Short guide to the BBC

[Pages:22]A Short Guide to the

BBC

October 2017

Overview

BBC Television

BBC Radio

BBC Online

Appendix

About this guide and contacts

This Short Guide summarises what the BBC does, how much it costs, recent and planned changes and what to look out for across its main business areas and services.

If you would like to know more about the National Audit Office's (NAO's) work on the BBC, please contact:

Kate Mathers Executive Leader

kate.mathers@nao..uk 020 7798 7918

Tim Phillips Director, BBC Value for Money

tim.phillips@nao..uk 020 7798 5456

If you are interested in the NAO's work and support for Parliament more widely, please contact:

parliament@nao..uk 020 7798 7665

The National Audit Office scrutinises public spending for Parliament and is independent of government. The Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG), Sir Amyas Morse KCB, is an Officer of the House of Commons and leads the NAO. The C&AG certifies the accounts of all government departments and many other public sector bodies. He has statutory authority to examine and report to Parliament on whether departments and the bodies they fund have used their resources efficiently, effectively, and with economy. Our studies evaluate the value for money of public spending, nationally and locally. Our recommendations and reports on good practice help government improve public services, and our work led to audited savings of ?734 million in 2016.

Design & Production by NAO External Relations DP Ref: 11563-001

? National Audit Office 2017

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About this guide and contacts | A Short Guide to the BBC

Overview

Overview

BBC Television

BBC Radio

BBC Online

Appendix

Key facts

About the BBC

Key trends

Where the BBC spends its money

BBC spending over time

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Overview | A Short Guide to the BBC

Major recent developments

Key themes from NAO reports

Accountability

Overview

BBC Television

BBC Radio

Key facts

The BBC is the UK's largest public service broadcaster. It runs nine pan-UK television services and 10 UK-wide radio networks.

The BBC World Service provides services in 28 languages with 11 more announced in 2016. It reached a total weekly audience of 269 million people in 2016-17.

The BBC is established by Royal Charter. The current Charter came into force on 1 January 2017 and will expire on 31 December 2027.

The BBC is funded by the licence fee. A full colour TV licence costs ?147.00 and will rise in line with inflation every April, until 2022.

In March 2017, 47% of the BBC's public service broadcasting staff were employed in London, 34% in the English regions, 8% in Wales, 7% in Scotland and 4% in Northern Ireland.

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Overview | A Short Guide to the BBC

BBC Online

Appendix

The BBC surveys its audiences on how they rate individual programmes. In 2016-17 these surveys gave BBC Television and BBC Radio overall scores of 80.3 and 81.0 respectively out of 100. In 2016, the survey for BBC Online gave a score of 76 out of 100.

The BBC has a commercial group which is not licence-fee funded. It generated ?1,194 million of income in 2016-17.

On 1 April 2017 the BBC incorporated its in-house production division as a commercial entity. BBC Studios competes for commissions from the BBC and other broadcasters. The largest of the BBC's subsidiaries is BBC Worldwide, which exists to generate commercial returns from BBC programmes and other BBC content.

From 2017, all users of the BBC's iPlayer service on web and mobile applications have to log in with a personal account. These changes are part of the BBC's efforts to make its services more personalised for its users.

The new Charter requires the BBC to appoint the Comptroller and Auditor General to audit the BBC's accounts and brings the BBC's commercial operations into the scope of his value-for-money access rights.

Overview

BBC Television

BBC Radio

BBC Online

Appendix

About the BBC

The BBC is a public service broadcaster established by Royal Charter and funded by the television licence fee. Its mission is to act in the public interest, serving all audiences through the provision of impartial, high-quality and distinctive output and services which inform, educate and entertain.

Public purposes The Royal Charter sets out the BBC's five public purposes which support its mission:

? to provide impartial news and information to help people understand and engage

with the world around them;

? to support learning for people of all ages; ? to show the most creative, highest quality and distinctive output and services; ? to reflect, represent and serve the diverse communities of all the United

Kingdom's nations and regions and, in doing so, support the creative economy across the United Kingdom; and

? to reflect the United Kingdom, its culture and values to the world.

Strategic challenges

