s level of peaktime repeats dropped year-on-year, andis now under 30% once more.

Table 2-8

BBC network television hours of output by genre
BBC networks have the broadest range of programme genres of all UK broadcasters.
BBC Two

BBC Three

BBC Four

2008/09

2009/10

2008/09

2009/10

2008/09

2009/10

2008/09

2,154

1,993

1,785

1,854

1,541

1,427

915

991

Education (formal)

–

–

289

440

–

–

4

4

News and weather

2,407

2,330

902

850

32

32

6

12

FactualCurrent affairs

235

237

282

287

160

167

165

160

Entertainment

612

638

499

594

989

1,160

293

168

Sport

597

755

1,023

915

75

27

–

–

Children’s

482

475

1,660

1,673

–

–

–

–

Drama

980

937

472

507

506

364

413

441

Film

534

638

609

635

236

206

168

190

Music and arts

97

91

317

315

79

72

1,272

1,255

Religion

97

104

37

34

–

–

40

25

Continuity

231

230

302

292

120

114

73

71

8,426

8,429

8,177

8,399

3,738

3,569

3,349

3,317

Total network hours (excluding opt-outs)

Women, Weddings, War and Me on BBC Three followed
21-year-old Nel Hedayat as she returned to Afghanistan
for the first time in 15 years. Exposing a world of prejudice,
restriction and casual violence against women, it recorded
the highest audience appreciation measure ever seen for
any factual programme on any reported television channel.
WORLD CLASS PROGRAMMES FOR CHILDREN
Our children’s services, the CBBC and CBeebies channels,
have continued to strengthen their lead in an increasinglycompetitive marketplace. These channels offer a uniqueservice, with around 75% of all programming produced in the
UK. From award-winning news and current affairs to fresh
ideas in drama, comedy and entertainment, we constantly
seek to invent new formats in order to stimulate some ofour most demanding audiences. CBeebies reaches over 40%
of Britain’s under sixes each week, while Children’s Channelof the Year, CBBC, achieved its highest annual share ofviewers since its launch, with 28% of all 6-12 year olds
watching each week.
ZingZillas, new to CBeebies, used state-of-the-art
animatronics, encouraging children to explore the full rangeof musical styles. Deadly 60, a new factual series, investigatedpredators across the globe, introducing children to the natural
world in fresh and exciting ways, while Horrible Histories tookchildren on a fun learning journey through the ages.
CBBC is the only fully multi-genre service to children, creatingover 670 hours of original programming last year. Newsround
specials, exploring subjects as diverse as bullying and online
safety, have become part of the fabric of the channel. And,through drama, we consistently deliver high impact storytelling.
Tracy Beaker Returns, Grandpa in My Pocket, The Sarah Jane
Adventures: these ambitious series are just a few examples ofprogrammes that speak to children about their world.

ANYTIME, ANYWHERE
More and more people are experiencing our output in ways
other than the traditional linear broadcast. It has been a strong
year of growth online. Over the New Year, we attracted arecord 17 million requests for our programmes on BBC
iPlayer and shows like Top Gear and Doctor Who now
regularly reaching a million each week on BBC iPlayer alone.
Millions more are pushing BBC Red Button everyday tointeract with BBC television’s content.
We are also developing fresh approaches to our storytelling
online. E20, the new EastEnders site, is nurturing new writing
and acting talent. The online drama attracted well over three
million requests by the end of March. Our Wildlife Finder,a mould-breaking online product launched by Sir David
Attenborough, gives people the opportunity to explore thenatural world through a wealth of video, sounds and stories
from landmarks including Blue Planet, Planet Earth and Life.
LOOKING FORWARD
Looking forward, we will continue to invest in the diversityof British talent.
BBC One is developing fresh approaches to current affairs andpopular factual, natural history, comedy and entertainment
programmes. BBC Two will build up its commissions of UK
drama to reclaim its place as the home of signature televisionand the destination for BBC Films. BBC Three will continue tomeet young people’s appetite for well-told, hard-hitting stories
and experiment with new drama to inspire younger audiences.
And on BBC Four we will see more strong points of view andnew ways of looking at arts and culture, music and science.
On network television the new strategy Putting Quality Firstis about continuing to focus on distinctiveness. And so our
promise to audiences is: expect big, bold ideas and distinctive,
high quality programmes.

2-37
Performance

BBC One2009/10PERFORMANCE
TElEvisiON CONTiNuEd

NATIONAL AND LOCAL TELEVISIONOur new purpose-built broadcast centre in Salford isscheduled to open in May 2011. The BBC has had a presenceoutside London since the early days and have always sought
to bring the best British talent to our audiences locally andnationally. But we want – and need – to do more to help
us better reflect all parts of the UK.

Performance

2-38

Wales
This was an historic year, as Wales became the first UK nation
to switch completely to digital TV, and viewing to BBC Wales
local output rose to its highest level for five years.
The environmental season Green Wales provided a Welsh
context for the World Climate Summit in Copenhagen.
A range of programmes – including a popular ‘reality’
documentary format – examined the environmental
challenges facing Wales over the next few years, andthere was related output and debate across our radio
and online services.
Documentary Afghanistan: Five Welsh Families provided atimely reminder to viewers of the impact of the war here athome. It was followed, later the same night, by a debate heldin the garrison town of Brecon. Once more, there was
extended coverage across all BBC Wales services.
1

On network television, Torchwood: Children of Earth drewalmost seven million viewers every night during its week-longshowing on BBC One. And it was time to say goodbye
to David Tennant, as Doctor Who, after a remarkable
Christmas finale.
Our factual team excelled with Last Chance to See on BBC
Two, as Stephen Fry and naturalist Mark Carwardine set out
on a worldwide journey in search of animals teetering on
the edge of extinction. The factual team also spearheaded a
Moon season on BBC Four. Among its many highlights, Being
Neil Armstrong saw Andrew Smith, author of the best-selling
Moondust, journeying across America to discover the real
Neil Armstrong.
Northern Ireland
The place and relevance of religion in contemporary society
was examined by William Crawley in Losing our Religion. And
we reflected on Pope John Paul II’s historic visit to Ireland in
1979, using interviews with some of the people involved andrare archive footage. Our Man in the Vatican provided a rare
insight into the world of high diplomacy and international
relations with its series about local man, Francis Campbell,and his work as the UK’s Ambassador to the Holy See.

4

5

2

3

Our production and commissioning from outside
London covers the whole range of genres, including live
music and the arts, drama and comedy, sport and events.
1 BBC Wales’ The Sarah Jane Adventures.
2 Comedy development is a priority for BBC Scotland.
3 English Regions’ newly launched specialist footballmagazine Late Kick Off.
4 BBC Northern Ireland’s Show Me the Mummy –Princess Takabuti.
5 BBC Northern Ireland’s Proms in the Park.

Scotland
The This Is Scotland season on BBC Four in September
2009 celebrated Scotland’s art, culture and history, with
programmes as varied as Rory Bremner and the Fighting Scots,
Brian Cox’s Jute Journey, Peter Capaldi’s Portrait of Scotland
and Off Kilter, Jonathan Meades’ idiosyncratic and provocative
view of Scotland and the Scots. It helped to increase thechannel’s reach by 6% and contributed two of the channels
top five programmes that month.
It was a strong year for factual programmes from Scotland,
including the second half of the BAFTA award-winning series
A History of Scotland on BBC One Scotland, repeated on
network and on the BBC HD channel for UK-wide audiences.
In recent years, we have conducted a wide review into
our network supply capability and this has seen an increasein programmes coming from outside London. A numberof key programme strands have transferred to Scotland,
including arts programmes The Review Programme (formerly
Newsnight Review) and Imagine. These have joined an alreadyimpressive roster of network arts programmes from Scotland,
including The Culture Show and Artworks.
About one fifth of all BBC children’s programming iscommissioned from Scotland, and most of it is made in-house.
Nina and the Neurons continued to bring to life science andtechnology for the under-6s on CBeebies, and Ed and Oucho’s
Excellent Inventions did likewise for older children on CBBC.
Raven is now in its tenth series, and new animated series
OOglies got its first outing. Innovative multiplatform gameshow Mission 2110 went on air in the spring.
Wallander, the award-winning adaptation of the Henning
Mankel novels, set in Sweden and starring Kenneth Branagh,
proved a hit with audiences: a second series has beencommissioned. For viewers in Scotland– though available on
BBC iPlayer across the UK – River City is now in a one hourformat, and is Scotland’s only dedicated soap opera.
Hogmanay Live 2009 showcased some of Scotland’s best
traditional and modern musicians. It was available to viewers
throughout the UK via BBC Red Button and via the web(giving access, for the first time, for international audiences).

England
We increased spend in England this year specifically targeted atserving local audiences. We launched weekend news bulletins
which now routinely garner around half a million additional
weekly viewers.
There was a special Remembrance Sunday edition of the
Politics Show presented by Jon Sopel from Camp Bastion in
Afghanistan. In the English Regions opt-outs of the show, we
discussed the impact of the conflict with military families andveterans at live locations across the country. Another highlightsaw David Hockney calling for a review of the smoking ban in
an exclusive interview with the Politics Show in Yorkshire. On
average, around 850,000 viewers watch the regional opt-outsof the Politics Show each week across England.
To find out more about the BBC’s local, regional or nations
activities, visit our websites:www.bbc.co.uk/england.
www.bbc.co.uk/scotland or www.bbc.co.uk/alba.
www.bbc.co.uk/wales or www.bbc.co.uk/cymru.
www.bbc.co.uk/northernireland.

2-39
Performance

Coverage of arts and entertainment included Festival Nights,
Blas Ceoil and The Music Makers. Proms in the Park from thegrounds of Hillsborough Castle attracted a capacity crowd andappreciative audience on local and network television.
Comedy and entertainment programming included GreatUnanswered Questions, May’s Panto Party and the difficult
search for new performing talent in Find Me the Funny. Our
Blackstaff Studios played host to a new Friday Night Showwhilst the King’s Hall was the venue for music-making on a
grand scale in support of BBC Children in Need and, later inthe year, events linked to BBC Sport Relief.
Locally-produced programmes for network BBC television are
a developing feature of our work – with all their creative andeconomic benefits. The volume of commissions has increased
significantly and there have been some early (and important)successes in this area. Occupation and Five Minutes of Heaven
showcased the skills and potential of our drama team andwe continued to develop our role as a production centre for
network current affairs programmes, including Panorama anddocumentaries such as Girls on the Frontline.

Table 2-9 TV programming spend by region
as a % of eligible spend
2009

2008

London

62.3%

65.1%

Scotland

6.1%

3.7%

Wales

4.4%

3.5%

Northern Ireland

1.2%

0.6%

Total Nations

11.7%

7.9%

Midlands

3.8%

3.8%

North of England

8.2%

8.9%

South of England

14.0%

14.2%

Total English Regions

26.0%

27.0%

Total Nations and Regions

37.7%

34.9%

Grand Total

100.0%

100.0%

Based on Ofcom definitions by calendar year.

PERFORMANCE

Future media &Technology“THE BBC FUTURE MEDIA AND TECHNOLOGYDIVISION MAKES SURE AUDIENCES CAN ACCESSFREELY BBC PROGRAMMES OF THEIR CHOICE.
THAT’S THE FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLE WHICH
DRIVES OUR INNOVATION, AND AS WE DELIVERWE SEEK TO MAKE THE AUDIENCE EXPERIENCEFOREVER BETTER.”ERIK HUGGERS
Director, BBC Future Media & Technology

Performance

2-40

Reach

Quality

Impact

Value

27m+
75
18.2m
6.8p

BBC Online was accessed by an average of over 27 million unique browsers eachweek. There has been a rapid growth in requests to use BBC iPlayer. Over 11 million
people use BBC Red Button to enhance their television experience every week.

During 2009/10, the average Netpromoter Score for BBC iPlayer was 75, making it
the highest performing part of the BBC website. Netpromoter is a loyalty measure,based on the percentage of users who would promote or recommend the service
minus the percentage of detractors. A score of 60 is considered strong.
BBC iPlayer launched in 2007 and 2009/10 saw an average of over 18 million requests
per week. BBC iPlayer has transformed the way people watch and listen to BBC
programmes. BBC Red Button is home to our access service – ensuring that thoseviewers who rely on subtitles, audio description or signing can opt-in to these services
and get more from their television.
Combined, BBC Online and BBC Red Button cost 6.8p per user reached (2009: 7.6p).

DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY HAS HAD A TRANSFORMATIONALIMPACT ON THE MEDIA IN THE LAST DECADE. THE INTERNET
HAS BECOME A MAJOR DISTRIBUTION PLATFORM FOR THE BBC– ALONGSIDE LINEAR TV AND RADIO – AND IS ESSENTIAL FOR
DELIVERING ITS PUBLIC PURPOSES. BBC ONLINE IS AT THE HEART
OF THE BBC’S INTERACTIVE AND ON-DEMAND FUTURE – IT’S A
UNIQUE PLATFORM BECAUSE IT REPRESENTS ALL OF THE BBC IN
ONE PLACE AND LINKS ALL OUR SERVICES TOGETHER.

With Digital Switchover now in full swing, BBC Red Button– our primary route for providing digital content throughtelevision – has proved its ongoing importance, especiallyfor audiences not yet online.
Mobile has been an undoubted success story – monthly users
have gone from 4.4 to 7.8 million over the course of a year
during which we have relaunched parts of our BBC Mobile
site (including News and Sport) to increase its appeal tolicence fee payers.
Throughout the year, BBC iPlayer has continued to grow(now around 5.5 million users a week), allowing an increasingly
broad audience to enjoy great BBC on demand content in asafe, high quality, online environment. We have now madeBBC iPlayer available across a number of television, mobile
and gaming platforms.
Alongside our two services, we have continued to play a keyrole in keeping the BBC on-air and online, as well as enabling
all elements of capture, production and distribution throughtechnology services and solutions. We also continue to foster
innovation across the whole BBC through our Research &Development function.
Putting Quality First will see us focus on the five key editorial
areas and on doing fewer things better.

2-41
Performance

Future Media & Technology provides a broad range ofinteractive services and technology functions for the BBC.
We have responsibility for BBC Online, Red Button, Mobile
and iPlayer, as well as providing the technology solutions that
underpin the entire BBC – to keep it online and on-air andto provide the technology tools which are vital for the whole
production process.
In summary, we try and make accessing the BBC’s content thebest experience we can for users, however and wheneverthey want it. But, importantly, our decisions on investment andinnovation are driven by a clear principle: free access to licencefee payers via new technology that allows the BBC to support– and not threaten – the wider market.
New technology also allows us to enhance people’s
experiences, such as by providing more information online
to supplement a television or radio programme.
The last year has been eventful for BBC Online, ranging fromimportant new launches like Democracy Live and Wildlife
Finder to the proposed refocusing of the service as part of
the Strategy Review.

PERFORMANCE
future media & Technology continued

The bbC homepage is a safe andtrusted gateway to a world of
information, and home to some of the
bbC’s most innovative content. This
year we have improved how it looks,
and made it more appealing to ourusers. Try our new, improved sport
pages or bring the past to life atwww.bbc.co.uk/history.

Performance

2-42

Innovation over the years

1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s
Research included
short-wave broadcasting:1936 First regular high definition
television service launches.

The start of FM radio; colour television
started to look viable:
1945 First VHF/FM transmission tests
from Alexandra Palace.

The start of work on stereo radio;transistors being used in commercial
equipment, paving the way for thecommunications revolution:
1958 VERA (Vision Electronic
Recording Apparatus), first video
tape machine used by the BBC.
1959 First transatlantic televisiontransmission by R&D’s ‘Cablefilm’
investigations into television picturestorage begin.

Satellite communications used forthe first time in broadcasting; digitaltechniques transform sound andpicture communication:
1962 First transatlantic colour
television link by satellite, using BBC
R&D’s slide scanner.
1967 BBC Two transmits first regularcolour television service in Europe.

1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s
First experiments with digitalsound broadcasting:1972 BBC announces proposed newservice called CEEFAX.
1975 Successful transmission of digital
television signals.
1978 First digital stereophonic soundbroadcast experiments – leading to
NICAM stereo sound with television.

Decade of debate: stick with analoguesystems, wait for digital, or a hybrid?
Meanwhile, ‘high definition’ televisionand digital audio broadcasting both
appear on the horizon:
1982 BBC Microcomputer, fromAcorn, released.
1982 HDTV studies commencein earnest.

Start of digital radio and television
broadcasting, and launch of bbc.co.uk.
Virtual production techniques evolving
to provide powerful production tools:
1995 The new Digital Radio service
started in September.
1997 BBC web services start.
1998 BBC launches digital satellite
television service.

Upgrades and enhancements acrossthe board:
2002 Freeview launched.
2007 BBC iPlayer launched.
2009 BBC HD launched on Freesat.
2010 BBC HD launched on Freeview.

For more information on the technological and other developments that the BBC has been part of over the years,
visit www.bbc.co.uk/rd and www.bbc.co.uk/historyofthebbc.

BRINGING PEOPLE TOGETHER
Our services are not just aimed at the individual – we also
serve communities of interest, with mass appeal content.
This year we provided multiplatform coverage of importantmajor sporting events such as the Winter Olympics, thereturn of Formula One to the BBC, Wimbledon tennis andmusic events like Glastonbury and BBC Radio 1’s Big Weekend
from Swindon.
The Winter Olympics was a truly multiplatform event. The
time difference between the UK and Canada meant that manyof the most popular events took place overnight here in the
UK. But the immediate accessibility and convenience of ourdigital services meant that audiences were able to catch up on
the latest news, watch highlights packages (especially popularon BBC Red Button) and watch up to six simultaneous live
streams on BBC Red Button and BBC Online. Valuable lessons
have been learned in advance of this summer’s FIFA World
Cup and the 2012 London Olympics.
We have also been able to introduce new technologicalinnovations for our TV sport coverage, to make it moreengaging and informative. One example is the new way wecan add virtual graphics to athletics coverage, such as world
record lines for long jump events.
OFFERING A BIGGER EXPERIENCE
Across our BBC Online and Red Button services, we
continued to seek new ways to provide greater depth andbreadth of BBC content. This year we focused on creating
new ways of using the BBC archive to enrich the user
experience: our Wildlife Finder, for example, gave audiences
access to our natural history archive for the first time.
We launched the Lab UK personality test; the award-winning
Virtual Revolution; and in partnership with the British Museum,a website to support the range of work across the BBC insupport of BBC Radio 4’s for The History of the World in 100
Objects, including the pan-BBC local history version supported
in particular by our local and nations services across the UK.
We are able to provide high quality multiplatform music
content from leading artists and performers. As well as our
popular Glastonbury festival coverage, we’ve featured othermusic festivals such as Reading, BBC Radio 1’s Big Weekend,
the Mela season, and introduced Maestro Cam during the BBC
Proms. We have continued to experiment online by exploring
how we can better provide music content and informationin the future – a first step is the introduction of the beta sitewww.bbc.co.uk/music.

2-43
Performance

INFORMATION AT YOUR FINGERTIPS
Our news site – updated every minute of the day – sees
the BBC’s biggest online traffic. It provides world class,impartial news coverage. This year we covered the biggest
global, national and local stories in depth, such as the Haiti
earthquake; the Iraq War Inquiry and the release of the
Lockerbie bomber (both national stories with internationalramifications); and the Cumbrian floods. Our news offer
includes reportage, background analysis and comment.
This year saw some key developments and initiatives on theplatform, like the launch of Democracy Live, our exciting online
tool aimed at bringing democracy to life through live andarchive video from the Parliaments and Assemblies of theUK, as well as Europe.
Robert Peston, Fergus Walsh, Stephanie Flanders and otherBBC correspondents and journalists have continued to breaksignificant news stories through their blogs, or provided expert
analysis on emerging stories.
Consumption of news and sport content is increasingly
multiplatform; we have seen particular growth in mobile
consumption where up-to-the-minute news and weather
have been major drivers for the extraordinary growth of
BBC Mobile.
BBC Red Button’s distinctive combination of up-to-theminute information and content – and interactive content
like alternative sports commentaries – continues to be aconvenient access point for millions of people to get the latest
news and sport headlines through Digital Text. January’s ‘snow
days’ saw an extra 2.1 million people accessing the service. It
remains the most popular interactive TV service in the UK.

PERFORMANCE
future media & Technology continued

BB

Performance

2-44

WE ARE BUILDING ON THE SUCCESS OF BBCiPLAYER AND WILL LAUNCH THE RADIO PLAYERLATER IN THE YEAR IN PARTNERSHIP WITHCOMMERCIAL RADIO PROVIDERS. IT WILL MAKE
OVER 400 RADIO STATIONS AVAILABLE TO
LISTENERS VIA THE INTERNET.

ORIGINAL CONTENT
Internet-based drama E20, a spin-off from parent EastEnders,
was an ambitious multiplatform project, attracting over three
million requests across the EastEnders website and BBC
iPlayer. It also had over half a million viewers on BBC Red
Button. The show introduced new writing and acting talent,
and threaded plotlines between the two shows. A second
series has been commissioned and will premiere on the
EastEnders website later in 2010.
Staying in Albert Square, the EastEnders game celebrating the25th anniversary of the soap was one of the BBC Red Button
audience hits of the year. Other notable successes throughthe year include the ever-popular and innovative Doctor Who
website and various Comedy Extras (available on both BBC
Red Button and Online) featuring specially commissioned
extra content from programmes such as Never Mind theBuzzcocks, Stewart Lee’s Comedy Vehicle and The Thick of It.

TRUSTED CHILDREN’S CONTENT
All our child-targeted services provide a safe and trusted
environment for our younger users to learn and play. The
launch of separate CBeebies and CBBC iPlayers are welcome
additions to our offer.
We have refreshed the CBeebies website to put interactivity
at its heart, blending great content, with great user experienceand design. This has proved very popular with its young users,
who quickly understand and embrace new technologies andways of consuming content.
ENABLING THE BBC
Technology provides the foundations for the BBC’s day-to-day
activity, ranging from how we make programmes to how we
get them to our audiences. Improvements to the underpinningtechnology can bring benefits to the quality of the content
and to the value we deliver to licence fee payers. BBC
Fabric (a product of the Digital Media Initiative) is one such
improvement that will fundamentally change the way we makeprogrammes. Fabric is a desktop-based digital production
tool that allows content to be accessed, edited, and shared
remotely across the entire BBC. We have now started toroll this out across the BBC and will reap the rewards for theforeseeable future.

Performance

2-45

DIGITAL PARTNERSHIPS AND INNOVATION
Innovation, improvement and partnership will remain
important watchwords.
The launch of a new HD service on Freeview – offering BBC,ITV and Channel 4 HD channels – is a major step towards
improving the viewing experience for audiences and is a neat
illustration of the innovative technology solutions provided by
BBC Research & Development.
And our proposed ‘Canvas’ partnership with the UK public
service broadcasters and commercial stakeholders will makeinternet-connected television a reality, and will provide a quality
free-to-air alternative to pay platforms.
We are building on our experience and the success of BBC
iPlayer with the launch of a further partnership, to launchRadio Player later in the year. It will allow internet users tolisten to more than 400 commercial and BBC stations.
BBC Research & Development has been engaged in research
into archive technologies for over a decade now, with a long
chain of collaborative projects with broadcasters, academics
and industrial partners across Europe. Over the past year,
we have focused on a range of challenges, from efficient
digitisation and metadata creation, to advanced digital storage
and file formats optimised for long-term preservation.

All of these will underpin our long-term ambition to liberate
our programme library and archive for the benefit oflicence payers.
IMPROVED VALUE
As well as prioritising our investment in the most importantand meaningful content areas, we have worked hard this year
to increase our efficiency.
In content, the Winter Olympics allowed us to trial theautomated creation of websites, for example, and we are
increasingly developing sites which are scalable and re-usable(such as Wildlife Finder).
Tough decisions have included removing some capacity fromthe BBC Red Button in Freeview homes, to allow viewers
to receive HD channels on the platform. We have also
reorganised our internal structure to deliver efficiencies
and allow greater focus on quality.

PERFORMANCE

Ensuring future quality

Performance

2-46

Taking BBC content into the public space, the main
picture shows BBC Two’s coverage of the opening
ceremony of the Vancouver Winter Olympics on the
Mayor of London’s big screen in Trafalgar Square –also home to the Canadian Embassy.
1 The Street, gripping drama from Jimmy McGovern.
2 Live music – including all The Proms on BBC
Radio 3 – are a key part of what makes the
BBC offer distinctive.

3 Lambing Live – an extension of our Springwatch
programmes – followed the life and death drama of
one of the biggest events in the UK farming calendar
over five nights from a sheep farm in South Wales.
4 A big year for politics climaxed in the General
Election, expertly covered by Nick Robinson
and colleagues across the UK.

1

The BBC’s public service mission is to inform, educate andentertain audiences with programmes and services of highquality, originality and value. And the British public – rightly– expects us to be a reliable source of accurate and impartial
news; a tireless supporter of originality and excellence; aguaranteed investor in British talent and skills; an upholder ofthe highest values and standards; and a constant companion
at times of crisis and celebration.

2

We wanted to look at what the BBC should do and, just as
importantly, what it should not do.
In March we published a new strategy, Putting Quality First. We
presented it to the BBC Trust and it was the subject of a public
consultation so that licence fee payers felt empowered in helping
us to decide how we spend their money in programmes andservices for them.
Subject to approval, Putting Quality First directs the BBC
to focus on five editorial priorities; do fewer things better;guarantee access to all; make the licence fee work harder; andset itself new boundaries. It helps us to focus on what matters
to our licence fee payers, and more clearly and consistently
sets out our content ambitions than before.

The best journalism in the world
Informing civic and democratic life at home and abroad – through independent,
impartial and accurate news, current affairs and information.
Inspiring knowledge, music and culture
Enriching people’s lives – bringing knowledge, music and culture to new minds,
eyes and ears.

3

Ambitious UK drama and comedy
Stimulating and entertaining audiences – with stories about their lives and theworld around them.
Outstanding children’s content
Delighting and surprising young audiences – helping children explore their world
in a safe public space.

4

Events that bring communities and the nation together
Being there for the whole UK – in moments of crisis, commemoration andcelebration through landmark events, sport and entertainment.
BBC programmes and services: putting quality first.

2-47
Performance

As the external media landscape evolves, it is more important
than ever that the BBC is clear in its mission and is consistentin how it is delivered.
The commercial media sector rightly challenges the BBC overthis, especially at times of economic uncertainty. The limits ofwhat the BBC does have become less clear over time and the
BBC has been less effective than it could or should have beenat spelling out its central mission and sticking to it.
So we have spent the last year looking at every aspect ofour business. We wanted to check that we were honouring
our first principles – to inform, to educate and to entertain –as we prepared for a fully digital Britain.

PERFORMANCE
Ensuring future quality continued

The best journalism
in the world
INFORMING CIVIC AND DEMOCRATIC LIFE AT HOME AND ABROAD –THROUGH INDEPENDENT, IMPARTIAL AND ACCURATE NEWS, CURRENTAFFAIRS AND INFORMATION.

KPI

Performance

2-48

RESTORE TRUST IN OUTPUT
Scoring 8 or more out of 10 for‘I trust the BBC’ %
08/09
09/10
Average score out of 10 for‘I trust the BBC’ %
08/09
09/10

29
31

6.0
6.0

The proportion of people who agree strongly that they trust the BBC
has risen again, by over one and a half percentage points year-on-year.
The percentage of people who trust BBC News has gone from 77%
last year to 78% this year.
12

In the UK, BBC news will always be free at the point ofuse, free of advertising or other commercial messages,
and available to you when, how and where you want it.

In the year ahead:• BBC Radio 5 live will present the major news stories as
they happen, and provide context, analysis and discussion– 75% of its output will be news.
• BBC Parliament will offer 80 hours a week of coverageof the Westminster Parliament (full sitting week), plus
coverage of proceedings of the Scottish Parliament,
Northern Ireland Assembly and Welsh Assembly, as
well as programming from Brussels and Strasbourg.
• BBC Three will cover a range of topics from autism tochild trafficking, and will develop its Blood, Sweat and…
brand which explores the impact of globalisation on thedeveloping world.
For more programme and service commitments forthe year ahead visit www.bbc.co.uk/aboutthebbc/
statements2010.
To check out how we did against our promises last year see
the Performance against Public Commitments 2009/10 pdf inthe download section of www.bbc.co.uk/annualreport.

3

5

4

6

We will aim to reach 80% of the UK population eachweek with our wide-ranging journalism output, andcontinue to be the UK’s most trusted news provider
on television, on radio and online. Pictures show:
1 Robin Lustig, from BBC Radio 4’s The World Tonight –which marked 40 years on air in April.
2 Panorama brought challenging stories – such as ‘Dying
for a Biscuit’ – to peaktime terrestrial television.

3 Andrew Marr interviews leading politicians on
BBC One in The Andrew Marr Show on Sundays,
and talks to other leading thinkers on BBC Radio 4’sStart the Week.
4 Behind the scenes at the BBC 10 O’Clock News.
5 Hugh Sykes interviewing Pashtun farmers in
Afghanistan.
6 Today has just over 6.5 million listeners each week.

2-49
Performance

Since our first radio news bulletin on 14 November 1922, theBBC has been a standard-bearer for accurate, impartial andindependent news. As technology improved – and audience
expectations grew – we added a further commitment that
our news should also be up-to-the-minute.
Today, we have over 3,500 journalists and other news staff
spread across the globe – from York to New York, and
Aberdeen to Sydney. We take pride that our audiences
trust our output and turn to us on-air and online both for
local information and as events unfold on the national andinternational stages.
Covering the stories that matter – from daily television news
on BBC One to our local radio speech-only breakfast shows,and from political analysis on BBC Parliament to businessprogramming on BBC Radio 4 – will remain a key element
to our ongoing editorial strategy.
We will focus increasingly on areas where we can add mostvalue and where our contribution is genuinely distinctive:
eyewitness reportage and international newsgathering,
especially from those parts of the world with growing geopolitical importance like China and Brazil; specialist analysis andexplanation, in particular in science, the environment and social
affairs; investigative journalism; and current affairs.
The internet is enabling UK audiences to access a wider
range of news and information than ever before. BBC News
Online will continue to offer trustworthy news, analysis, andbackground information about the day’s stories of significance.
It will also provide a public space where the range of opinion
can get a fair hearing and be debated.

PERFORMANCE
Ensuring future quality continued

Inspiring Knowledge,
culture and music
ENRICHING PEOPLE’S LIVES – BRINGING KNOWLEDGE, MUSIC AND
CULTURE TO NEW MINDS, EYES AND EARS.

MAINTAIN VALUE AMONG HIGHKPI APPROVERS AND IMPROVE VALUEAMONG LOW APPROVERS

Scoring 8 or more out of 10 for
Overall Approval %
08/09
09/10
Scoring 4 or less out of 10 for
Overall Approval %
12
08/09
12
09/10

Performance

2-50

37
38

We have seen a slight increase in approval of the BBC among boththose who already scored highly as well as lower approvers.
1

We are recognised worldwide for the diversity of ourfactual programming and the originality of our musicalperformance. Pictures show:
1 Mastercrafts.
2 The Royal Albert Hall, home of The BBC Proms.
3 Sacred Music.
4 Who Do You Think You Are?
5 Wonders of the Solar System.
6 Natural World.
7 The Art of Russia.

2

3

4

5

6

7

We will also increasingly respond to evolving audience
expectations online and will, for example, continue to support
formal learning through propositions like Bitesize as we seek
more opportunities to unlock the potential for learning fromacross our output.

In the year ahead:•B BC Four will show two series on the Science of Mapping
and the Beauty of Maps to coincide with an exhibitionat the British Library; and Rude Britannia is scheduled tocoincide with Tate Britain’s exhibition of British comic art.
•O ur 2010 Opera Season will follow Gareth Malone as heattempts to produce and direct an opera in Gareth Does
Glyndebourne. Performances will include Plácido Domingo
in Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra.
• BBC Radio 1 will broadcast from around 25 live UKlive events and festivals; and will offer listeners 250 new
sessions (excluding repeats); BBC Radio 2 will offer at least
260 hours of live music.
For more programme and service commitments forthe year ahead visit www.bbc.co.uk/aboutthebbc/
statements2010.
To check out how we did against our promises last year see
the Performance against Public Commitments 2009/10 pdf inthe download section of www.bbc.co.uk/annualreport.

2-51
PerformanceWith our core mission to inform and educate, building
knowledge has always been central to the BBC’s programme
offer as we have sought over the years to open up the arts,
science, history and other specialist fields to our listeners
and viewers.
Our role in the musical life of the nation, too, has been unique,encouraging music making – pre-schoolers sang along to Listenwith Mother for over 30 years – and, primarily, music listening.
Today we support a unique blend of new music – much of
it live, much of it specialist, and much of it from new talent
trying to break through – via our radio services in particular
or on Radio Player (from 2010, subject to approval).
Looking to the future, our strategy for these genres will
still focus on linear broadcasting as the most effective way
to reach wide audiences, exploring factual subjects, the artsand culture in depth, and introducing a wide range of music
and performance. BBC Radio 2, for example, will feature
more live concerts and jazz in prominent slots, and there will
be more regular documentaries exploring music and cultural
themes. BBC Introducing will continue to connect BBC Radio 1
and BBC 1Xtra with music makers and emerging unsigned
talent at the grassroots.
BBC Two will benefit from an increase in funding from2013 (subject to approval) and will use that investment tocommission high quality, original content, offering fresh andnew ideas to its discerning audience, with more programmes
like Simon Schama’s Obama’s America, The History of Now,and How Earth Made Us, as well as programmes thatentertain while building knowledge such as Mastercrafts.

PERFORMANCE
Ensuring future quality continued

Ambitious UK drama
and comedy
STIMULATING AND ENTERTAINING AUDIENCES – WITH STORIES ABOUTTHEIR LIVES AND THE WORLD AROUND THEM.

INCREASE DISTINCTIVENESS AND QUALITYKPI Scoring 8 or more out of 10 for
High Quality %
08/09
09/10
Average score out of 10 for
High Quality %
08/09
09/10

Performance

2-52

34
36

6.4
6.4

The proportion of people who agree strongly that our output is highquality went up this year by over two percentage points. The averagescore was constant year-on-year.
We provide a stage for the best of the UK’s writing and performing
talent to reach a wide audience – a distinctive offer with something toentertain everyone.
1

2

Every week of the year, we offer an extensive rangeof drama and comedy across television and radio –and with additional original content like EastEnders’spin-off E20 only available online. Pictures show:
1 Outnumbered.
2 A recording of the dramatisation of a PD Jamesnovel at our radio drama studio in Birmingham.
3 Occupation.
4 The Thick Of It.
5 On Expenses.
6 I’m Sorry, I Haven’t A Clue.

3

Excellence, originality and variety will continue to form
the basis of our strategies for drama and comedy. And, if
approved, our proposed increase in spend on BBC Two will
help to deliver more original, strongly authored series, serials
and single dramas that reflect the state of contemporary
Britain, as well as stronger and more distinctive comedy withthe potential to become the mainstream hits of tomorrow.
In the year ahead:• We will invest more money in BBC Two content as it
works to rebuild its reputation for signature television
drama using UK talent and telling UK stories, as wellas establishing a stronger and more distinctive rolein comedy.
• BBC Radio 4 will offer at least 180 hours of original
comedy (excluding repeats).
• BBC Four will offer the first UK digital showing of 20
world cinema film titles – a genre we remain committed
to as we reduce our spend overall on acquired
programmes.
For more programme and service commitments forthe year ahead visit www.bbc.co.uk/aboutthebbc/
statements2010.
To check out how we did against our promises last year see
the Performance against Public Commitments 2009/10 pdf inthe download section of www.bbc.co.uk/annualreport.

4

5

6

2-53
Performance

The BBC provides a stage for the best of the UK’s writing
and performing talent to reach a wide audience. It is theBBC’s responsibility to take risks and challenge audienceswith innovative stories and programmes.
This year our drama offer included new and high-quality
output like Occupation and Criminal Justice from BBC One,House of Saddam and The Last Days of Lehman Brothersfrom BBC Two, as well as fresh approaches on BBC Three –a second series of Being Human developed the charactersand stories from series one as well as introducing new ones.
BBC Radio 3 and 4 both consistently offer an exceptional arrayof new and classic drama and readings – and after what wasat the time seen as a risky pilot venture, The Archers survived
and will mark its 60th anniversary in the new year.
Comedy is perhaps the riskiest genre of all. Successful newshows require time and investment, and are extremely hardto create and then maintain. Yet, there is an appetite from theaudience for them, as recent TV hits Outnumbered and Gavinand Stacey show.
We will continue to invest in new writers and performers as
we did this year with the teams behind Home Time and The
Gemma Factor, providing a platform for them to showcase
their talent. We will make space in our schedules across ourportfolio of channels – particularly on BBC Three – to try new
things before offering them to broader audiences. And once
more, BBC Radio 4 is the sole UK provider of radio comedy
in any scale.

PERFORMANCE
Ensuring future quality continued

Outstanding
children’s content
DELIGHTING AND SURPRISING YOUNG AUDIENCES – HELPING CHILDRENEXPLORE THEIR WORLD IN A SAFE PUBLIC SPACE.

KPI

INCREASE DISTINCTIVENESS AND QUALITY
BBC television is original and different %
36
08/09
37
09/10

Performance

2-54

More respondents agreed strongly that BBC television is ‘original anddifferent’ than last year.
1

Our emphasis on UK-created content – from Horrible
Histories to Timmy Time to readings of Rudyard Kipling’s
Just So Stories on BBC 7 – sets us apart from much of
the other children-oriented services available fromthe market. Our commercial-free environment
offers a trusted space for children and is designed toencourage learning. Pictures show:
1 Timmy Time.
2 Horrible Histories.
3 Show Me, Show Me.
4 Relic: Guardians of the Museum.
5 Spirit Warrior.

2

We will seek, through the BBC Trust, approval to extend thefinishing time of the CBBC channel from 7pm to 9pm, peakviewing for this audience. We will consult carefully with parents
and children to assess the possible implications, recognising that
there is likely to be a range of views on the subject.

In the year ahead:• At least 70% of CBBC hours will be original productions– including a minimum of 665 hours of drama, 85 hours
of news (including Newsround) and 550 hours of factual
programming.
• Approximately 80% of CBeebies hours will be original
productions.
• In addition to our digital television output, BBC One and
BBC Two will broadcast a further shared 1,500 hoursof children’s programmes.
• BBC 7 will offer four hours of programming daily, forboth young and older children.
For more programme and service commitments forthe year ahead visit www.bbc.co.uk/aboutthebbc/
statements2010.
To check out how we did against our promises last year see
the Performance against Public Commitments 2009/10 pdf inthe download section of www.bbc.co.uk/annualreport.

3

4

5

2-55
Performance

Producing children’s content has its own challenges.
Our children are treated to the best content from outside
the UK by providers such as Disney and Nickelodeon, raising
the bar for creativity and quality. At the same time, UK
broadcasters and producers are under constant strain, making
it difficult for many companies to invest in expensive, original
children’s output.
Even when programmes do get the green light, thecompetition across platforms for attention from thisdemanding and peer-sensitive audience makes it increasingly
difficult for new and unknown programmes to punch through.
Despite these pressures, the BBC remains resolutely
committed to providing high quality, UK-produced content
for children. Our role in providing bespoke television, radio
and online content that encourages learning, supports
understanding of the world, and which makes children
laugh – all within a trusted ‘safe space’ free of advertising –remains undiminished.
And so, a priority for us will be to increase investment inchildren’s programmes. Subject to approval, we will increase
our spend on children’s programming by £10million peryear from 2013 to 2016 at least, building on the additional
investment of £25.5million over three years already securedin the current licence fee period. Much of this money will
be directed towards UK originated drama, comedy andfactual content for older children, as well as new CBeebies
programming which will reduce repeat rates in output for
the under-6s.

PERFORMANCE
Ensuring future quality continued

Bringing thenation together
BEING THERE FOR THE WHOLE UK – IN MOMENTS OF CRISIS,COMMEMORATION AND CELEBRATION THROUGH LANDMARKEVENTS, SPORT AND ENTERTAINMENT.

KPI

2-56

MAINTAIN REACH
Weekly pan-BBC reach %
08/09
09/10

93
97

Performance

Each week around 97% of the UK adult population watched BBC
television, listened to our radio services or used BBC Online.
The difference year-on-year is due to a more robust methodology
being used since January 2009 to collect pan-BBC reach data. The
result is more accurate, and reflects the increasing ways the audiencecan consume BBC content.
Caution should be exercised when comparing this year’s pan BBC
reach data to previous years as the two methodologies are notdirectly comparable.
1

A variety of programmes brought people together
this year:
1 Our coverage of the Winter Olympics.
2 Eddie Izzard, running 43 marathons in 51 days forSport Relief.
3 I’d Do Anything – family viewing on Saturday evenings.
4 Children in Need, every November.
5 Sport unites communities across the UK.
6 Our outreach work – including the new Doctor’s visit
to Sunderland and other locations across the UK.
7 Moving coverage of Remembrance Day.
2

A key event for us will be the 2012 London Olympics – thebiggest sporting event ever held in the UK. We will harness
our online capabilities to offer additional content in the run-up
to the Games, as well as providing an archival legacy once they
have finished.

In the year ahead:•B BC One will build on the success of Strictly Come Dancing
and other shows to re-affirm itself as the BBC’s home for‘big experiences for big audiences’. It will keep ambition in
its Saturday evening schedule.
• BBC Two Wales will cover The Royal Welsh Show,the most popular outdoor event in Wales, and acrossour services a new-look Children in Need will returnin November.
• We will refresh our sport website, to deliver a moresatisfying and consistent experience to its users.
• We remain committed to making our content widely
accessible and so will subtitle all our programmes.
Also, we will audio-describe at least 10% of relevant
programmes and sign at least 5%.
For more programme and service commitments forthe year ahead visit www.bbc.co.uk/aboutthebbc/
statements2010.
To check out how we did against our promises last year see
the Performance against Public Commitments 2009/10 pdf inthe download section of www.bbc.co.uk/annualreport.

3

5

4

6

7

2-57
Performance

Our first ever radio outside broadcast – a relay of Mozart’s
The Magic Flute from Covent Garden – was on 8 January
1923; the 1926 General Strike was our first confrontation withgovernment over editorial independence; and we started
doing live sport commentaries in 1927.
Since the very early days of the BBC – even pre-dating our
first Charter – we have been in the privileged position of
being a national gathering point at times of trouble, celebration,commemoration and entertainment.
Audiences still turn to the BBC at times of crisis, such as thiswinter’s snow and floods; when they have a simultaneous
choice from different sources they overwhelmingly turn to the
BBC at moments of international sporting excellence, like theWorld Cup Final; they follow national or cultural events like theService of Remembrance or the General Election with theBBC; and Eastenders live 25th anniversary broadcast in March
was the talk of the nation.
The range and diversity of the events that we support, andour presence across TV, radio and digital media, give us aunique responsibility to reflect the big moments in national life.
Ironically, far from losing relevance, media fragmentation andsocietal change is making this responsibility even more critical.
Looking ahead, we will continue to cover those sporting
events with a special national resonance identified by theGovernment’s recent Listed Events review, subject to winningvalue-for-money sports rights: our challenge is to deliver adiverse sports package to our audiences while not distortinga market in which there is both considerable commercial andpublic value for other free-to-air broadcasters.

BBC: increasing
value byworking better

This section illustrates how we carry out ouroperations and support our people.
The British public pays for the BBC. And it is right that we are astransparent as possible about how we do business.
The previous section gave a sense of our editorial mission, and ourstrategy to achieve it. Here we share elements of our businessstrategy – how we do things. We include a short section on the
BBC Academy, launched this year, and training BBC staff and thewider industry.
We share some of the story of how we work with the UK’s wider
creative economy, reviewing BBC Studios & Post Production and
BBC Worldwide, and outlining the commercial framework that
dictates how we work with other organisations and companies.
We end by highlighting a few key potential risks to our business,and how we mitigate them.
Picture shows businesswoman Peggy Mitchell, played by Barbara Windsor, who leaves Albert Square later
this year after ten years behind the bar at the Queen Vic. EastEnders celebrated its 25th anniversary earlier
in 2010 with no fewer than 13 awards and an audience of nearly 19 million people to its live edition. Drama
is a key plank in our future programme strategy.

Managing thebusiness

Managing thebusiness
2-59

Managing The Business

Operations“AS AUDIENCES BENEFIT MORE AND MOREFROM EMERGING DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES,WE HAVE TO RUN OUR BUSINESS IN A WAY
THAT DELIVERS CLEAR VALUE AS WELL AS
WORLD CLASS CONTENT.”CAROLINE THOMSON
Chief Operating Officer

Managing thebusiness

2-60

New technologies and increasing
globalisation are driving
unprecedented change in the media
landscape: we rely on digital media
to do our jobs, and we consume
media content in our leisure time.
One impact of this change in the
UK is that the model that’s always
delivered first-rate free-to-air public
service programming is now under
greater threat than before.

Meanwhile, the big US gatekeepers to digital content – Google
and YouTube – have not been investing large portions of their
UK earnings back in the UK. This further reduces the cash
available to make distinctive, high quality British programming.
The BBC’s proposed strategy will tackle these two issues
head on. We will organise and run our business flexibly toensure we give our audiences what they want, in the mostcost-effective way possible; and we will adapt the way webehave in the wider marketplace, as a supplier, a partner
and a competitor.

The SIMPLE BBC value chain
The media and regulatory landscape
The impact of digital technology on audiences and suppliers
How the BBC operates today

internal factors

Managing our business and cashflows
IncomeStructure

Product

Licence fee, plus somecommercial income.
Ongoing Efficiency
programme.

Is operationalframework and structure
appropriate for efficientand effective delivery of
our mission?

Buy? Make? Partner?
Different content andservice funding models
with different implications
and benefits/disbenefits
for licence fee payers.

Assetmanagement
Investing in people –internal and industry.
Sweating programme
assets.

Improving how we do things – planning a BBC fit for the future
Putting quality firstexternal factors

how wedo things

strategic
business drivers

2-61Managing thebusiness

The relative decline in advertising spend in relation to overall
economic growth – a trend that predates the recession andwhich has additionally been exacerbated by it – has delivereda double blow to commercial broadcasters as the volume ofadvertising spend fell sharply, while the proliferation of newsatellite and online channels forced advertising rates down.
The knock-on effect for the wider industry saw thecommercial PayTV broadcasters invest a smaller slice of asmaller pie in new UK content (36%, down from around
51% for a typical free-to-air broadcaster, according to Screen
Digest).

Managing the business
Operations continued

Changing the way we operate
Today’s BBC is not the BBC of the early ‘90s, when arounda quarter of the licence fee went on overheads. We haveworked to halve that figure to around 12% today, and we areplanning to cut it even further so that from 2013 at least 90p
in every licence fee £1 will be spent in getting quality content
made and transmitted. Over the next two years we will save£2billion cumulatively in costs.
Now, almost half our total expenditure goes to external
suppliers, directly benefiting the UK economy. We havestripped out costs, streamlined our processes, and outsourced
those aspects of our business that could be done more
efficiently by a third party supplier.
But our changes are not just about reducing costs. We
aim to make the BBC a much more modern and efficientorganisation – with fewer senior managers and management
layers, quicker decision-making, more collaborative ways ofworking, and where more creative use of new technology
cuts bureaucracy and further streamlines our processes.

Managing thebusiness

2-62

Artists, presenters and performers
We have introduced some changes in our strategic approachto managing on-air talent – our artists, presenters andperformers – the people who do most to drive audiences’assessment of BBC quality and distinctiveness. Because of theirimportance to licence fee payers we have introduced newprocesses for assessing value, negotiating contracts, approving
deals, nurturing new talent, and developing existing talent. Our
purpose is very clear: to make the BBC a place the best artists
want to work to deliver great programmes at the best value
for licence fee payers.
Even though the Trust’s review of talent costs in 2008 showed
the BBC did not pay more than the ‘market price’ for top TV
talent, we made a commitment to reduce the amount wespend on top talent, particularly in the light of the economic
downturn, and to manage our overall talent spend carefully.
We want to provide information which allows others tojudge our performance against that commitment, without
undermining our ability to negotiate good value talent deals.
The table below shows the BBC’s overall talent spend for thelast two years. Year-on-year we reduced total spend by nearly£8million. We will continue to exercise tight controls.

Table 2-10 

Pay to artists, presenters, journalists, musicians £m
2009/10£ Change
2008/09 Year-on-year

To £50,000

112.1

114.6

-2.5

£50,000 to £100,000

41.8

43.9

-2.1

£100,000 to £150,000

15.4

16.3

-0.9

£150,000 plus

52.2

54.4

-2.2

Total

221.5

229.2

-7.7

GETTING THE BEST DEAL FOR THE LICENCE PAYER
As well as driving down the spend on our external talent, we
continually assess our investment in our in-house people andcontractors, with a view to reducing waste and duplication,
and adding value.
The recession hit the media sector hard and it is right that the
BBC uses the licence fee to offer work and opportunities intraining to people in the wider industry, building transferable
skills – usable in a portfolio market – and sustainable into thefully digital world.
GIVING THE BEST SUPPORT TO OUR STAFF
Over the past year, we implemented changes to how werecruit people. We advertise most of our vacancies online,
which can be found at https://jobs.bbc.co.uk/fe/tpl_bbc01.asp
along with an explanation of our recruitment processes.
And we have worked to simplify and improve our processes
and policies that affect people once they have joined us. For
example, we have invested in technology and systems which
support our managers as they lead their teams.
We improved the HR advisory function, and are now better
placed to offer our divisional and business unit leaders practicaladvice on a wide range of people issues.
And we have continued to work jointly with our outsource
partner to improve and strengthen the service they provide.
STAFF REMUNERATION
The headcount trend is still downwards as we work to further
reduce the number of people we employ. However, we haveseen a slight net increase in the average numbers over thelast year. In advance of the move to Salford, we have been
consolidating some posts, and this accounts for most of thetemporary increase in numbers. Overall, we expect the
numbers to drop once more over 2010/11.
The pay deal for 2009/10 was settled at £470 per employee
for graded staff earning under £60,000. A pay freeze applied
to people above this threshold.
We also put measures in place that will have the effect of
reducing the amount spent on senior managers by 25% overthe next three years:• BBC executive directors’ pay frozen for four years.
• Bonuses for BBC executives removed indefinitely.
• Senior management pay frozen, and bonuses removed
for two years.
• We pledged to reduce the number of senior managers
by 18% over a four-year period.
Although senior manager numbers grew in the first half ofthe year, by March – five months after the measures wereannounced – we had reduced the number of senior managers
by 15 (2.3%) and the total paybill for the period dropped by£6.8million (8.6%). We will continue to reduce the numberof senior managers and the senior management paybill, andthe Executive Remuneration Committee will continue toreview progress on a regular basis.

DIVERSITY ON AND OFF AIR
Recruiting and developing a diverse workforce that isrepresentative of the contemporary British population
enhances our relevance to all licence fee payers and exposes
us, and our audiences, to stories and issues beyond our own
immediate horizons.
Variety of experience and outlook is a catalyst for creativity
and leads to richer, more meaningful output that resonateswith all UK audiences.
Currently, around half the BBC’s workforce (49%) are
women; black and minority ethnic (BME) staff are at 12.1%(versus a target of 12.5%); and 4.4% of our staff are registereddisabled (target: 5.5%).
Our ambition is to embed diversity across our activities andfunctions – from creating unique and inspired output toattracting and nurturing great talent, from connecting with hard
to reach audiences to ensuring new services are accessible:
Corporate strategy and business planning: consultation
with diverse communities informed the Code of Service
Standards for the Digital Switchover Helpscheme, and equality
considerations were built into procurement processes.
More information on the scheme can be found atwww.digitaluk.co.uk.
Audiences: we partnered with Channel 4 on Talking Disability,a research project that examined disabled audiences’
perceptions of television. The findings have had a real impact,
and we have run workshops for programme makers to help
them think more, and better, about disabled portrayal, casting
and access.
Output: We work actively with programme makers andcommissioners to improve representation on-screen andon-air. High profile examples from the year have included
CBeebies presenter Cerrie Burnell; EastEnders announced
a new regular disabled character, Adam Best (played bywheelchair-bound actor David Proud) as well as giving us
our first all black episode; hard-hitting drama Moses Jonesfeatured a mainly black cast and screened at peaktime on BBC
One; and on radio, Graeae theatre company brought The
Hunchback of Notre Dame to BBC Radio 4. We are working
with BECTU and others to provide a networking conference
for BME radio freelancers.
Workforce: This was the third and final year of a programmeof investment targeted at supporting diversity at all levels of
our workforce. Over the period, 40% of people joining ourJournalism Trainee Scheme and 33% joining our Journalism
Talent Pool were from a BME background. Our Mentoringand Development Programme has supported a diverse
number of staff as they gain the skills to move into senior roles.
And Extend, our work placement scheme for disabled people,
provided opportunities to 50 individuals.

Table 2-11

Total average PSB headcount (equivalent full-time)
Year end 2006

18,860Year end 2007

17,914

Year end 2008

17,677

Year end 2009

17,078Year end 2010

17,238

Table 2-12 

Senior manager headcount by salary band
2009/10

Salary band

2008/09

Under £70,000

40

45£70,000 to £99,999

261

265

£100,000 to £129,999

157

153

£130,000 to £159,999

82

76£160,000 to £189,999

33

39£190,000 to £219,999

23

23£220,000 to £249,999

98£250,000 to £279,999

4

3£280,000 to £309,999

2

4£310,000 to £339,999

3

1£340,000 to £369,999––£370,000 to £399,999
Total

–

1

614

618

Chart shows UK PSB staff only. We will reduce the total to 520(18% of base figure) by 2013.

2-63

Table 2-13

UK PSB staff by Nation (equivalent full-time) %2009/10

2008/09

England (excluding London)

24

23

London59

60

Scotland

7

6

Wales

7

7

Northern Ireland

3

4

Table 2-14

Diversity table, % of total staff
Target2012

Actual Change year2010
on-year

12.5

12.1

+1.2%

Senior manager,
Black and Minority Ethnic

7.0

5.7

+0.7%

Disabled staff

5.5

4.4

-0.3%

Senior manager, disabled staff

4.5

3.4

n/a

Black and Minority Ethnic

Managing thebusiness

Our aim is to get the right balance between attracting andretaining the right staff needed to lead the BBC and deliver
outstanding services, with the need to deliver visible value
to licence payers.

Managing the business
Operations continued

Managing thebusiness

2-64

THE YEAR AHEAD
Much of our efforts operationally this year will be focused on
supporting people impacted by two major changes for the BBC:In London, we will be migrating network News output fromWhite City and BBC World Service from Bush House, bothto Broadcasting House. Detailed plans are in place to ensurethat we meet our broadcasting commitments during theupheaval. 1,500 roles will be transferring from London to
Salford Quays, and we will be managing the move of around
700 individuals and their dependants to ensure a core ofexperienced staff can deliver ‘business as usual’ as the moves
take place. We are planning to recruit the balance to ensurethat we achieve the right skills and contract mix for a flexible
people resource. The BBC North recruitment website www.
bbc.co.uk/jobs/north launched in February, and averaged
200 registrations per weekday to the end of March. A
partnership with Connexions and JobCentre Plus has led tothe development of an apprenticeship scheme targeting hard
to reach groups in the local area.
We are committed to redeploying as many staff who havechosen not to relocate as possible.
In addition, the 2012 London Olympics provides a unique
opportunity to connect with hard to reach audiences and tocreate a social legacy which will have ongoing benefits. Skills andeducation projects which engage the widest possible rangeof audiences will run across the UK with the aim to change
perceptions of the BBC, enhance our employer brand, improvesocial inclusion and bring new content to our platforms.

A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE
The world is changing, and the BBC must adapt if it is tostay relevant.
We can no longer guarantee a job for life, but must employ
flexibly and fairly. We can offer a demanding and creative
place to work, where we support people to be multi-skilled,
and encourage them to experience many different roles
across the organisation. But in order to do this, we must
cut some permanent posts and structure our work aroundan agile workforce.
In March we agreed a Dialogue Agreement with BECTU
covering freelancers working with our in-house television
production department. This is a positive step forward,
ensuring a productive ongoing dialogue with our much valued
freelance community.
Our employee relations strategy will focus on maintaining acollaborative and open relationship with employees and tradeunions in what will be an increasingly challenging environment.
It is an environment that challenges us to maintain ourcommitment to licence fee payers to deliver the best
programmes and services possible whilst reducing costs.

BBC SAFETYBBC Safety, Health and Security specialists take a proactive
approach to giving advice and support to newsgathering
teams and programme makers operating all over the world.
As a result, this year we have managed to reduce the numberof accidents reportable to the HSE to 28 this year (2009: 36).
Since 2000 we have reduced the incidence rate of reportable
accidents from 277 per 100,000 staff to 127.
Our occupational health team also provided advice andsupport to staff with work related health issues and madesure that we had accurate information and robust plans tomanage the Swine Flu outbreak and other crises.
During the year we refined our risk assessment process andintroduced an online risk tool to make the assessment process
as simple as possible.
BBC Safety is working closely with the Health and Safety
Executive on a range of areas such as: management of large
events such as rock concerts, and the coverage of large
sporting events, including preparation for the 2012 London
Olympics.
In a key initiative – and one which will also benefit the wider
industry – we have championed a safety passport which willallow freelancers to use safety training from one organisation
when working with another and so move more easily
between different organisations.

The BBC was saddened by death of Anton Turner in
Tanzania in October, while filming Serious Explorers for CBBC.
Anton was charged by an elephant and died at the scene.
The investigation team concluded that Anton’s death wasa tragic accident. The investigation was published atwww.bbc.co.uk/info/reports.
BBC Safety works with in-house and external programme makers to bringmemorable stunts – this one is from Bang Goes The Theory – and some of the best
and most astounding pictures from the natural world to our screens.

BBC academy
THE BBC HAS AN OBLIGATION “…TO MAKE AN
EFFECTIVE CONTRIBUTION TO THE PREPARATION AND
MAINTENANCE OF A HIGHLY SKILLED MEDIA WORKFORCEACROSS THE AUDIO-VISUAL INDUSTRY”. (BBC CHARTERSECTION 3.2B)

2-65
Managing thebusiness2010 will see the second year of the apprenticeshipscheme. Pictures show new intake apprentices Adil,
Jade and Tommy being put through their paces in frontof, and more importantly behind, the camera.

The BBC has always trained the broadcast industry. And as BBC trained staff
migrated to other broadcasters or independent companies, that training has formed
the backbone of the industry. In fact, Deloitte estimates that existing BBC training
is worth around £59million per annum in improved productivity to the creative
industries. (Source: The Economic Impact of the BBC: 2008/09.)
The increased pace with which digital production is sweeping the industry meansthat sustainable training is more important than ever. Yet the economic downturn
led to reduced investment in training as companies consolidated their cashflow in
uncertain times.
Across the industry, the BBC makes by far the biggest contribution to training,making our role in underpinning standards more important than ever:• As the industry increasingly relies on a growing freelance pool, we now train
people for a lifetime of employability rather than a job for life. Our investment
in freelance staff benefits the licence fee payer directly through high quality BBC
programmes and content, as well as through their contributions to great content
on other non-BBC channels.
• The pace of technological change means that skills need regular updating: end-toend production, aggregation, distribution, collaborative working and new cultures.
And the demands of working in a 360 degree multiplatform environment requiretalent to possess highly transferable skills. Our investment in people means thatthey will not get left behind.
• Meeting our own Network Production Supply targets – ensuring a fair spread oflicence fee money is spent across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland –depends on further developing highly trained creative talent pools around the UK.
We launched the BBC Academy in December to ensure that we could better meetthese needs. The BBC Academy is working with Channel 4 and ITV on diversity
initiatives, and we are sharing the BBC’s Multiplatform Foundation training withother broadcasters and organisations including PACT, BECTU and the Indie Training
Fund. Subject to regulatory approval, we will continue to look for opportunities toshare our training assets and intellectual property more widely as part of our public
service mission to support the industry.
Last year we delivered 4,416 external training days, and we are actively looking foropportunities to increase this in the future. And we continue to support industry
bodies such as Skillset and the National Film and Television School – our financial
support totalled £1.4million in 2009/10.

Managing the businessBBC’s role in a wider
media landscape
THE BBC’S PUBLIC PURPOSES AND VISION TO BE THE MOST CREATIVEORGANISATION IN THE WORLD CAN ONLY BE DELIVERED IF WE CONTINUETO ENRICH PEOPLE’S LIVES WITH HIGH QUALITY AND DISTINCTIVE
PROGRAMMES THAT INFORM, EDUCATE AND ENTERTAIN OUR AUDIENCES.
BUT THE CONTEXT IN WHICH WE DELIVER OUR MISSION IS CHANGING
RAPIDLY, AS TECHNOLOGIES AND INDUSTRIES CONVERGE AND AS
CONTENT AND COMPETITION BECOME INCREASINGLY GLOBAL.

Managing thebusiness

2-66
1

2

3

A changing world
The UK has an enviable tradition of investing heavily inhomegrown content, which has in turn delivered striking
worldwide successes across genres and formats. BBC titles
like Top Gear and Doctor Who and formats like Strictly Come
Dancing can be found every day on channels across the globe.
However, this is now under threat as market trends areundermining the traditional supply model for the free-to-air
delivery of high quality, original UK content through factors
such as:• shifting balance of industry funding• new roles in the value chain• rising costs of content and distribution• regulatory uncertainty.
BBC’s underlying commercial principles
Such changes in the media marketplace require changes inbehaviour from the BBC. Our new strategy, Putting Quality
First, identifies both clear objectives for our commercial
activities, as well as appropriate boundaries around them.
Our commercial activities – whether as a partner, a supplieror a competitor – must contribute to the fulfilment of ourpublic purposes. They are not exempt from the BBC’s public
mission, and must further protect and promote the BBC’s
brand and reputation.
In addition, our new strategy will help us ensure we only
expand into areas that genuinely support the BBC’s overall
mission and drive benefits back to our licence payers.

Our guiding principles are that the BBC should:• hold onto the value of its intellectual property• exploit that value on the licence fee payer’s behalf• make sure no commercial activity damages the core brandand reputation of the BBC, at home or abroad.
BBC AS A PARTNER OF CHOICE
In conducting business, the BBC tries to ensure that we use
our influence to support, rather than stifle. The BBC has madegood progress in driving its partnerships programme, whichaims to support UK public service broadcasting and the wider
UK media sector, since its launch in December 2008.
Highlights have included:• Project‘Canvas’, which will bring IPTV to the home, recently
signed new partners (Channel 4 and TalkTalk). The projectis currently undergoing regulatory scrutiny.
• for the Digital Production partnership, the BBC is engaged
with the industry to establish how best to modernise
production capabilities, establish standards and develop new
creative opportunities by adopting digital technology.
• a wide-ranging memorandum of understanding was signedwith STV, paving the way for collaboration in a numberof areas.
• the proposition for the BBC/commercial Radio Player has
been evolving, and launch is planned for summer 2010,
subject to approval.
• the Radio Council has brought the BBC and commercial
radio together to promote digital radio.
• Video News Sharing launched successfully in 2009 with four
major newspaper partners, and several other websites havesince joined.
2-67
Managing thebusiness

4

5

6

BBC S&PP and BBC Worldwide work with theindustry and the BBC to create great content for
all audiences. Pictures show:
1 Are You Smarter Than a Ten Year Old?
2 Children’s gameshow BAMZOOKi.
3 Robbie Williams’ Electric Proms broadcast live toalmost 200 screens in more than 23 countries
across Europe, with later screenings in Australia
and South Africa.
4 Strictly Come Dancing.
5 Blue Peter.
6 Bellamy’s People.

Managing the businessBBC’s role in a wider media landscape continued

Managing thebusiness2-68• archive partnerships are progressing with work plans underdevelopment with a number of organisations including the
British Film Institute and The National Archive.
• under the Bristol City Partnership, the BBC is working withpartners to boost local TV production and film-making andcollaborate on digital and connectivity projects.
• in addition, the BBC Academy has launched a numberof training initiatives with ITV and Channel 4.
Our experience over the past 18 months has demonstrated
the challenges of trying to meet partners’ different objectives
and operate in a complex regulatory environment. However,
we still believe there is more we can do to open up ourresources to other creative businesses in ways that they
aspire to, and on terms that make sense, whilst providing
benefits to the BBC and audiences. BBC North will provide

an opportunity to challenge traditional models andrelationships, establishing partnerships as a way of working
from day one and for the 2012 Project, responsible for thedelivery of BBC activity across 2012 including the London
Olympic Games, partnerships will be critical to success.
There are four other areas with significant potential where
we will focus efforts in the coming year:• skills and training, optimising our investment in these areas• facilitate access to the ‘digital public space’ for like-mindedorganisations• leverage existing resources• roll out the Bristol City Partnership model in other partsof the UK.

HENRY MOORE FROM THE BBC ARCHIVE
In partnership with the Henry Moore Foundation, andworking with Tate Britain, we digitised and released six films
by renowned director John Read, along with other BBC
documentaries, interviews and reports from our archive.
The programmes were made over nearly five decades, andthe release was designed to coincide with a major Henry
Moore exhibition running from February to August thisyear at Tate Britain.
Read’s half-hour film portrait of Moore is now generally
considered to be the UK’s first ever television arts
documentary, and both pioneering and influential.
For more information or to see these programmes go towww.bbc.co.uk/archive/henrymoore. For more information
on what the Tate is doing in London, Liverpool and St Ives
visit www.tate.org.uk.
It is through our partnerships with others that we are
better able to unlock the riches in our archive and makethe digital public space a destination of choice.

Connecting television
Project ‘Canvas’ (working title) is the BBC’s proposal toenable a connected future for the UK’s free-to-air TV
platforms. Built on the successful Freeview model, it willoffer audiences a potentially unlimited range of broadcast
content and media services by enabling their devices (fromhome PCs to mobile phones) to be connected via any ISP
broadband to their television.
For users, it will mean not just mainstream broadcast
content, but also web applications from developers alreadycreating content for devices like the Apple iPhone.
‘Canvas’ is just one example of the BBC’s ‘public service
partnerships’ agenda, launched in December 2008.
While the project was initiated by the BBC and ITV, it now
involves Arqiva, BT, Channel 4, five and TalkTalk as equal
funding partners. If approved, the partnership will form an
independent joint venture, set up on a cost recovery basis.
‘Canvas’ is an open platform. It aspires to be a tangible
demonstration of ‘public space’ in UK broadcasting for years
to come. The potential it offers for a direct relationshipbetween content provider and consumer has excited
additional interest from a wide range of groups, includingcommercial video-on-demand providers, national arts andcultural organisations, and government service providers.
‘Canvas’ shows the sustainable role that the BBC can play
as a stimulus for innovation right across the UK media
sector, supporting a range of activities that benefit its
licence fee payers.

The Read films capture the moment Reclining Figure, shown below, was created– the actual statue stands outside the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art
in Edinburgh.

“Open internet-enabled TV platform ‘Canvas’ can transformpublic access to British culture, providing a gateway to a treasure
trove of content – films, live events and archive material – muchof it already paid for with public money but until now only
available to a select few.”
John Woodward, CEO, UK Film Council

Supplying to the BBC
From on-screen and on-air talent, to independent
production companies, and to outsourced support
services providers, we aim to choose all our suppliers
carefully, to ensure that they have a specific expertiseand deliver value for money.
We have had ongoing relationships over many years
with, for example, service providers that are essential
to broadcast continuity – such as Arqiva, Siemens and
SES Astra who provide and maintain our distribution
networks – while other suppliers are new to the BBC.
All our supply arrangements are managed through our
specialised procurement teams, to ensure we comply withthe relevant regulations, and use industry-standard terms oftrade. Information on all our procurement needs – including
new tenders – can be found on www.bbc.co.uk/supplying.
1

2-69
2

1 BBC S&PP sells its expertise in the open market,
and helps create award-winning content with otherbroadcasters, like Harry Hill’s TV Burp from ITV.
2 BBC S&PP is one of the most experienced live
television studio event producers in the world,
hosting a range of events over the years, including
BBC Children in Need since 1980.

Managing thebusiness

Supplying the creative economy at home
We are much sought after as a partner in studio and postproduction services – activities that are managed through BBC
Studios and Post Production, a wholly-owned commercial
subsidiary of the BBC, and a small but significant supplier toproducers and other broadcasters.
The UK broadcast facilities market has been in flux forsome years, and the challenges of tough ongoing trading
conditions that we are all facing have been exacerbated by the
downward spiral in the wider economic climate. On top ofthis, lower production budgets and the transfer of some BBC
programmes from London to Glasgow further impacted on
our ability to build our business, support our industry, and add
value back to the licence fee payer. However, despite these
difficulties, BBC Studios and Post Production Ltd performed
strongly over the period, moving from last year’s operating lossof £0.4million to an operating profit before restructuring of£0.4million.
Our re-structure, announced in last year’s Annual Report,
saw us consolidate our four new customer-facing businesses– Drama Services; Entertainment; Media Solutions; and Sportand Children’s – to operate more efficiently with half thenumber of employees than with the previous structure, andbetter able to respond to the bespoke requirements of ourdiverse customer base.
As a service supplier, the BBC is at the heart of the UK’s
creative process. Headlines from last year include:• supporting the first live episode of EastEnders, providing fulltechnical crew and facilities for a hugely complex technicaland logistical operation• delivering the first 3D production at BBC Television Centre– supporting Twofour’s Are You Smarter Than Your Ten Year
Old? for Sky• partnering BBC Sport for the Vancouver 2010 WinterOlympics• supporting the award-winning Harry Hill’s TV Burp, madeby Avalon for ITV• deploying new virtual reality technology for BAMZOOKiStreet Rules• investing in new HD equipment to enable HD capability
from all Television Centre studios• playing host to BBC Children in Need’s seven hour live TV
marathon, fully HD this year for the first time
• deploying the new BBC R&D Ingex services – enabling HD
tapeless content acquisition in multiple formats
We will continue to build on our reputation for exciting andinnovative content, combining market-leading capabilities withnew technologies and strategic partnerships.

Managing the businessBBC’s role in a wider media landscape continued

Table 2-15

Top indies based on spend
TV

Radio

Kudos

Somethin’ Else

Talkback Thames

Smooth Operations

Shine Limited

UniqueShed Productions

Above The Title

Tiger Aspect

Pier Productions

Independent and in-house production
The WOCC (Window of Creative Competition) was introduced
three years ago, to drive creative competition between independent
producers and the BBC’s in-house production departments in
television. The system is underpinned by a firm commitment toboth supply bases through a set of guarantees, alongside which 25%(around £250million in any one year) of eligible output is available
for direct competition between the two supply bases. This year,
the overall outcomes are roughly the same as previous year – withindies winning 70% of the business and in-house production securing
the balance 30%. However, there are big movements in individual
genres with year-on-year changes in favour of both indies and inhouse. This demonstrates true competition in action and raises
the creative bar. Audiences are the true winners.

1 Natural history series Life has now been sold toover 50 broadcasters in more than 40 territories.
2 Top Gear continues to be a highly popular brandacross all formats. Picture shows Jeremy Clarksonwith actor Eric Bana.
3 The CBeebies channel is now available to over
13 million subscribers worldwide.
Managing thebusiness

2-70
1

2

3

Beyond Britain
The content we create can have enormous value in overseas
markets. BBC Worldwide is our main commercial subsidiaryand it operates a broad range of media businesses in order tosupplement licence fee income by maximising this value andpromoting the BBC brand and UK content internationally.
Despite a still challenging economic climate in some markets,the company had a successful year with a strong performancefrom overseas business and its recent growth initiatives
offsetting the impact of recessionary pressures, particularly
evident in the UK.
Total sales and profits before specific items were up torecord levels of £1,074.2million (2009: £1,003.6million) and£145.2million (2009: £106.4million) respectively. The 36%
growth in operating profit was driven by the continuing
expansion of the Channels business; an excellent performancefrom Sales & Distribution (which licenses programmes toother broadcasters) where profits were up 26% year on
year; taking full ownership of 2entertain (the DVD operation
formerly 40%-owned by Woolworths Group plc); and areduction in losses within the Digital Media business. Likefor like, just over 5.5% of total revenue came from online
businesses in 2009/10 (2009: 4.6%), putting BBC Worldwide
on a good trajectory towards its goal of 10% by 2012.
BBC Worldwide’s return to the BBC in dividends
and programme investments was £151.1million (2009:£152.6million). Dividends increased from £68.4million to£73.6million, and £77.5million (2009: £84.2million) wasinvested in BBC-commissioned programming. The decreaseon last year reflects the natural ebb and flow of programme
production cycles.
Advertising and retail sales in the UK continued to face difficult
market conditions, but a weaker UK economy and currency
meant the company received an uplift from overseas sales,
particularly in the USA and Australian markets. Lonely Planet
had a strong operating performance with new publishinglines proving popular, especially in the USA, and traffic on its
website at year end reaching a record high of six million uniqueusers. The business moved from a loss of £(3.2)million last year
to a profit of £1.9million, and 22% of sales now come from
non-print activities, underscoring its success in migrating onto
the internet and mobile.
BBC Worldwide does not just deliver increasing financial value
to the BBC. It also helps deepen the BBC’s relationship withaudiences at home and abroad and helps the BBC fulfil its fifth
public purpose – to bring the UK to the world and the world to
the UK. In November 2009, the BBC Trust published its Review
of Commercial Services, which emphasised this latter mandate
for the company. Non-UK revenues accounted for 54.6% of
BBC Worldwide’s total in the year (2009: 51.3%) and will form
its principal focus for future growth, especially in the USA.

So the priorities ahead for BBC Worldwide are: to continue
to strengthen its portfolio of BBC-branded TV channels, now
available in five continents; to develop its online channels such as
BBC.com and its international production network; and to ensurethat the BBC receives due brand credit from as much of its
activity as possible. Alongside this it will maintain the effectivenessof its highly successful DVD and TV programme and format
sales operations. In order to ensure its magazines and audiobook
operations get the investment they need to prosper and develop
online potential more fully, BBC Worldwide is in the process of
exploring possible partnership structures for these businesses.
Another key focus is to make the most of its majorinternational consumer brands such as Top Gear, Doctor Who
and Dancing with the Stars (the international name for Strictly
Come Dancing). For example, Top Gear has increased its
revenues year-on-year and now operates across every format
area including digital downloads via iTunes, magazines, live
shows and merchandise.
Given the diversity of BBC Worldwide’s portfolio, its strong
brands and the broad spread of its markets around the world,
we believe the company is well placed to take advantage offurther opportunities around the world in 2010/11.

Chart 2-6
BBC Worldwide statutory revenue £m
916
07/08
1,004
08/09
1,074
09/10
Chart 2-7
BBC Worldwide profit before
specific items, interest and tax £m
07/08 118
08/09 106
09/10 145*

2007/08 figures are UK GAAP. Other years are IFRS.
* Specific items are significant items which are highlighted by virtueof their size or importance to enable a full understanding of BBC
Worldwide’s performance.

Fair Trading by the BBC
The BBC Agreement requires the Executive to ensure that all commercial services meet the following criteria:• fit with the BBC’s public purposes• show commercial efficiency• not jeopardise the BBC’s good reputation nor the value of the BBC brand• comply with the BBC’s own Fair Trading Guidelines, and in particular avoid distorting the market.
Having received reports from relevant senior management, the BBC Executive is satisfied that all commercial services met thecriteria for the period 1 April 2009 to 31 March 2010.
We dealt with four Fair Trading complaints during the year. Three complaints were the subject of an appeal to the BBC Trust.
Details can be found in our Fair Trading Bulletin www.bbc.co.uk/info/policies/fairtrading_complaints and on the BBC Trust’s
appeals page www.bbc.co.uk/bbctrust/appeals/fair_trading_appeal_findings.html.
Our Fair Trading Guidelines provide guidance on the trading relationship between the BBC and BBC World Service in order toensure separation between grant-in-aid and licence fee income. This relationship is audited annually and the most recent reportfound that the BBC’s behaviour was compliant.
The management of our Fair Trading arrangements has been accredited with the ISO 9001:2008 quality standard. The mostrecent assessment by the British Standards Institute in December 2009 confirmed that our procedures are continuing tooperate effectively.
The BBC Trust commissions independent auditors Deloitte LLP to undertake an annual Fair Trading audit. Details are available
in Part One of this Annual Report and Accounts.

2-71Managing thebusiness

The detailed operational framework for both our public service andcommercial activities is outlined in our Fair Trading Guidelines, foundat www.bbc.co.uk/info/policies/fairtrading. These were most recently
updated in April 2009.

Managing the business

Risks and opportunities
The Executive Board is responsible for identifying risks andtaking mitigating action. The risks and RELATED OPPORTUNITIES
identified below are those thought to have the most significant
impact on our audiences, strategy and operations. They are notexpressed in any ranking or order of priority.
Content and Audiences: Challenges are mitigated by our editorial strategy outlined in Putting Quality First
Our mission is to inform, educate and entertain audiences and manage any threats to this objective. We must continue to seize
appropriate opportunities and serve all audiences, against a backdrop of profound changes in the media sector:

Managing thebusiness

2-72

Risk

Acti

F

• Failure to deliver on Charter
requirements and strategy• Effective editorial and businessstrategies• Ongoing monitoring of audience andindustry developments• ongoing focus on charter, Mission
and purposes• Failure to attract, retain and develop
to full potential the best people at
all levels, both on and off screen/air, could
compromise the quality of our delivery• offer the best employment anddevelopment opportunities• pay and benefits policies that reflect
both demands and opportunities• uncertainty in media sector will challengeestablished business models, but present
opportunities• Failure to uphold the highest values
and standards, and to maintain accuracy
and impartiality in all content, could leadto loss of audience trust• strong editorial controls and effective
compliance processes• ongoing training of production teams• serious consideration of complaints• highest standards of editorial integrity andimpartiality will remain paramount• any editorial lapses will be dealt with quickly
and proportionately• enhanced editorial training• Failing to keep pace with
developments in technology
could limit access to content• Technology strategies that reflect
developments and principle of freeat the point of use• accelerating pace of change will present
challenges but also new opportunities
in how we engage with our audiences

Operational and Services: Challenges are mitigated by our business strategy, policies and procedures
Resilience of our operations, and of the operations of our suppliers and partners, is essential to delivering the services thatlicence fee payers expect in both normal times and times of crisis. Innovation is essential to anticipate modern audience needs:
Risk

ActionFuture outlook• Technical failure, infrastructureinterdependencies, industrial actionor the actions of third parties including
suppliers, could lead to interruptionof broadcast services• Detailed broadcast continuity plans
regularly reviewed and tested• Exit strategies and contingency plans
for key suppliers• Relationships fostered with appropriate
unions, representative bodies andsuppliers• IT equipment replacement under review• Technological development will continue
to offer opportunities alongside risks• Resilience enhanced by options offered
by internet and broadcast technology
development• Without careful allocation andmanagement of resources, we will not
successfully complete the wide scope of
concurrent projects, compromising ourability to match audience future needs• Interdependencies, common deadlines
and skillsets analysed, reviewed andreported at senior level• Lessons learnt from external reviewsof major projects• Detailed plans will address resource andskills issues where key project delivery
timescales coincide• Dependencies that can be anticipated will
be monitored

Financial and Commercial: Challenges are mitigated by our financial strategy and our commercial policy and guidelines
The prolonged UK and global economic situation impacts us and all our stakeholders and could lead to a decline in income:ActionFuture outlook• Economic slowdown could lead todecreased licence fee income
and reduced financial flexibility, inturn increasing pressure on borrowing
arrangements• Monitor impact of social, economic
and technological trends• Contingencies built into financial plans,
including cost of pensions• Efficiencies gained by cooperation
with partners• Possibility of a ‘double dip’ recession in the
UK remains• High levels of uncertainty remain regarding
the global economy significantly impacting
pension valuation and funding• Failure to protect and derive benefit
from the BBC brand could lead todamage to the BBC reputation and areduction in overall income levels• developing further opportunities
to exploit current programmes andarchive• Brand awareness and value monitoring• High level of scrutiny of brands will continue• New opportunities across wide rangeof UK and overseas markets• Extending beyond appropriate
boundaries could impact commercial
interests of other operators against
the public interest• Compliance with existing guidelines
on unfair competition• Vigilance over boundaries• Upheaval in media sector may continue• developments in technology will posenew challenges• Transparent public service role

Corporate Responsibility: Challenges are mitigated by the strength of our business processes
Whilst driving our strategy to deliver quality, originality and value to our audiences, we must maintain appropriate practices:
Risk

ActionFuture outlook• Inadequate controls could endanger
the health and safety of individuals,
the natural environment and our
reputation• Strong safety risk assessment
procedures applied diligently• Environmental impacts undercontinuous review• Attention to changing exposures andindustry best practice• Take opportunities to devise
environmentally friendly solutions• Failure to comply with legal andregulatory requirements may
result in penalties• Liaison and active engagement withregulatory bodies and stakeholder
groups• Political focus on media industry regulation
likely to continue• Failure to meet digital public policy
responsibilities could limit enjoyment by all• Focus on digital switchover challenges• Engaging with vulnerable groups• Pace of innovation may overtake andmitigate some risks and present newopportunities• Developments in technology andchanges to legislation are conspiring
to increase potential threats frominformation security breaches• Active consideration of threats, withongoing mitigation measures• Data Protection procedures and training• Effective practices and procedures willremain key• Continued deployment of the best available
technology to safeguard data

2-73
Managing thebusiness

Risk

BBC:
benchmarked
against bestpracticeThis section shows how we have complied withwider regulatory guidelines.
The external regulatory and legal frameworks have implications
for the BBC and how we carry out our activities.
Here we introduce our Executive Board and show the process
they follow to manage risks to our business.
And our independent non-executive Directors give their view on
how our committees and structures have worked this year, as wellas the matters they have covered.
For more information see the extended Governance section in
the download centre at www.bbc.co.uk/annualreport.

Picture shows Chairman of the Executive Audit Committee David Robbie in discussion with an external
advisor. The BBC seeks expert advice to ensure that it meets or exceeds its regulatory and legal requirements.

Governance

Governance

2-75

Governance

MARK THOMPSONMARK BYFORDZARIN PATEL

Chief Financial Officer since
January 2005. Trustee of the
BBC Pension Scheme andnon-executive Director of
BBC Worldwide Limited.

Chief Operating Officer.
Board member since May 2000.
Trustee of the BBC Pension
Scheme. Non-executive Directorof Digital UK.

Lucy Adams

Sharon Baylay

MARCUS AGIUS

VAL GOODING CBE

Director-General since June
2004. Chair of the Executive
Board and the BBC Direction
Group, made up of all the BBC’s
divisional directors.

Governance

2-76

Director of BBC People sinceJune 2009.

Deputy Director-General.
Board member since December
1998. Chair of the Journalism
Board. Chair Editorial Standards
Board, Complaints Management
Board, Learning Board andLondon 2012 Olympics
Coordinating Group.

Director of Marketing,Communications & Audiences
since May 2009. Non-executive
Director of BBC Worldwide
Limited, Freesat and Digital UK.

Appointed non-executive
Director and Senior Independent
Director in December 2006.
Re-appointed this year. Chairs
the BBC Executive Board’s
Remuneration Committee.
Group Chairman of Barclays PLC.
Chairman of the Trustees of theRoyal Botanic Gardens, Kew
and Chairman of the Foundation
and Friends of the Royal Botanic
Gardens, Kew.

CAROLINE THOMSON

Appointed non-executive
Director in January 2008.
Re-appointed this year. Also
non-executive board memberof Standard Chartered andJ Sainsbury, Advisory Board
Member of Warwick Business
School, Trustee of the British
Museum, non-executive directorof the Lawn Tennis Association
and Trustee of Rose Theatre.

EXECUTIVE BOARD
The Executive Board, chaired by the Director-General, and its
sub-committees, are responsible for the delivery of BBC services
and day-to-day operations across the organisation.

JANA BENNETT OBE

TIM DAVIEERIK HUGGERSPeter salmon

DR MIKE LYNCH OBEDAVID ROBBIEDR SAMIR SHAH OBE

ROBERT WEBB QC

Appointed non-executive
Director in January 2007.
Technology entrepreneur
and founder and CEO of
Autonomy Corporation plc.

Director of Audio & Music since
September 2008. Board member
since April 2005.

Appointed non-executive
Director in January 2007. Chairs
the BBC Executive Board’s Audit
Committee. Group FinanceDirector at Rexam PLC. Trusteeof Aldeburgh Music.

Director of BBC Future Media &Technology. Board member sinceAugust 2008. Prior to this, Group
Controller, BBC FM&T.

Appointed non-executive
Director in January 2007.
Chief Executive of Juniper
Communications Limited.
Trustee of the Victoria and AlbertMuseum and Special Professor
in Post-Conflict Studies in the
School of Modern Languages
and Cultures, University of
Nottingham. Chair of Screen
West Midlands.

Director, BBC North.
Board member sinceNovember 2009.

Appointed non-executive
Director in January 2007.
Appointed QC in 1988.
Chairman of BBC Worldwide
and BBC Commercial Holdings
Board. Chairman of Autonomy
Corporation plc and nonexecutive Director of the London
Stock Exchange, Hakluyt & Co
Ltd, Argent Group plc and theEmerging Health Threats Forum.
Honorary Fellow of UNICEF.

JOHN SMITH
For more information on the members of the BBC’s Executive Board,please visit www.bbc.co.uk/aboutthebbc/running/executive.

Chief Executive Officer of
BBC Worldwide Limited.
Board member from 1997
until September 2009.

2-77
GovernanceDirector of Vision. Board
member since April 2002.

Governance

Summary Governance Report
THE EXECUTIVE BOARD HAS COMPLIED WITH THE REQUIREMENTS OF
the BBC’s ROYAL CHARTER, CREATING APPROPRIATE AND EFFECTIVE
GOVERNANCE ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE BBC.

Governance

2-78

The BBC’s corporate governance framework is defined in
the Royal Charter, which also requires the Executive Board
to follow accepted principles of good corporate governance.
Complying with the Charter has also secured substantial
compliance with the 2008 FRC Code, although in a numberof areas the 2008 FRC Code is not appropriate to thecircumstances of the BBC – for example, compliance with theCharter means non-compliance with the 2008 FRC Codeon Board composition. However, we believe that this does
not compromise the quality of the governance arrangements
in place and that the balance of executive and non-executive
Directors, and the mix of business and broadcasting skills,
enables us to effectively lead the BBC Group.
The Executive Board is responsible for all aspects of operational
management of the BBC (except the BBC Trust Unit), although
in practice some of our responsibilities are delegated to othermanagement groups. Any delegation from the Executive Board
is stated in the relevant standing orders for each group and aframework for reporting and review is established. The standingorders for the Executive Board and its sub-Committees are atwww.bbc.co.uk/info/running/executive.
The BBC Trust assesses the performance of the BBC’s
management and its services, and this year’s can be found inPart One of this Annual Report and Accounts, and onlineat www.bbc.co.uk/annualreport, where a copy of the fullExecutive Governance Report can also be found.
In order to ensure that we complied with all relevant legislation,
to which the BBC is subject in 2009/10, we incurred compliancecosts estimated at £17.6million (2009: £17.3million), which
includes the BBC’s annual £3.5million subscription to Ofcom.
Board appointments
No executive appointments were made this year. However,
Sharon Baylay (MC&A), and Lucy Adams (BBC People) took
up their appointments during the period, and Peter Salmon(BBC North) joined the Executive Board in November.
The Nominations Committee oversaw the re-appointmentof two non-executive Directors who were due to step down:
Marcus Agius will continue as Senior Independent Director fora further three year term, and Val Gooding will stay on for afurther two year term.

Report of the Senior Independent Director
During the year, much of the BBC Executive Board’s agenda
considered the BBC’s response to the economic downturn which
continued to have an impact across all of the BBC’s activities.
Within this context public spending became a major topic andlike other national organisations the activities of the BBC werequite correctly scrutinised.
The BBC’s own response to the operational challenges posed bycurrent economic conditions was swift. At the request of the BBC
Trust, the Executive Board provided proposals on pay policy forsenior managers, which we are now implementing. We remained
mindful of the pressures the global financial crisis, and the arrivalof new technology, has had on the BBC’s competitors, andexplored opportunities and partnerships where the BBC could
appropriately use its position to benefit the wider media sector.
In March we put forward our new strategy, Putting Quality First.
My fellow non-executive Directors and I believe that its proposals,
to reduce the scope of the BBC’s future production and output
while increasing the quality of its programming, will mitigate
some of the BBC’s existing business risks and put it on a firmer
footing for the future. The BBC stands for quality, and as a Board
it is our responsibility to ensure that it meets the highest public
expectation. Within the confines of the multi-year licence fee
settlement, this means doing fewer things, but doing them evenbetter than we have in the past.
The composition of the Board also changed this year, adding a
new post – Director, BBC North – whilst the Chief Executive
Officer of BBC Worldwide stepped down. At times like these,
the independent perspective the non-executive Directors bringremains crucial, and the added scrutiny we have faced has led toa sharper, and more determined approach in order to reach theright conclusions for licence payers and audiences.
	Marcus Agius
Senior Independent Director
16 June 2010

ACCOUNTABILITY AND INTERNAL CONTROL
Report of the Chairman of the Executive
Audit Committee
The Audit Committee reviews and oversees financial reporting,internal control and risk management at the BBC. Focusing theBBC’s spending on what matters most to the British public – driving
improved value for money and reinvesting savings into high quality
content – is the context against which we judge whether thecontrol environment is fit for purpose.
We evaluate issues raised by Internal Audit, and management’s
progress in addressing them with the minimum of delay. We also
receive regular updates from our external auditors, outlining theiraudit approach and any issues they wish to bring to our attention.
We regularly review the most significant risks facing the business,
commissioning papers and presentations from management on
major concerns and on risk profiles from across the BBC, witha view to ensuring that any proposed actions taken to manage
and mitigate risk are appropriate and adequate. Where we findthey are not, we challenge management to do better and toreconsider prioritisation.

Issues facing the BBC, or the wider industry, and which we haveconsidered this year, have included: the implications of social andtechnological changes, especially on licence fee income; the securityof confidential information; overall resilience of content delivery;
and the implications for the BBC of adopting International Financial
Reporting Standards (IFRS).
The scope of this committee covers the whole BBC Group;
therefore we also receive and discuss updates from the other
Audit Committees which oversee our commercial businesses.
	David Robbie
Chairman of the Audit Committee
16 June 2010

Risk management and internal control
An ongoing and evolving process for identifying, evaluating,managing, monitoring and reporting significant risks to the
BBC has been in place for the financial year, with the directorof each BBC business group having a clear responsibility for
identification and management of risks facing their business.
Risk exposure is considered at both business group and
Executive Board level.

The Executive Board, in reliance upon the detailed workof the Executive Audit Committee (which considers thefindings of both internal and external audit) and by review
and discussion of quarterly reports on both risk andcompliance, confirms that it has considered the effectivenessof the system of internal controls in operation throughout
the financial year and up to the date of approval of theAnnual Report and Accounts.

MANAGING RISK AT THE BBC
The Executive Board oversees an embedded process that gives visibility to prioritised risks.
ReportBBC Divisions

Risk Management Team
Risk database
Common criteria used toevaluate risks consistently

Evaluate

Papers are presented byindividuals directly responsible

Specialist Functions

Governance

Divisions represented
and risks set in context

2-79

Executive
Audit Committee

Identify

ManageExecutive Board

View risks in light ofstrategy and objectives

Governance
Summary Governance Report continued

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2-80

Report of the Chairman of the Executive
Remuneration Committee
This is an abridged version. The full report is available on thewebsite at www.bbc.co.uk and in the extended governance pdf
in the download section.
Executive remuneration has come under increasing scrutiny inrecent months and, in February 2009, the BBC Trust requested
that the BBC Executive Board undertake a thorough review of its
senior management remuneration policy and consider how ourapproach could be modified to respond to the current economic
climate. We responded by putting in place a series of measures thatwill reduce the amount spent on senior managers by 25% over the
next three years:• BBC Executive pay was frozen for four years.
• Bonuses for BBC Executives were removed indefinitely.
• Senior management pay was frozen and all senior management
bonuses were removed for two years.
• The BBC pledged to reduce the number of senior managers
by 18% over a four year period.
As a result, a senior manager joining or remaining at the BBC can
expect significantly less remuneration in real terms than commercial
counterparts.
In carrying out this review, the Executive aimed to achieve a difficultbalance between attracting and retaining the talented staff needed
to lead the BBC and to continue delivering outstanding content,with the need to ensure that it continues to offer licence fee payers
value for money in a period in which many of them have experienced
the negative effects of the recession.
The review also took into account the commercial pressures thatthe BBC faces, and we saw evidence that the economic downturn
had resulted in fundamental change to market practices with regard
to executive remuneration.
I am pleased to report that in the few months since the publicationof our report we have already made progress. We have reduced
the number of senior managers by 15 (2.3%) and we have reduced
the total paybill for the period October 2009-April 2010 by£6.8million (8.6%). We will maintain this momentum, and see evengreater reduction in numbers and paybill this year. The Executive
Remuneration Committee will continue to review progress.
This remains a complex and challenging task, but I believe that wehave thoroughly reviewed all of the relevant internal and external
factors and have arrived at a remuneration strategy and a set of
medium term measures that provide the confidence that our
responsibilities are being met.
	Marcus Agius
Chairman of the Executive Remuneration
Committee
16 June 2010

Executive Board Remuneration Report
This report sets out the BBC’s remuneration policy anddetails the remuneration received by the members of the
Executive Board. It has been prepared on the basis that therequirements of the Large and Medium-sized Companies andGroups (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 and thoseof the Financial Services Authority apply to the BBC whereverthese disclosure provisions are relevant. The sections on
pensions and remuneration received by the Executive Board
members are audited by KPMG LLP.

Complying with the 2006 FRC Combined Code on
Corporate Governance, the ERC takes specialist advice
from external professional advisers on some matters,
and particularly those relating to market practice. During
the year, independent advice was received fromPricewaterhouseCoopers.

Remuneration Committees: constitution and operation
The Remuneration and Appointments Committee (RAC)of the BBC Trust is responsible for setting the remuneration
strategy for the Executive Board and is responsible for all
aspects of the remuneration of the Director-General andthe non-executive Directors.
The Executive Remuneration Committee (ERC) is responsiblefor implementing the agreed strategy for all executive
members of the Executive Board, with the exception of the
Director-General. Its members are non-executive Directors:
Marcus Agius (Chairman), Robert Webb and Val Gooding.
Meetings of the ERC are also attended, on invitation, by the
Director-General and the Director, BBC People, who advise
on matters relating to other members of the Executive Boardand the overall performance of the BBC. When mattersconcerning the remuneration of the Director, BBC People
are considered, they are not present. The ERC has access tointernal expertise through the BBC’s Reward Director who
also attends the meetings.

Remuneration of non-executive Directors
Non-executive Directors’ fees are determined by the Trust.
Remuneration of executive directors
The strategy that has been set by the Trust is to provide
remuneration that attracts, motivates and retains the key
talent required to lead the BBC and to deliver outstanding
public service broadcasting, whilst also recognising the BBC’s
status as a publicly funded corporation which must deliver
value to the licence fee payer.
Each year the ERC reviews independently provided market
pay data to support it in its decision making on remuneration,and ensure that levels of pay are consistent with the agreed
strategy. As basic salaries for all executive directors was frozen
in 2009, no market comparison was undertaken.
Further details on each component of the remuneration of
executive directors are provided in the following paragraphs.
Base pay
In determining base pay the ERC takes into account thebase pay of the BBC’s principal competitors and theother organisations with which it competes for talent; theaffordability of the BBC to reward its executives; and theperformance of the executive. Base pay is aligned at aroundTable 2-16

Remuneration received
The remuneration of the Executive Board members and the Trustees during the year is shown below:

Joined 1 June 2009

Stephen Kelly

Left 28 February 2009

Director, MC&A
Sharon Baylay

Joined 5 May 2009

Annualbonus£000

Taxablebenefits
£000

Other
remuneration5
£000

Total
remuneration
2009/10£000

Total
remuneration
2008/09
£000

267

–

12

49

328

–

–

–

–

–

–

396

281

–

13

51

345

–

Director, Vision
Jana Bennett

415

–

15

87

517

515

Deputy Director-General
Mark Byford

475

–

13

–

488

485

365

–

15

72

452

403

–

–

–

–

–

248

Director, Audio & MusicTim Davie1
Jenny Abramsky

Retired 30 September 2008

Director, Future
Media & Technology
Erik Huggers

Joined 1 August 2008

330

–

15

62

407

274

Ashley Highfield

Left 30 June 2008

–

–

–

–

–

124

352

–

14

68

434

429

Chief Financial Officer
Zarin Patel
Director, BBC North
Peter Salmon

Joined 1 November 2009

156

–

6

31

193

–

Chief Executive Officer,
BBC Worldwide
John Smith4

Stepped down
30 September 2009

200

141

7

–

348

480

668

–

7

163

838

834

335
3,844

–
141

21
138

63
646

Fee/base
pay4£000

Annualbonus£000

Taxablebenefits
£000

Other
remuneration6
£000

419
4,769
Total
remuneration
2009/10
£000

413
4,601
Total
remuneration
2008/09£000

Non-executive Directors7
Marcus Agius

51

–

–

–

51

50

Val Gooding2

37

–

–

–

37

35

Mike Lynch

36

–

–

–

36

35

David Robbie

41

–

–

–

41

40

Samir Shah

36

–

–

–

36

35

Robert Webb3

83

–

–

–

83

40

284
4,128

–
141

–
138

–
646

284
5,053
662
5,715

235
4,836
677
5,513

Director-General
Mark Thompson
Chief Operating Officer
Caroline Thomson
Total executive directors

Total non-executive Directors
Total Executive Board
Total Trustees
Total

on 1 october 2008 Tim davie was appointed as director, audio & music. prior to this appointment he was director, mc&a.
val gooding was appointed chair of Fair Trading committee 1/2/10.
robert webb ceased to be chair of Fair Trading committee 30/9/09. From 1 october 2009 he was appointed as non-executive chairman of both BBc commercial holdings limited andBBc worldwide limited. in recognition of these additional responsibilities he received fees of £45,000 during the 2009/10 financial year.
4
John smith stepped down from the BBc Board on 30/9/09. The base pay detailed is for the six months that he was an executive director. Base pay for the year was £420,000. Benefits
have been pro-rated. The bonus payment shown represents a payment for the whole financial year, in addition to which an equal amount has been invested into the 2010-2013 deferredbonus scheme. The maximum payout under the lTip has increased to 25%, effective for the 2009-2012 scheme. Total remuneration for the year was £823,000 as disclosed in the BBc
worldwide annual review.
5
The BBc introduced a salary sacrifice arrangement on 1 June 2008 for members who joined the pension scheme before 1 november 2006, and those directors as indicated in the table
above participated in the arrangement. The terms and conditions of employment were changed for those employees opting for the salary sacrifice arrangement and as a result employee
pension contributions made via the salary sacrifice arrangement have been treated as employer contributions, with a corresponding reduction in salary. Base salaries for executive directors
have not been adjusted to reflect the impact of salary sacrifice to enable like for like comparison with prior years. The total salary sacrifice by executive directors was £77,060 (2009: £84,704).
6other remuneration relates to pension arrangements; providing cash supplements for directors subject to the maximum annual limit.
7
non-executive directors are appointed initially for a period of two years, except the senior independent director, who is appointed for an initial three-year period.
1
2
3

2-81
Governance

Executive directors
Director, BBC People
Lucy Adams

Fee/base
pay4£000

Governance
Summary Governance Report continued

Table 2-17

Defined benefit schemes
Details of defined benefit entitlements are shown below:
Transfervalue ofaccruedpension at
31 March
2009
£000
–
–
212
3,406
57
7

Director’s
contributions(excluding
contributions
paid via thesalary sacrificearrangement)
£000
–
–
–
–
–
–

Increase/(decrease)in transfer
value lessdirector’s
contributions
£000
11
10
35
276
35
12

Age as at
31 March
2010
45
41
54
51
42
37

Increase/(decrease)in accrued
pensionover year
£000
2
2
3
9
2
2

Total
accruedpension at
31 March
2010
£000
2
2
16
215
10
4

Transfervalue ofaccruedpension at
31 March
2010
£000
11
10
247
3,682
92
19

Zarin PatelPeter Salmon4

49
53

3
2

24
7

284
107

220
73

–
–

64
34

John Smith5Mark Thompson
Caroline Thomson

52
52
55

(26)
3
6

183
12
73

3,250
167
1,460

3,673
130
1,475

–
–
–

(423)
37
(15)

Executive directors
Lucy Adams1
Sharon Baylay2
Jana Bennett
Mark Byford
Tim Davie
Erik Huggers3

lucy adams was appointed as a director on 1 June 2009 and joined the scheme on 1 July 2009. she is a career average Benefits member with less than two years’ service, and so she is notentitled to a deferred pension at 31 march 2010. however, to be consistent with the other members, we have calculated and valued her accrued deferred pension benefits.
sharon Baylay was appointed as a director on 5 may 2009 and joined the scheme on 1 June 2009. she is a career average Benefits member with less than two years’ service, and so she is
not entitled to a deferred pension at 31 march 2010. however, to be consistent with the other members, we have calculated and valued her accrued deferred pension benefits.
3erik huggers is a career average Benefits member who had less than two years’ service at 31 march 2009 and so he was not entitled to a deferred pension at that date. however, to beconsistent with the other members at 31 march 2009 we have calculated and valued his accrued deferred pension benefits as at 31 march 2009.
4
peter salmon is a new Benefits member who was appointed as a director on 1 november 2009, although he joined the scheme on 1 october 2006. The figures shown include the period
before he was appointed as a director.
5
John smith resigned as a director on 30 september 2009 but he is still an active member of the scheme at 31 march 2010, therefore his accrued pension as at 31 march 2010 has beenvalued.
No payments in respect of termination or compensation for loss of office were paid to or receivable by Executive Board members during the year.
1

2

Table 2-18

LTIP vesting schedule for BBC Worldwide
Performance ranking for BBC Worldwide
Upper quartile or above
MedianBelow median

LTIP payment
20% of base salary (25% for 2009-12 Scheme) and 100% match of deferred bonus
10% of base salary, and 50% match of deferred bonus
Nothing vests

Notes
1 Straight line pro-ration applies between each of the vesting points above.
2 50% of the amount of any deferred annual bonus is also forfeited if performance is below the lower quartile.

Table 2-19

LTIP vesting for CEO of BBC Worldwide
Governance

2-82
LTIP award

Bonusdeferred£000

End ofperformance
periodLTIP
award
vested£000

Deferredbonus matching
award vested
£000s

Total
vested£000s

a80March 2010

b
88

c
80

a+b+c
248

Total
potential(at target)
£000s
a+b+d
176
147

Total
potential(at maximum)
£000s
a+c+e
264
248

LTIP 2007 to 2010

Table 2-20

LTIP potential vesting in 2011 to 2012 for CEO of BBC Worldwide

LTIP award
2008 to 20112009 to 2012

Bonusdeferred
£000s
a
88
69

End ofperformance
periodMarch 2011
March 2012

Potential
LTIP vesting(at target)
£000s
b
44
44

Potential
LTIP vesting(at maximum)
£000s
c
88
110

Notes
1. LTIP 2008-2011 for performance below lower quartile 50% of deferred bonus is forfeited.
2. Potential LTIP vesting is based on current earnings and rounded to nearest 1,000.

Potential
deferred bonus
matching award(at target)
£000s
d
44
34

Potential
deferred bonus
matching(at maximum)
£000s
e
88
69

have been replaced by a cash supplement paid on pensionablesalary above the maximum annual limit. See Table 2-16.
Any participating employee who reaches or exceeds theLifetime Allowance (£1.75million for 2009/10) may opt out of
the Pension Scheme and instead receive a cash supplement.
Employment contracts
Employment contracts of executive directors have a notice
period of a maximum of 12 months, and are subject to earlier
termination for cause. As at 31 March 2010 the unexpired
term of each executive director was a maximum of 12months. There is no contractual entitlement to any additional
remuneration in the event of early termination other than in
the case of termination for reason of redundancy.
Outside interests
With the prior agreement of the Director-General and theNominations Committee, executive members of the
Executive Board may hold one remunerated external
directorship with up to 15 days per year permitted to fulfil
these duties. Remuneration which arises from directorships
may be retained by the executive member. Executive directors
may also hold non-remunerated posts outside the BBC.
During the year no executive director held any other
remunerated external directorship. To obtain the Executive
Board’s register of interests visit www.bbc.co.uk/aboutthebbc/
running/executive/eb.
The BBC’s commercial businesses
The CEO of BBC Worldwide (the commercial subsidiary of theBBC) was a member of the Executive Board for six months ofthe year. He participates in the annual bonus plan and long-term
incentive plan (LTIP) of BBC Worldwide. These plans are notfunded by the licence fee and the full costs of base pay, annual
bonus and the LTIP are self-funded by the commercial revenuesof BBC Worldwide.
The CEO of BBC Worldwide is eligible for a maximum annual
bonus of 55% of base pay under the plan (increased from 50%
in April 2009), determined principally by performance against
profit targets. Up to 75% of the previous year’s annual bonus
may be deferred into the LTIP.
The maximum payout under the LTIP is 25% of base pay,
and additionally a potential 100% match of deferred annual
bonus. Awards, including the matching element, made under
the scheme are subject to two performance measures: Profit
Growth (75% weighting) and Return on Sales growth (25%weighting), measured over a three year period and relative
to a comparator group of at least 15 other international
media companies. The members of the comparator groupare available in the extended Governance section atwww.bbc.co.uk/annualreport.
BBC Worldwide must be ranked at least at the median of
the comparator group for any of the award to vest. Maximum
vesting is achieved for a ranking at the upper quartile or above.
There is a straight-line vesting scale between each point. The
vesting schedule is shown in the Table 2-18.

2-83
Governancethe market median for total remuneration, discounted bya factor of 50-80% ensuring that the BBC does not lead themarket on executive pay in the media sector.
Variable pay
A limited element of variable pay, linked to the achievementof key objectives and overall contribution to BBC performance,
is provided. Executive directors are eligible for an annual bonusof up to a maximum of 10% of base pay, of which up to 6% is
for the achievement of divisional value-for-money targets, andup to 4% is for the achievement of divisional transformational
objectives. During the year the annual bonus scheme for
executive directors (with the exception of the CEO of BBC
Worldwide) was suspended indefinitely. As a result nodiscretionary bonuses were paid in 2010.
With regard to the CEO of BBC Worldwide, the BBC’s
remuneration strategy recognises that as a commercially
funded business, it is appropriate that its CEO participatesin the annual bonus and the long-term incentive plans of
BBC Worldwide.
Benefits
In addition to pensions, the other main contractual benefits
are a car and fuel allowance, private health insurance, andlife assurance. The Director-General and Deputy DirectorGeneral are entitled to a chauffeur-driven car under earlier
arrangements. The Director-General has no entitlement toa personal car allowance or fuel allowance.
PensionMembers of the Executive Board are eligible to participate in
the BBC Pension Scheme, which provides for pension benefits
on a defined benefit basis.
For an employee joining the Pension Scheme before
1 November 2006, the accrual rate is 1/60th of the final
pensionable salary for each year of service with pensionablesalary being base pay, including London Weighting, but notincluding any bonuses or other payments. For employees inthis group the normal pensionable age is 60. For an employee
who joined on or after the 1 November 2006 the accrual
rate is 1.67% of their pensionable pay for each year of service,adjusted in line with inflation. For employees in this group thenormal pensionable age is 65.
The majority of the executive directors have a normal
pensionable age of 60 but may continue in employment to age
65. The normal retirement date for Erik Huggers, Sharon Baylay
and Lucy Adams is 65 as they are Career Average Benefits
members of the Pension Scheme. For those who joined thePension Scheme after 31 May 1989 earnings are subject to the
maximum annual limit (£123,600 per annum for 2009/10). No
maximum annual limit is applied to those who joined on or
before 31 May 1989. The Pension Scheme provides for early
retirement on medical grounds and life assurance of four times
pensionable pay up to a prescribed limit.
A variety of arrangements were put in place, for membersof the Executive Board who joined on or after 1 June 1989,
and whose pensionable pay exceeds the maximum annual
limit, including funded and unfunded arrangements outside of
the Pension Scheme. Since 1 April 2006 these arrangements

BBC: focusing
on thebottom line

This section gives the BBC’s key financial
information.
Here we share the context of our financial strategy and ourongoing efficiency story: on-target for nearly £2billion cumulative
efficiency savings over five years.
We lay out our key financial data and accounts, and supporting
notes – including a service-by-service breakdown of spend.
More information can be found in the extended Finance sectionin the download centre at www.bbc.co.uk/annualreport.
We give headline information on some activities ‘beyond
broadcast’ such as the environment and outreach, and where
to go for more information.

Picture shows Evan Davis interviewing business leaders for BBC Radio 4’s The Bottom Line, which also airson the BBC World Service, and is filmed for the BBC News and World News channels.

Financial
statements

2-85

Financialstatements

Financial statements

Financial overview“We must continually manage ourbusiness so that we meet our public
purposes, and satisfy our licence fee
payers of a job well done.”zarin Patel
Chief Financial Officer

KPIs
Efficiency• More than £550million saved since the start of ourcurrent efficiency programme in April 2008, including£316million this year.
• On target to achieve our 3% annual savings target –equivalent to nearly £2billion (£1.8billion net), to be
re-invested in content, infrastructure and services.

Gross efficiency savings £mProjected

2,000

548

2bn

08/09 09/10 10/11 11/12 12/13

Total

1,500

480

1,000

404
316

500

0

LICENCE FEE COLLECTION• Cost of collection and evasion maintained at 8.7% of thelicence fee for third consecutive year.
• More people are paying for their television licence online,
by direct debit and by telephone.

Financialstatements

2-86

BBC WORLDWIDE Profit• Despite the global economic crisis, BBC Worldwide
increased its sales year-on-year by 7%, and its statutory
profit was up to a record £145million with operating
margins up from 11% to 14%.
• BBC Worldwide has returned £837million in dividends
and programme investments since 2004.

237

Licence fee collection/evasion %
07/08
08/09
09/10

8.7
8.7
8.7

BBC Worldwide statutory profit before
specific items, interest and tax £m
07/08
118
106
08/09
145*
09/10
2007/08 figures are uk gaaP. other years are ifrs.
* specific items are significant items which are highlighted by virtueof their size or importance to enable a full understanding of BBc
Worldwide’s performance.

OUR CONTINUING FOCUS IS ON DELIVERING THE BEST POSSIBLE
VALUE FOR LICENCE FEE PAYERS. THAT’S OUR BOTTOM LINE,AND IT MEANS FOCUSING ON IMPROVING EFFICIENCY AND
GENERATING MAXIMUM RETURNS ON OUR ASSETS.
By 2013, we will have delivered efficiency savings
totalling nearly £2billion, meeting our 3% annual
savings target.

We have a number of core objectives and metrics that allow us
to measure our performance and efficiency. These are more
important indicators for us than profitability and growth targets.
Like most other public sector organisations, the BBC has
adopted IFRS for the first time in 2009/10. While this does
not impact our cash flows or underlying performance,
the adoption of IFRS changes the way we recognise andmeasure some of our property leases and long-term,
outsourced service contracts. Our financial statements
include a reconciliation between IFRS and UK GAAP.
EFFICIENCY• Maximising our income by collecting the licence fee
as efficiently as we can
Our income is affected by the number of new households,
the level of licence fee evasion, and by the level of the licence
fee itself. Gross income is up £85million or 2% this year,
reflecting the increased value of the licence fee (£76million)
and household growth (£9million). The number of newhouseholds was lower than anticipated due to the recession,
with growth of just 0.5%, compared to a budget of 0.8%.
We have been able to mitigate the contraction in household
growth by holding down our costs, maintaining the total costof collection and evasion at 8.7%. The total cost has reduced
by 40% in relative terms, from 14.4% in 2000, to just 8.7%
in 2010.

2-87
Financialstatements

We are now two years into our five-year efficiency
programme. By 2013, the work we have already done will
generate efficiency savings of £1,453million, which is equivalent
to 73% of our total savings target. Plans are now in place todeliver a further £0.5billion.
We have succeeded in reducing licence fee evasion to just
5.2% of income, a 0.1% improvement on 2008/09. This is
despite a very tough economic environment, and slower than
expected growth in the number of new households (0.5%
growth compared to budgeted 0.8%).
Our financial statements show a surplus of £478million(2009: £244million), including an exceptional one-off benefitof £334million resulting from actions taken to reduce future
pension costs through the changes to early retirement provision.
BBC Worldwide has achieved a significant increase inprofitability this year from £106million to £145million*, bygrowing its new businesses areas. This improved performance
will benefit the BBC through increased returns to invest in
original programming. Exchange gains have helped offset the
impact of difficult economic conditions, which particularly
impacted UK businesses.
The BBC’s Strategy Review, Putting Quality First, re-enforces
our commitment to making the licence fee work harder. We
are looking ahead to ensure that we have robust financial
management, enabling us to continue to place quality andaudience value at the heart of our agenda.
The BBC has a unique funding structure, with Public Service
Broadcasting financed by the licence fee, dividends fromthe BBC’s commercial activities, and grant-in-aid funding tosupport the World Service.

Financial statements
Financial overview continued

The current economic environment is tough for everybody.
In these difficult circumstances, we have tried to make iteasier for people to pay their licence fee. Collection is more
flexible now than ever before, and is supported by a new,more customer-friendly website, and active communication
programmes like the ‘push a little button’ campaign to raise
public awareness. This has helped reduce evasion to 5.2%,
whilst the level of complaints has fallen slightly from 0.14%
to 0.12% of television licences.
The launch of the new website means that every licence fee
payer can now see their licence online, as well as pay for theirlicence and change their details. As a result, the number ofself-serve transactions has increased again this year from 35%
to 44%. The level of direct debit payments has also increased
again, to 68%.

• Making the BBC as efficient as possible, and providing
good value for money
We have now completed the first two years of our fiveyear efficiency programme, delivering cumulative savings of£553million so far, with one-off costs of £85million. By 2013,
the work we have already done will ultimately generate
efficiency savings of £1,453million, equivalent to 73% of our
total target. Over the next three years, we will implement
further initiatives, which will generate an additional £0.5billionof savings so that by 2013, we will deliver total cumulative
efficiency savings of nearly £2billion (£1.8billion net).
This is a significant achievement given the internal and external
challenges we have faced, including a subdued commercial
property market, which has meant we have had to adapt
our efficiency plans to respond.

Table 2-21

Continuous Improvement programme – efficiency savings by category% of totalsavings

Savings category

People13%

We have reduced the number of people in the organisation, focusing staff on
editorial priorities that audiences really value. We have also committed to reduce
our spending on top talent and on senior managers. For the fourth consecutive
year, our paybill has increased by less than inflation.

Production and process
improvement29%

We are making the most of new technology to improve our programmes, cut
our costs, and improve the skills of our people. New approaches have helped
us become more efficient in everything we do, from scheduling to shooting. For
example, our Multimedia Newsroom has helped us deliver output more efficiently
across TV, radio and online.

Procurement and contracts

23%

We are freeing up funds for production, making savings from bulk buying,outsourcing, and renegotiating contracts. We have renegotiated contracts to deliver
savings without damaging quality, including our major transmission contracts, andsubtitling and sign language services.

Property and technology

7%

Major projects like the Digital Media Initiative are helping us transform the way wework. For example, our move to tapeless digital production allows us to create
content more efficiently than ever before. We will see increased savings as we
realise the full benefits of our property and technology modernisation programme.

Focusing on content quality

28%

We are shifting our focus to the kind of output that our audiences really appreciate.
We have spent less on programmes that deliver lower value, and directed money
towards programmes that deliver the highest quality and maximum audience
impact, such as A History of the World in 100 Objects and The Seven Ages of Britain.

Chart 2-8

Income £m

UK GAAP 07/08
IFRS 08/09
IFRS 09/10
Licence fee

Financialstatements

2-88

4,415
4,661
4,790
Other

Income• Licence fee income has grown £85million as a result of the£3 increase per licence, lower evasion rates and an increasein the number of licences issued.
• It is now clear that the overall costs of digital switchover willbe less than anticipated and the BBC will repay £132millionof underspend to the Government.
• Adjusting for this repayment, licence fee income, overall, showsa decline, as the underspend is not recognised as income.
• Other Income is up £177million to £1,344million, due primarily
to BBC Worldwide growth.

MAXIMISING THE IMPACT OF THE LICENCE FEE• Maximising the returns we make on programmes paid
for by the licence fee
Our main commercial subsidiary, BBC Worldwide, wascreated to generate the maximum return on programmes
paid for by licence fee payers. To achieve this, it sells BBC
programmes, formats, and merchandise across the world.
BBC Worldwide has had a challenging but successful year,with revenues (including intra-group transactions and share
Chart 2-9

Operating expenditure £m

UK GAAP 07/08
IFRS 08/09
IFRS 09/10
Public Services Broadcasting Content
Public Services Broadcasting Other

4,477
4,510
4,268
Infrastructure and support
Otherof joint venture income) up by 7% to £1,074million, andstatutory profit before specific items, interest and tax also
increasing by 36% to £145million this year. Operating margins
are up from 11% to 14%.
This performance has allowed BBC Worldwide to provide
significant returns to the BBC, including £78million invested
in BBC programmes, and £32million returned to the BBC
through dividends. BBC Worldwide has also declared afurther dividend for 2009/10, which will take total dividends
to £74million, a year-on-year increase of £5million. Since
2004, this means that BBC Worldwide has now returned£837million to the BBC in dividends and investment in
BBC programmes.
BBC Worldwide achieved revenue growth throughgeographical expansion, including channel launches inAustralasia, Africa, Scandinavia, and Latin America; focusing
on leading brands like Lonely Planet and Top Gear; andmaximising sales from its production investments, including
Dancing with the Stars, the international version of the BBC’s
Strictly Come Dancing. Improved performance in the DigitalMedia business, and other cost cutting measures have helped
increase profitability. During the year, BBC Worldwide took
full ownership of 2entertain (the DVD operation formerly
40%-owned by Woolworths Group plc) for £17million,
thereby securing distribution of BBC and other quality
UK content.
Whilst the effect of the UK economic downturn was mostacutely felt in advertising and retail based businesses, BBC
Worldwide’s overseas operations benefited from theweakness of Sterling. This generated exchange gains, which
helped offset difficult trading conditions. However, theweakness of Sterling against the Australian Dollar has required
BBC Worldwide to reduce the carrying value of Lonely
Planet, its travel information business, despite strong operating
performance. If the exchange rates at 28 February 2010,
when the impairment testing was performed, had remained
consistent with those at 31 March 2009, the recoverable value
would have exceeded the carrying value and no impairment
charge would have been recorded.
Operating expenditure• The BBC’s Continuous Improvement programme has
been effective in delivering cumulative efficiency savings of£316million in the year, and £553million to date.
• UK PSB content spend is regulated by the BBC Trust throughservice licences.
• Two service licence budgets (2009: two) were outside the
10% tolerance this year (BBC Radio 3 and BBC HD).

2-89
Financialstatements

We have been running pan-BBC efficiency programmes since
2000, and this is now an integral part of the way we run thebusiness. Our current Continuous Improvement programme
is looking at a number of new ways of saving money. These
include adapting the way we make programmes, making
greater use of new technology, and changing the way we work
as an organisation. The latter requires behavioural changes,
which are by nature more complex, but which will deliver
sustainable, long-term financial and creative benefits.
The new BBC Scotland headquarters in Pacific Quay is a good
example. It’s a more efficient building, which is cheaper to run,but it has also allowed us to pioneer technological advances liketapeless production, and reduced the number of people weneed, as they can now work across TV, radio, and online.
These changes in workflow and technology will help BBC
Scotland deliver efficiencies of approximately 30% over five
years. Most importantly, these efficiencies are sustainable, anddemonstrate the difference that a more effective working
environment can make to a creative organisation. We werealso able to take a more innovative approach to the fundingof the building, which avoided a large capital outlay upfront
and reduced risks associated with construction and technicalfit-out.
Pacific Quay is an example of efficiency and innovation on a
grand scale, but smaller scale changes are just as important,from better utilisation of our production facilities, to more
efficient production schedules. Every efficiency saving allows
us to invest more in the quality of our content. Examples thisyear include increasing our investment in HD and spending£25.5million more in children’s programming by 2013.

Financial statements
Financial overview continued

BBC Worldwide will continue to focus on international
activities, brands and online operations, so that it can continue
providing value to the BBC and licence fee payers.
BBC World News also suffered a fall in advertising sales, partly
offset by increased subscription income from cable and satellite
providers, with total revenue dropping just 2% to £62.9million(including intra-group income). Trading losses were more thanoffset by foreign exchange gains, resulting in statutory PBIT of£3.6million. World News achieved record revenues in March
2010, and has recently implemented cost-cutting measures toreverse trading losses.
BBC Studios and Post Production has also been affectedby the current downturn, and a rise in the number of
productions moving out of London. Despite this, the businesshas delivered revenues of £59.8million (including intra-group
income) and a statutory operating profit before restructuringof £0.4million, mainly as a result of tighter cost control.
• Spreading the benefit of the licence fee across thewhole of the UK
The BBC is for all licence fee payers, across absolutely every
corner of the UK, and we are committed to growing thewhole country’s creative industries and production talent.
That is why one of our key metrics is the proportion of money
we spend on network television outside of London. 50% of
our network television programming will be made outside
London by 2016, and the Nations will account for 12% of
our network spend by 2012, and 16% by 2016.
We are already on target to achieve this: as we reported
to Ofcom this year, total network television spend outside
London for the calendar year 2009 was 38% of our eligible
spend, up from 35% in 2008.
The increase was greatest in Scotland, where we increased thepercentage of eligible network output from 3.7% to 6.1% in2009, partly through landmark commissions, such as the Thisis Scotland season. A number of programme strands moved
from London during 2009/10, including The Review Show
(formerly Newsnight Review) to Glasgow.

Chart 2-10

Cash flows and net debt £m
300
200
100
0

Financialstatements

2-90

-100
-200

07/08

08/09

09/10

Net debt for DCMS borrowing limit

Cash

In Northern Ireland, we doubled the level of programmes
commissioned to 1.2% of eligible network output, with titles
such as the multi-award-winning Five Minutes of Heaven on
BBC Two.
In Wales, we increased the proportion of eligible network
television commissioned from 3.5% to 4.4%. With the openingof our new Drama Village in Cardiff Bay, this trend is set tocontinue. Casualty is one of the major shows set to move
to Drama Village in 2011.
These are just a part of our clear long-term commitment to
spread the BBC’s investment in content more widely acrossthe whole country. With production areas like Children’s andSport moving to Salford from 2011/12, this will be the biggest
shift we have ever seen in the geographical presence of theBBC. As part of our move to Salford, BBC Radio 5 live will
relocate from London to its new home in the North. This isa key part of our commitment to increase the proportionof network radio commissioned outside of London to 38%
from 2012.
According to an independent study of our economic impact
by Deloitte, BBC activity now supports around 7,000 jobs
in Glasgow, Cardiff and Bristol. This generates around£200million of economic value every year.
• Ensuring the licence fee supports the wider
creative economy
The economic impact study has also endorsed the BBC’s
important role as an investor in the UK’s creative economy.
It shows that for every £1 of licence fee spent, we generate£2 of value to licence fee payers. Our Strategy Review
includes a commitment to maintaining this level of impact.
We invest significant sums every year in independent
production companies, artists and contributors, as well as
external facilities and buying programmes. The fact that we dothis is a particularly important stabilising factor in tough times,
when investment by the commercial sector is under pressure.
This has certainly been the case in the last 18 months, andduring that time we have maintained our own levels of spend.
In the last year we invested £1.1billion in the UK creative
economy, and commissioned 40% of our television content
Managing our resources• UK PSB borrowings are limited by the DCMS, but these limits
exclude certain property leases. After adjusting net debt to exclude
these leases, PSB continues to operate well within the DCMS
borrowing limit for debt.
• UK PSB had net funds of £168million (2009: £46million) available
for use at the year end, of which £132million is repayable under
the DSHS.
• The BBC, as a whole, has £575million of available borrowings
under its current banking facilities.
• The BBC’s cash position has increased from £124million in 2009to £264million in 2010, of which £132million is due for repayment.
Net debt has improved by £173million to £3million.

Financial strategy and risk
The BBC is focused first and foremost on delivering great
programmes for the whole of the UK. We structure ourbusiness to deliver maximum value from the licence fee, forexample through our Continuous Improvement efficiency
programme. We are also driving more of the licence fee into
programmes by minimising overhead and support costs.
One way we do this is by outsourcing some support services
to expert providers, and minimising how much of the licence
fee is spent on these activities.
We structure our supply deals in different ways, according to
the competitive environment. In some markets, this means wehave shorter-term deals, with contracts put out to tender every
three to four years. In other cases we can achieve better value
through longer-term deals, where partnership, shared savings,
and new ways of working can deliver the greatest value.
Taking this approach means we can minimise the risk to thelicence fee payer, and guarantee an efficient and effective
service. The savings we make can then be invested in quality
content. Across our largest contracts, we have saved morethan £350million.

Chart 2-11

Net assets/(liabilities) £m
1600
1200
800
400
0
-400
-800

07/08

08/09

09/10

Adoption of IFRSThe BBC has prepared its financial statements using
International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) for the firsttime in 2009/10. This is consistent with the adoption of IFRS
in the wider public sector, and for Whole of Government
Accounts (WGA). 1 April 2008 is the transition date for our
first IFRS balance sheet.
As reported in previous Annual Reports, the mostsignificant impact of adoption relates to the recognition andmeasurement of leases under IFRS. Certain property leases
are now treated as finance leases rather than operatingleases, resulting in significantly higher assets and lease liabilities
being recognised on the balance sheet. However, the net
asset impact of this is only £159million. In addition, changes todisclosure requirements relating to operating leases and othercommitments have changed how we show these very longterm commitments.
These leasing and contractual commitments are not new.
They result from the way we manage our business. We havechosen to outsource a number of services that are not core
to programming or content making, including for example,
transmission services. This strategy has allowed the BBC tofocus on core delivery, improve value for money, and reducerisk. Our property strategy has allowed us to release the valueof our assets, through sale and leaseback, giving us the up front
cash to invest in programmes and services.
Many of these contracts are very long-term in nature. This
allows us to secure a better price, and gives us and ourcontractual partners certainty, subject to performance criteria.
As a result, on an annual basis, we have capital commitmentsof only £116million, which represents less than 2.5% of
total income, and variable contract commitments totalling£557million per annum.
It is important to note that the finance lease obligations
recognised on the balance sheet as a result of the adoption of
IFRS are excluded from the DCMS definition of borrowings
and therefore do not impact our borrowing limits.
Note 27 in the extended outline financial statements gives
more detail on the impact of adopting IFRS.
Net assets/(liabilities)• The financial statements show the BBC has net liabilities. In fact,
the BBC has net assets of £1.1billion, excluding the pension
scheme deficit of £1.6billion. The deficit represents a longterm liability.
• In aiming to deliver value for money the BBC has outsourced
a number of services, including transmission services.
• The BBC’s on balance sheet commitments, extend over a long
period. Only £116million of the BBC’s commitments are duein the next year (less than 2.5% of annual income).
• Licence fee income, under the Charter, is guaranteed until
2013, and we expect it to be extended thereafter. As such,the BBC has substantial financial flexibility to meet its future
obligations, whilst continuing to focus on delivering against the
public purposes.

2-91
Financialstatementsfrom independents. This is up from 37% the year before.
We also commissioned 14% of our eligible network radio
content from independents, an increase of 0.5%. External
suppliers received 26% of eligible BBC Online spend, slightly
exceeding its 25% target.
The amount we spend on the indie sector is only one
aspect of our support for the UK creative economy. The
other important one is partnerships. Since the launch of ourpartnerships programme in 2008, we have been working in
partnership with ITV, Channel 4, five and commercial radio
to support UK public service broadcasting and the wider UK
media sector.

Financial statements
Financial overview continued

Other current and future challenges
Pension obligations
Our 2008/09 Annual Report set out the need to continuallyreview our approach to pension provision, recognising that it
must remain affordable in the long-term.
Over the last 12 months, a combination of market uncertainty,
increased life expectancy, lower interest rates and anticipatedinflation rises have driven the accounting valuation of the BBC
Pension Scheme from a deficit of £0.1billion to a deficit of£1.6billion at 31 March 2010.
In order to value the pension, future pension payments(liabilities) are discounted back to today’s money using current
market interest yields on highly-rated corporate bonds. This
yield fell from 7.2% in 2009 to 5.5% in 2010, increasing pension
liabilities by £2.2billion. In addition, the inflation rate used
to determine the amount by which pensions grow each year
has increased from 2.9% in 2009 to 3.7% in 2010, which also
increases the value of pension liabilities by £0.9billion.
The value placed on the future pension payments is very
sensitive to the yield on corporate bonds and the assumed
inflation rate. For example, if the yield on corporate bonds had
been around 6.8% in 2010, the liabilities would have reduced
to a level that would have removed the deficit.
The increase in value of liabilities has cancelled out therecovery in the value of the Scheme’s assets and led to the£1.5billion increase in the deficit.
The accounting valuation is only a snapshot at a point in timeand is therefore impacted by relatively short-term market
fluctuations. In the long-term, the Scheme remains healthy, inthat it currently earns more from pension contributions andinvestment income than it pays out in pensions.

The BBC Pension Scheme is subject to a formal actuarial
valuation every three years, which is used to determine
the employer’s contributions. A formal valuation is being
undertaken as at 1 April 2010, and whilst the results will not
be known for some time, our estimate is for a deficit ofaround £1.5billion.
We began a programme of significant reform of our Scheme
in 2006, with the aim of containing costs and risks. The final
salary section of the Scheme was closed to new joiners, anda lower cost defined benefit, career-average section was
introduced. Employee contributions to the final salary sectionof the Scheme have been increasing steadily over recent years,
and rose to 7.5% from April 2010. The early payment terms
for the final salary section were also reviewed and amended
to reduce costs, giving an exceptional one-off increase inincome of £334million. Taken together, these changes havehelped make the Scheme more affordable for the BBC overthe long-term.
That said, we have a duty to safeguard the long-term health of
the Scheme. We have both a current deficit that needs to be
reduced and a longer term need to improve affordability of
the Scheme, which has been adversely affected by increasing
life expectancy and increased market volatility. Without
further reform, we predict that pension costs may continue
to rise, as people live longer and markets remain unstable.
We believe that it would be inappropriate to divert a higher
proportion of the licence fee to offset further pension cost
increases. Doing so would provide no guarantee that a similar
deficit would not occur in the future, and our income is notguaranteed in the longer-term, so it would be inappropriate
to take such a risk.
We have therefore announced a package of changes tothe benefits paid by the Scheme, with the aim of further
reducing risk and cost to the BBC. The changes are subject
to consultation, but we plan to include:

Chart 2-12

Movement in pension scheme deficit in the year £m
0
-500

(139)
Opening
net deficit

302

-1000

Financialstatements

2-92

1,806

-1500

Gain
of assets

-2000
-2500
-3000
-3500

(3,266)
Change inassumptions

214
Contributions

Past service
income(558)
Interest and current
service cost

(1,641)
Closing
net deficit

Other matters
Treasury policies
Our Treasury function manages the BBC’s financial risk, andensures that we can meet our obligations when they fall due,and remain within our borrowing limits and covenants.
The majority of the BBC’s activities are funded from thelicence fee, and, as a result, our borrowing facilities are
relatively low in comparison to our total annual cash outflow(£200million for Public Service Broadcasting, and £350million
for the commercial businesses). These facilities were put inplace in 2007/08 to ensure we are fully funded to 2012/13.
The facilities are with a select group of counterparties, withstrong credit ratings. They can be used to finance majortransactions, but other financing routes can also be utilised
where appropriate. For example, the properties at the BBC
North base in Salford are being leased.
One of the other financial risks we need to consider is
exposure to fluctuations in exchange rates. We have arelatively low number of foreign currency transactions, but
we still seek to reduce or eliminate the risk of volatility bytaking out forward currency contracts. These effectively fix
the sterling price of these transactions.

Chart 2-12 continued

The movement on the deficit on the BBC’s defined benefit pension
scheme results from:• Changes in the assumptions used to calculate the pension liability:
The discount rate, based on AA corporate bond yields, has
fallen from 7.2% to 5.5%, increasing the deficit by £2.2billion.
In addition, the inflation rate applied to expected future pension
payments has increased from 3% to 3.7%, adding £0.9billion to
the deficit.
• Gain on assets: A benefit of £1.8billion overall due to plan assets
achieving higher returns than expected as world equity markets
recover year-on-year.

Critical accounting policies
Critical accounting policies are those areas where the greatest
judgement needs to be exercised. For the BBC these include:• Pension scheme assumptions – although the assumptions
for financial reporting are market based, there are still
important decisions to be made in determining how the
BBC Pension Scheme’s liabilities compare to market indices.
A small change in assumptions can have a significant impact
on the valuation of the liabilities. The discount rate used forvaluations is a good example.
• Provisions – considerable judgement is required inaccounting for provisions, including determining how likely
it is that expenditure will be required by the BBC, andcalculating a best estimate. This can be very complex,
especially when there is a wide range of possible outcomes.
• Leases and managed services – we have to determine
whether a lease or arrangement has effectively transferred
the rights and obligations associated with the assets to theBBC. Given that finance leases are recognised as liabilities,
and operating leases are not, this can have a significant effecton the reported financial position of the BBC. However,under IFRS the full value of operating lease payments is
also disclosed.
• Impairment – sometimes an asset or investment may bedeemed to be impaired, because the benefits to be generated
from it are less than its cost. This requires an estimation of the
cash flows that will be realised in the future, and judgement isrequired in modelling possible outcomes.

Zarin Patel
Chief Financial Officer
16 June 2010

• Past service income: an amendment to the early retirement
arrangements results in a £334million reduction in past
service cost (net £302million).
• Contributions: payments made into the scheme by employees
and the BBC.
• Interest and current service cost: Includes a year’s interest charge
on the full pension liability of £463million and the current service
cost of £128million, being the cost of pension rights earned by
employees in the year.

2-93
Financialstatements• all sections of the defined benefit scheme will be closed to
new joiners and they will be offered membership of a new,defined contribution arrangement, where the BBC will
match employee contributions.
• current members of the Scheme will be offered a choiceof remaining within the Scheme, or joining the new defined
contribution arrangement. For members wishing to remain
within the Scheme, future salary increases for calculating
pension benefits will be capped at 1% per annum including
promotion increases.
Over the coming year, we will work closely with our staff,
the Trustees of the Scheme and trade unions to agree andimplement these reforms, which are needed to deliver
an affordable solution and safeguard the long-term healthof the Scheme for current and former employees.

Financial statements

Beyond broadcastingIn addition to the financial, commercial and business mattersthat the BBC is reporting on in this Annual Report andAccounts, the 2006 Companies Act requires us to record
our environmental and social activities.
The BBC has a presence across the UK, and with that comesa responsibility to behave sustainably, ethically and withconsideration towards our neighbours and those people
whose lives we touch.
Our environmental footprint arises from business operations which
include the buildings we occupy, staff travel, programme making andcommercial activities.
We have ambitious targets for reductions in energy, transport, water
and waste, and this year we rolled out a series of initiatives to cut our
carbon emissions, from low energy studio lighting, more intelligent
use of heating and cooling in our buildings to raising staff awarenessto encourage behaviour change.
Table 2-22

Charitable donations

Our environment targets – by 31 March 2013
Target2012/13

Performance
2009/10

Reduction in energy
consumed per FTE

-20%

-4%

Reduction in water
consumed per FTE

-25%

-3%

Reduction in waste tolandfill per FTE

-25%

-39%

Increase in rate ofrecycling

+75%

+51%

Reduction in CO2emissions per BBC user

-20%

-5%*

Area

* 2008/09 figure. 2009/10 figure not reported at time of publication.
Note: For detailed notes on our performance visit
www.bbc.co.uk/outreach.
As we approach the mid point in our five year strategy, we haveinitiated a review of our environmental efficiency. Our ambition
remains to be a sector leader in environmental and sustainable
best practice.
Financialstatements

2-94

BBC Outreachor example, BBC News School Report, now in its fourth year,
worked with over 700 schools across the UK to encourage andenable 11-14 year old students to write and publish their own news
reports. The project aims to improve young people’s representationand stimulate their political interest – particularly important in anelection year. It also produces content for the broader audience, withwidespread coverage across regional stations as well as nationally,
including reports on the One, Six and Ten O’Clock News broadcasts.
To find out more about our Outreach activities see
www.bbc.co.uk/outreach.
F

The BBC and the environment

Corporate responsibility, outreach and partnership work is central
to the BBC. Our focus is on reaching underserved audiences anddeliver added value that goes beyond the content we broadcast on
television, radio and online.
We have a wide range of outreach activities where we try to involve
audiences in active participation, such as community volunteering,taking part in opportunities to shape BBC output, or using ourcontent to help with learning.

We broadcast charity appeals to raise awareness of – and funds tosupport – a wide range of different UK charities. Information on the
BBC’s corporate charities can be found here:• BBC Children in Need: www.bbc.co.uk/pudsey.
• BBC Performing Arts Fund: www.bbc.co.uk/performingartsfund.
• BBC Wildlife Fund: www.bbc.co.uk/wild.
• BBC World Service Trust: www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/trust.
We also work closely with Comic Relief and Sport Relief, and carry
weekly appeals on BBC Radio 4 and the monthly Lifeline appeal
on BBC One. Nations and Regions services carry their own local
appeals. The BBC does not make cash donations to charities.
BBC Children in Need raised £39million as part of its appeal season
in November, while in March Sport Relief raised over £30million.
Last year we provided charities with services with a cash equivalentvalue of £384,000 (2009: £330,000). In addition to broadcast appeals,
BBC commercial businesses donated £6,843 to charities during theyear (2009: £1,400).

Corporate responsibility

During the year, we once again took part in Business in theCommunity’s Corporate Responsibility Index, maintaining our
Platinum ranking. This reflects the high standards we aim to achieve inmanaging our business responsibly. We also participate in the London
Benchmarking Group survey, the CSR Media Forum, the Corporate
Responsibility Group, and the Associate Parliamentary Corporate
Responsibility Group.
For more information about all of these activities, visit
www.bbc.co.uk/outreach and follow the links.

This summary financial statement contains the BBC’s Income
Statement, Balance Sheet and Cash Flow Statement, as well assome detailed notes to help explain them. These include the key
headline data from the full financial statements and Governancereport, which are available online in the download centre atwww.bbc.co.uk/annualreport.
The summary financial statement does not contain sufficient
information to allow a full understanding of the results and state ofaffairs of the BBC Group, its Governance arrangements and of its
policies and arrangements concerning directors’ remuneration as
are provided by the full annual financial statements and reports.

Independent Auditor’s statement to theTrustees of the British Broadcasting
Corporation (BBC)We have examined the summary financial statement which
comprises the Summary Consolidated Income Statement,
Summary Consolidated Balance Sheet, Summary Consolidated
Cash Flow Statement and Executive Board Remuneration Report.
The BBC’s Trustees have engaged us to examine the summary
financial statement which has been prepared as if the BBC werea quoted company and entitled to prepare such a statement under
Section 426 of the Companies Act 2006.
This statement is made solely to the BBC’S Trustees as a body onterms we have agreed. Our work has been undertaken so that wemight state to the BBC’s Trustees those matters we are required
to state to them in such a statement and for no other purpose. To
the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume
responsibility to anyone other than the BBC and the BBC’s Trustees
as a body, for our work, for this statement, or for the opinions wehave formed.
Respective responsibilities of directors, Trustees andauditors
The Trustees and Executive Board are responsible for preparing
the BBC Executive’s review and assessment as if Section 428 of theCompanies Act 2006 applied to the BBC and it werea quoted company.
Our responsibility, in accordance with the terms of our engagement
is to report to you our opinion on the consistency of thesummary financial statement within the BBC Executive’s review
and assessment with the full annual financial statements and the
Executive Board Remuneration Report, and its compliance with therelevant requirements of section 428 of the Companies Act 2006
and the regulations made thereunder as if they applied to the BBC
and it were a quoted company.
We also read the other information contained in the BBC
Executive’s review and assessment and consider the implications forour report if we become aware of any apparent misstatements ormaterial inconsistencies with the summary financial statement.

The summary financial statement, including the summary
Governance report and Executive Remuneration Report, wasapproved by the Executive Board on 16 June 2010 and signed
on its behalf by:

Mark Thompson
Director-General

Zarin Patel
	C

Basis of opinion
We conducted our work in accordance with Bulletin 2008/3
The auditor’s statement on the summary financial statement
issued by the Auditing Practices Board. Our report on the BBC’s
full annual financial statements describes the basis of our audit
opinion on those financial statements and the Executive Board
Remuneration Report.
OpinionIn our opinion the summary financial statement is consistent
with the full annual financial statements and the Executive Board
Remuneration Report of the BBC for the year ended 31 March2010 and complies with the applicable requirements of section 428
of the Companies Act 2006 and the regulations made thereunder
as if they applied to the BBC and it were a quoted company.

Scott Cormack
For and on behalf of KPMG LLP, Statutory Auditor
Chartered Accountants
8 Salisbury Square
London EC4Y 8BB
16 June 2010

2-95
Financialstatements

Summary financial statement

Financial statements

Summary Consolidated income statement
For the year ended 31 March 2010

Note

Continuing operations:
Licence fee income
Other income and revenue
Total income

1

2010
£m

2009
£m

3,446.8
1,343.6

3,494.4
1,166.4

4,790.4

4,660.8(4,540.5)(4,469.6)

Exceptional pension income

334.1

–

Restructuring costs(61.9)(40.3)(4,268.3)
522.1(4,509.9)
150.9

2.0
39.0
36.9
(87.7)
512.3(34.7)

(2.9)
15.9
29.8
57.6
251.3
(7.5)

477.6

243.8

Attributable to:BBC
Minority interest

473.3
4.3

242.7
1.1

Surplus for the year

477.6

243.8

Operating costs excluding restructuring costs and exceptional pension income

Total operating costs
Group operating surplus

2

Gain/(loss) on sale and termination of operations
Gain on disposal of fixed assets
Share of results of associates and joint ventures
Net financing (cost)/income
Surplus before taxation
Taxation
Surplus for the year

3

Note:
The surplus for the financial year is the amount found by deducting all items of expenditure recognised in the year from all
income receivable for the year. For the BBC Group, as a public benefit entity, any surplus arising does not represent a ‘profit’
that can be returned to an entity’s funders, but a ‘timing difference’ relating to past or future expenditure.

Financialstatements

2-96Summary Consolidated Balance sheet
At 31 March 2010

Note

2010
£m

2009
£m

2008
£m

5

1,558.8
2,241.9(1,601.4)(1,084.4)
1,114.9(1,647.1)

1,998.0
1,499.0(1,016.2)(1,485.2)
995.6(143.3)

1,922.6
1,429.2(1,164.1)(1,321.9)
865.8
523.3

Net (liabilities)/assets(532.2)852.3

1,389.1

Represented by
BBC reserves
Minority interests(547.8)
15.6

841.3
11.0

1,378.1
11.0(532.2)852.3

1,389.1

2010
£m

2009
£m

Net cash inflow from operating activities
Net cash outflow from investing activities
Net cash (outflow)/inflow from financing activities
Net increase in cash and cash equivalents
Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the year
Effect of foreign exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents
Cash classified as held for sale

441.2
(146.8)(144.8)
149.6
124.3
(1.7)
(8.3)

226.8
(199.1)
14.3
42.0
78.0
4.3
–

Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the year

263.9

124.3

Non current assets
Current assets
Current liabilities
Non current liabilities
Net assets excluding pension asset
Net pension (liability)/asset

Summary Consolidated Cash flow statement
For the year ended 31 March 2010

Financialstatements

2-97

Financial statements

Notes to the summary financial statements
1 Income
The main income for the BBC is derived from television licences. Licence fee income is recognised in full when a licence is issued,
subject to deductions for actual and expected refunds and cancellations.

2010

Licence fee income
Other revenue
Other operating income
Less intra-group income

–
7.9
293.0
300.9
(1.5)

–
843.0
45.3
888.3
–

–
122.0
0.6
122.6
(48.9)––––(10.2)

3,446.8
1,256.7367.1
5,070.6(280.2)

Total income

3,539.2

299.4

888.3

73.7

(10.2)

4,790.4

UK PSBGroup£m

BBC World
Serviceand BBC
Monitoring£m

BBCWorldwide£m

Other
Commercials
£m

Group
Adjustments
£m

Total
£m

Less intra-group income

3,494.4
255.3
24.3
3,774.0(185.6)

–
7.6
289.6
297.2
(0.7)

–
662.8
41.8
704.6
–

–­
128.7
0.6
129.3
(50.5)–­–­–­–­(7.5)­

3,494.4
1,054.4356.3
4,905.1(244.3)

Total income

3,588.4

296.5

704.6

78.8

(7.5)­­

4,660.8

Licence fee income
Other revenue
Other operating income

Financialstatements

Total
£m

3,446.8283.8
28.2
3,758.8(219.6)

2009

2-98

BBC World
Service
UK PSBand BBC
BBC
Other
Group
Group Monitoring Worldwide Commercials Adjustments
£m
£m
£m
£m
£m

2 Total operating expenditure, including UK Public Service Broadcasting Group expenditure by service
UK Public Service Broadcasting GroupBBC World Service and BBC Monitoring
Worldwide
Other Commercial Businesses
Exceptional pension income*Group Adjustments

2010
£m

2009
£m

3,519.2
255.0
790.4
95.0
(334.1)(57.2)

3,421.2
249.6
685.7
151.5
–
1.9

4,268.3

4,509.9* exceptional pension income relates to Past service income on the defined benefits pension scheme, arising from a change in the terms and conditions of early retirement.
2010
£m

2009
£m

UK Public Service Broadcasting Group operating expenditure
Adjustments:
IAS 17 – Lease reclassification
IAS 19 – Employee benefits

3,519.2

3,421.2

38.2
2.8

26.8
1.3

UK Public Service Broadcasting Group expenditure for service licence reporting purposes

3,560.2

3,449.3

Reconciliation to the basis for service licence reporting purposes

Table 2a sets out the total expenditure for each group of service licences within the framework set by the BBC Trust.

Financialstatements

2-99

Financial statements
Notes to the summary financial statement continued

2a Total operating expenditure, including UK Public Service Broadcasting Group expenditure by service continued
UK public services
Service
Licencecontent
budget£m

Distribution£m

BBC One
BBC Two
BBC Three
BBC Four
CBBC
CBeebies
BBC HDBBC ALBA
BBC News channel
BBC Parliament
BBC Red Button

1,113.1
450.0
87.5
54.5
39.9
18.1
1.6
4.3
47.8
2.4
14.2

43.2
30.6
6.8
3.8
6.0
4.2
7.8
0.8
8.4
6.5
13.8

217.1
95.0
24.3
15.7
11.2
6.4
1.5
1.0
7.8
1.4
4.7

Television
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 3
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 5 live
BBC Radio 5 live sports extra
BBC 1Xtra
BBC 6 MusicBBC 7
BBC Asian Network
BBC Local RadioBBC Radio Scotland
BBC Radio nan Gàidheal
BBC Radio Wales
BBC Radio Cymru
BBC Radio Ulster/BBC Radio Foyle

1,833.4
32.2
40.4
40.8
86.7
55.0
2.5
6.5
6.5
5.0
8.9
110.2
24.9
4.2
13.1
12.3
14.4

131.9
4.9
4.4
4.7
8.8
5.8
0.2
0.4
0.4
0.3
0.4
6.1
2.6
0.9
0.9
1.2
1.4

Radio

463.6

BBC Online

2010
Total
£m

2009
Total
£m

–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–

1,373.4
575.6
118.6
74.0
57.1
28.7
10.9
6.1
64.0
10.3
32.7

1,399.1
572.2
115.1
71.7
50.2
25.5
6.7
4.5
61.2
9.7
30.1

386.1
6.7
7.7
8.5
16.5
11.2
1.4
2.5
2.4
1.8
2.8
21.4
5.2
0.9
2.5
2.3
3.0

–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–

2,351.4
43.8
52.5
54.0
112.0
72.0
4.1
9.4
9.3
7.1
12.1
137.7
32.7
6.0
16.5
15.8
18.8

2,346.0
43.1
50.8
51.3
109.0
72.5
3.7
9.6
9.0
6.9
12.1
133.6
32.4
5.7
16.2
15.5
18.5

43.4

96.8

–

603.8

589.9

126.7

22.3

50.3

–

199.3

177.8

2,423.7
–
20.3
30.0
31.2
–
–
–

197.6
–
–
–
–
–
11.6
6.6

533.2
–
3.8
6.6
5.9
–
–
–

–
126.5
–
–
–
41.5
–
–

3,154.5
126.5
24.1
36.6
37.1
41.5
11.6
6.6

3,113.7
122.8
25.2
32.7
36.3
40.0
10.3
6.9

81.5

18.2

16.3

168.0

284.0

274.2

–

–

–

36.9

36.9

11.0

Total UK public services expenditure
Digital UK Limited ring-fenced expenditure
Digital UK switchover ring-fenced expenditure

2,505.2
–
–

215.8
–
–

549.5
–
–

204.9
29.2
55.6

3,475.4
29.2
55.6

3,398.9
26.0
24.4

Total UK Public Service Broadcasting Group expenditure

2,505.2

215.8

549.5

289.7

3,560.2

3,449.3

Spend regulated by service licence
Licence fee collection costs
Orchestras and performing groups
S4C
Development spend
Costs incurred to generate third party income
DAB digital radio
Digital text
Other
Restructuring costs

Financialstatements

2-100

Infrastructure/support Other items£m£m

2b Total operating expenditure, including UK Public Service Broadcasting Group expenditure by service continued
Infrastructure and support costs are broken down as follows:
Infrastructure/support costs

2010
£m

2009
£m

MarketingPress and publicity
Libraries, learning support and community events
Reduction to pension payment
Overheads (excluding restructuring)
BBC Trust Unit (excluding restructuring)

74.5
5.0
49.8
–
406.3
13.9

76.6
5.3
49.9
(19.5)
387.1
14.7

549.5

514.1

2010
£m

2009
£m

Operating surplus/(deficit) before financing income and costs and taxation
UK Public Service Broadcasting GroupBBC World Service and BBC Monitoring
Worldwide
Other Commercial Businesses
Group Adjustments*

55.9
44.4
140.0
(21.3)
381.0

177.8
46.9
44.1
(66.8)(8.3)

Financing (costs)/income
Taxation

600.0(87.7)(34.7)

193.7
57.6
(7.5)

Surplus for the year

477.6

243.8

3 Operating surplus* group adjustments include a £334.1million benefit relating to Past service income on the defined benefits pension scheme, arising from a change in the terms andconditions of early retirement.

The Financial Review includes further discussion of the performance of the commercial businesses and how the current
economic conditions have impacted on their contribution to the Group operating position for the year.
4 UK Public Service ring-fenced expenditure
DCMS has ring-fenced the following amounts within the current Charter and six year licence fee settlement (2008 to 2013).

Help for the elderly and disabled
Digital UK Limited

Amountspent in2009£mAmountspent in
2010
£m

5.9
27.6

23.6
20.4

48.5
29.7

Amountrepayable Cumulative
2010
Total
£m
£m

132.0
–

210.0
77.7

Six-yearring-fenced
funding
£m

603.0
201.0

The Secretary of State has agreed with the BBC that the £603million estimated cost of the Digital Switchover Help Scheme(operated by DSHS Limited) will be ring-fenced and set aside from the licence fee for the purpose of funding the Scheme
over the six-year life of the licence fee settlement: in the event that the costs of the project exceed this limit due to higher
than anticipated demand, this will not be at the expense of the BBC’s programmes, services or other resources.
During the year the BBC and the Secretary of State agreed a mechanism for recovering underspent ring-fenced funds. Of the£132.0million cumulative underspend as at 31 March 2010, £89.1million will be repaid in 2010/11 and £42.9million in 2011/12.
Confirmed underspends arising in future periods will become available for repayment in the following year. Responsibility forensuring value for money for funds repaid will pass from the BBC Trust to the Government. The funds will be used for purposes
not inconsistent with the purposes of the licence fee.
The Framework Agreement between the BBC and the DCMS states that the BBC is committed to leading certain aspects ofthe digital switchover programme, through Digital UK, and the licence fee settlement includes a ring-fenced amount of up to£201million from the inception of Digital UK until the end of the six year life of the licence fee settlement for communication
activities. The ring-fenced amount is only part of the BBC’s annual contribution to Digital UK.
As at 31 March 2010, the BBC is on target to remain within the ring-fenced amounts at the end of the six year period.

2-101
Financialstatements

Digital Switchover

Amountspent
prior to2009£m

Financial statements
Notes to the summary financial statement continued

5 Pension Scheme (liability)/asset included in the balance sheet
The BBC operates defined benefit pension schemes, as well as some defined contribution schemes. The majority of staff are
members of the defined benefit schemes, which provides benefits based on final, or career average, pensionable pay.
BBC
PensionScheme2010£mUnfundedscheme
2010
£m

Total
2010
£m

BBC
PensionScheme2009£mUnfundedscheme
2009
£m

Total
2009
£m

Fair value of scheme assets
Actuarial value of scheme liabilities

8,154.8(9,795.7)

–­
(6.2)

8,154.8(9,801.9)

6,454.0(6,592.6)

–­
(4.7)

6,454.0(6,597.3)

Closing net pension liability(1,640.9)(6.2)(1,647.1)(138.6)(4.7)(143.3)The calculation of the scheme liabilities and pension charges, for IAS 19 purposes, requires a number of assumptions, bothfinancial and demographic, to be made. The principal assumptions used by the actuaries, at the balance sheet date were:
2010
%

2009
%

2008
%

3.7

4.4*

5.6

3.7
3.5
2.4
3.7
5.5

3.0
2.7
2.4
2.9
7.2

3.6
3.4
2.5
3.6
6.9

2010
Number of
years

2009
Number of
years

2008
Number ofyears

Retiring today:
Male
Female

27.0
29.7

26.9
29.6

26.6
29.1

Retiring in 20 years:
Male
Female

29.0
31.8

28.9
31.7

28.1
30.7

Principal financial assumptions

Rate of increase in salaries
Rate of increase in pension payments:
Old Benefits
New Benefits
Career Average Benefits
Inflation assumption
Discount rate
* This is the assumption from 1 april 2011. The assumption to 31 march 2011 is 3.9% per annum.

The average life expectancy assumptions, for members after retirement at 60 years of age, are as follows:
Principal demographic assumptions

The longevity assumptions have been selected to reflect the characteristics and experience of the membership of the scheme.
This has been done by adjusting standard mortality tables (PMAC07MC+0.5 and PFAC07MC+1) which reflect recent research
into mortality experience in the UK, with a minimum improvement of 1% per annum used.
The demographic assumptions have been updated from those used for the actuarial valuation of the scheme as at 1 April 2007
to reflect the likely assumptions which will be used for the actuarial valuation of the scheme as at 1 April 2010.

Financialstatements

2-102

6 Analysis of net debt for Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) borrowing ceilings
At 1 April
2009
£m

Cash
flows
£m

Non-cashchanges£m

Exchange£m

At
31 March
2010£mCash and cash equivalents
Bank overdrafts

124.3
(2.5)

149.6
0.8

(8.3)
–

(1.7)
–

263.9
(1.7)

Gross funds

121.8

150.4

(8.3)

(1.7)

262.2

–

–

8.3

–

8.3

(271.3)

72.3–(12.4)(211.4)

(4.8)

–

(3.5)

–

(8.3)

(617.9)9.0––(608.9)Cash classified as held for sale
Loans and loan notes
Derivatives associated with loans
Finance leases
Leases not included in DCMS borrowing limits*

596.2

–

(40.7)–

555.5

Net (debt)/funds(176.0)231.7(44.2)(14.1)(2.6)

Made up of:
Public Service Broadcasting

46.4

168.1

Centre House Productions(13.6)(10.7)BBC Worldwide(157.5)(23.0)

Other commercial businesses(51.3)(137.0)Net debt(176.0)(2.6)* The Dcms definition of ‘borrowings’ excludes leases which would be classified as operating under uk gaaP, but which are classified as finance leases under ifrs.
These leases are therefore excluded when comparing net (debt)/funds to Dcms borrowing ceilings.

The debt and repayments on finance leases held by Centre House Productions Limited are offset directly by cash held onmatching deposits, and the income from them, such that there is no long-term cash effect.
Reconciliation of net funds/(debt) to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) borrowing ceilings
The Public Service borrowing limit of £200million is set by the Secretary of State in accordance with the Framework Agreement
between the BBC and DCMS. As at 31 March 2010, 31 March 2009, and throughout both financial years, the BBC was incompliance with the borrowing ceilings.
Net funds is made up of the BBC’s cash at hand and in bank, less any borrowings including principal amounts outstanding on
finance leases.
Public Services

Commercial Businesses
Digital switchover

2010

Capital or
current
expenditure£mCurrent expenditure on
Digital Switchover Help
Scheme*£m£m

Net (debt)/funds

168.1

–

(160.0)Borrowing ceiling(200.0)(25.0)(350.0)Net (debt)/funds

46.4

–

(208.8)Borrowing ceiling(200.0)(25.0)(350.0)2009

Under the terms of the DCMS agreement, BBC Commercial Holdings Limited must satisfy two financial covenants. Thesecovenants are required to be met at 31 March each year. As at 31 March 2010 and 31 March 2009, BBC Commercial Holdings
Limited was in compliance with both of these covenants. Under a direction granted by the Secretary of State for the DCMSa borrowing limit of £350million has been set for the BBC commercial group.

2-103
Financialstatements* £25million may only be used in respect of borrowing to fund current expenditure on meeting the responsibilities placed on the BBc by any scheme agreed under clause
39 of the framework agreement (targeted help schemes), including costs incurred by the BBc for the scheme’s overheads and financing costs.

Financial statements

Glossary
WE HAVE USED SOME TERMS IN THIS REPORT TO EXPLAIN HOW WE RUN
OUR BUSINESS, BUT WHICH MIGHT BE UNFAMILIAR TO OUR READERS. THE
FOLLOWING LIST GIVES DEFINITIONS FOR SOME OF THE MORE FREQUENTLY
USED ONES.
Acquired Programmes Acquired Programmes are bought in a finished state from another supplier, for example Mad Men (BBC Four) or
The Wire (BBC Two). Last year we licensed programmes from over 20 countries. As part of Putting Quality First, we haveproposed reducing the amount spent on acquisitions from £100million to £80million by 2013.

Financialstatements

2-104

Appreciation Index
or AI

Appreciation Index or AI is the average score out of 10 based on a respondent’s enjoyment of a programme. The score isthen multiplied by 10 and expressed out of 100 (for example, 8.1 out of 10 becomes an AI of 81).

Creative economy

The UK’s creative economy includes the organisations and people who work in design and media industries, including indies,actors and writers. A Deloitte report from March 2010 showed that the BBC contributes at least £7.6billion to the UK creative
economy, generating £2 worth of economic value for every pound of the licence fee.

BARB

BARB (Broadcasters Audience Research Board) is the independent organisation responsible for providing the official
measurement of UK television audiences.

Cost per user hour

Cost per user hour (CPUH) combines service spend and consumption to help inform an assessment of value for money.
BBC Radio 2 has the lowest CPUH of all BBC radio services (around 0.5p) due to its popularity.

CMI

Cross Media Insight (CMI), survey by GfK/NOP Media measures claimed reach to the BBC’s services across all platforms.
It is more robust than PBTS previously used. 2009/10 was its first full year.

Digital switchover

The process of digital switchover involves turning off the UK’s analogue television broadcasting system by 2012.
For more information see www.helpscheme.co.uk.

FreesatFreesat is a free-to-air satellite TV service provided by the BBC and ITV, where users pay for the equipment but do not pay
a monthly subscription. Visit www.freesat.co.uk/Freesat from Sky is also available for a one-off payment:www.freesatfromsky.co.uk.

Freeview

Freeview is the main UK digital terrestrial television service transmitted through an aerial and using a set-top box.
No subscription is required. Freeview is the most widely used digital television platform. See www.freeview.co.uk.

HDTV

HDTV – or high-definition television – is available via either a set-top box or an integrated digital television, and gives viewers
better quality, high resolution pictures.

ImpactImpact shows how memorable or acclaimed a programme or service is, and can be measured by the number of awards won
by a service, or comments (positive and negative) generated in the press.

IPTV

IPTV (Internet Protocol TV) usually delivers on-demand content down a phone line to a television. Project ‘Canvas’ is an
example of the opportunities made available by the development of IPTV.

Narrative repeat

A narrative repeat is an edition of a programme transmitted within seven days of its first broadcast.

On-demand

On-demand services let the viewer or listener experience a programme at a time that suits them, for example via BBC iPlayer,
itvplayer, 4oD or Sky Player.

Peak-time

Peak-time hours for the BBC’s TV services are 6pm-10.30pm. Radio consumption is very different, and peak-time for radio is
usually defined as the breakfast and drive-time slots.

PSB

The UK’s Public Service Broadcasters (PSBs) are the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, five and S4C.

Rajar

Rajar (Radio Joint Audience Research) is the official body in charge of measuring radio audiences in the UK. It is jointly ownedby the BBC and the RadioCentre on behalf of the commercial sector.

Reach

Reach on television is the number or percentage of an audience group who watch a programme or channel (15 consecutive
minutes each week is the usual BBC measure, versus three minutes on commercial TV); and on radio is the number orpercentage of people aged 15+ who listen to at least five minutes of radio in a 15-minute period during an average week.

Share

The share of total viewing or listening to a particular programme or service over a set time, expressed as a percentage of total
hours of viewing/listening. For example, BBC One has a 21% share of viewing in all homes each week, and BBC Radio 4 had 12%
share of listening for the year 2009/10.

Unique users‘Unique users’ or unique browsers is a measure for website traffic. It is not a traditional survey of ‘people’, but is measured
automatically using either server logs or by a tag embedded within the web pages.

If you want information or to know more about how the BBC is run, please visit www.bbc.co.uk/aboutthebbc.

Service REMITS
NETWORK television

BBC One aims to be
the UK’s most valued
television channel, withthe broadest range of
quality programmesof any UK mainstream
network.

BBC Three is dedicatedto innovative British
content and talent.
The channel aims
to provide a broad
mix of programmes
aimed primarily at
younger audiences.

BBC Four aims to
be British television’s
most intellectually andculturally enriching
channel, offeringa distinctive mixof documentaries,
performance, music,
film and topical features.

The CBBC channel
offers a distinctive mixedschedule for 6-12 year
olds, encouraging eachchild to strengthen his
or her existing interestsand develop new ones.

CBeebies aims to offera mix of high quality,
mostly UK-produced,
programmes designed
to encourage learning
through play in
a consistently safe
environment forchildren under six.

BBC Radio 2 brings
listeners a broad
range of popular andspecialist music focusedon British talent andlive performances,complemented by abroad range of speech
output including current
affairs, documentaries,
religion and the arts.

BBC Radio 3 centres onclassical music, aroundwhich it provides abroad spectrum of
jazz, world music, arts
programmes and drama;
there is a strongemphasis on musicalperformance fromacross the UK.

BBC Radio 4 aims to
use the power of the
spoken word to offer
programming of depth
which seeks to engage
and inspire, with aunique mix of factual
programmes, drama,
readings and comedy.

BBC Radio 5 live
broadcasts live news
and sport 24 hours aday, covering eventsas they happen in anaccessible style.

BBC Radio 5 live sports
extra is a part-time
network that provides
additional sports
coverage using rights
already owned by theBBC, and so delivering
greater value to licencefee payers.

BBC Parliament is the
only UK channel
dedicated to thecoverage of politics,
featuring debates,
committees and thework of the UK’s
parliamentary andlegislative bodies,and the European
Parliament.

BBC Global Newsbrings together the
BBC World Service,
BBC World News
television channel, theBBC’s internationalfacing online news
services in English,
BBC Monitoringand BBC World
Service Trust.

BBC Local Radio isa primarily speechbased service of news,
information and debate,with a strong emphasis
on interactivity.

Radio Scotland is a
speech-led service for
adults; BBC Radio nan
Gàidheal is a speech andmusic radio service for
Gaelic speakers. Bothservices offer a wide
range of genres andreflect the issues, events,
culture and interests ofthe people of Scotland.

Radio Wales is a speechled service for adults;
BBC Radio Cymru isa speech and music
radio service for Welsh
speakers. Both services
offer a wide range ofgenres and reflect theissues, events, culture
and interests of thepeople of Wales.

BBC Two brings
programmes of depth
and substance toa broad audience.
It originates the greatest
amount and range offactual programmingof all BBC TV
channels, combinedwith distinctive arts,
comedy and drama.

NETWORK radio

BBC Radio 1 aims tooffer a high-quality
service for young
audiences combining
the best new music,
a comprehensive
range of live studiosessions, concerts andfestivals, and tailored
speech output.

Journalism

The BBC News channel
is a 24 hour television
news service, providing
comprehensive
coverage and analysisof the biggest and mostsignificant stories in the
UK and internationally.

We delivered the following services to our audiences lastyear. You can find links to the service licences for each
BBC service – as well as any service reviews carried out
by the BBC Trust – at www.bbc.co.uk/bbctrust.

The BBC HD channel
is a high definition
television showcase fora range of programmingfrom across the BBC’s
other television services.

BBC ALBA offers, to Gaelic
speakers and learners,
distinctive coverage ofsubjects as diverse aslive contemporary andtraditional music, footballand children’s programming
and a range of originatedprogramming that reflects
and supports Gaelic culture,
identity and heritage.

BBC 1Xtra plays thebest in contemporary
black music, witha strong emphasis
on delivering highquality live music andsupporting new
UK artists.

BBC 6 Music aims toengage with loversof popular music byoffering the best musicfrom the BBC soundarchive together
with current releases
outside the mainstream,
complemented by music
news and documentaries.

BBC 7 is a speech-based
digital radio service
offering comedy, drama
and readings mainly fromthe BBC archive. It alsobroadcasts programmes
for children.

BBC Asian Network
aims to offer challenging
debate, informed
journalism, music,
sport, entertainmentand drama for British
Asians from different
generations.

FUTURE media

BBC Radio Ulster/Foyle
is a speech-led service
that covers a wide range
of genres and reflects all
aspects of contemporary
life in Northern Ireland,
combining coverage of
local issues, interests andevents with coverage ofnational and international
developments.

BBC Online aims toprovide innovativeand distinctive online
content that reflectsand extends therange of the BBC’s
broadcast services.

BBC Red Buttondelivers interactive
services to digital
television viewers,
including all day,up-to-the-minutecontent and information,
including news, weather,learning, entertainment
and interactive
programming.

Contact usContacting the BBC
If you wish to find out more about the BBC’s year –including full financial statements and each service’s
performance against its Statement of Programme Policy,
as well as other public commitments, please visit
www.bbc.co.uk/annualreport.
The report is also available in Welsh and in audio version.
If you want information or to know more about how the
BBC is run please visit www.bbc.co.uk/aboutthebbc.
For tickets to shows, tours and events please visit
www.bbc.co.uk/showsandtours.
If you have a comment, appreciation or complaint
about BBC programmes and services please visit
www.bbc.co.uk/feedback.
Or write to BBC Audience Services,
PO Box 1922, Darlington, DL3 0UR
Comment line tel: 03700 100 222*
Other queries tel: 03700 100 123*
Textphone 03700 100 212*
Lines are open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Calls may be monitored or recorded for training purposes.
Last year the BBC had over 3.3 million contacts withthe general public.

BBC TrustIf you have any comments or questions about thework of the BBC Trust you can contact us by post,
email, or telephone.
BBC Trust Unit
1st Floor
180 Great Portland Street
London W1W 5QZ
Telephone: BBC Information line 03700 103 100†*
Textphone: 03700 100 212*
Lines open Monday to Friday between 9.30am and 5.30pm.
Email: trust.enquiries@bbc.co.uk
BBC Audience Councils
The Audience Councils in England, Scotland, Wales andNorthern Ireland, help the BBC Trust to understand theneeds and concerns of audiences throughout the UK.
To contact the Audience Councils:
Audience Council England
Email: audiencecouncil.england@bbc.co.uk
Audience Council Scotland
Email: acs@bbc.co.uk
Audience Council Wales
Email: acw@bbc.co.uk
Audience Council Northern Ireland
Email: audiencecouncil.ni@bbc.co.uk† Calls maybe recorded for training purposes.
* 0370 numbers are ‘UK wide’ and cost no more than calls to 01 or 02 geographic numbers.

Credits

Photography
The following images have been licensed to the BBC
under the PACT agreement. The independent production
companies named as Copyright Holders are: page 1-11
Small Island © Ruby Television Production; page 2-6 QI ©
Talkback THAMES; page 2-7 My Life In Verse © Wall toWall; page 2-8 Mrs Mandela © Diverse Productions; page2-14 Hamlet © Illuminations Media/RSC and Alphablocks ©
Magic Lantern; page 2-35 The Bubble © Hat Trick, Mad Men© AMC, The Lives of Others © Lionsgate and On Thin Ice© Twofour Productions; page 2-36 The Gruffalo © Magic
Light Company, Wallander © Left Bank Pictures/Yellow Bird,
Ashes to Ashes © Kudos; page 2-50 Mastercrafts © Ricochet;page 2-51 Who do you think you are? © Wall to Wall; page2-52 Natural World © AGB Films, Outnumbered © Hat Trickand Occupation © Kudos; 2-54 Timmy Time © Aardman
Animations; page 2-55 Horrible Histories © Lion Television;
page 2-70 Charlie and Lola © Tiger Aspect Productions andLife © Norbert Rottcher; and 2-105 Winston Churchill ©
Rainmark Films.
The copyright for all other photographs in this book lies
with the BBC.
Mike Abrahams took the picture for the main Annual
Report cover and the pictures on pages 1-3, 1-4, 1-26,
1-32, 1-34, mobile phone on page 1-35, 1-40, 1-41, 1-42,
1-43 2-4, image 2 on page 2-7, 2-8, 2-9, 2-12, 2-16, 2-24,
image 4 on page 2-28, 2-30, 2-32, 2-40, 2-45, 2-46, image 2
on page 2-47, image 2 on page 2-52, image 4 on page 2-57,
2-60, all images on pages 2-61 and 2-65, ; 2-74, all images
on pages 2-76 to 2-80, 2-84, 2-85 and 2-86; page 1-15 byAndy Shephard; page 1-16 by Farhana Haider; page 1-20
by Sarah Barney; page 1-22, page 1-35 couple watching TV
and page 2-44 mobile phone by Janie Airey; page 1-28 byTrevor Aston; page 1-38 by Alan Peebles; page 2-19 The
Now Show by Karen Robinson; page 2-20 Jez Nelson by
Adrian Weinbrecht; and page 2-64 Bang Goes the Theory by
Jennifer Burgess. Satellite image of UK on the Part One flap
© NEODAAS/NERC/University of Dundee.

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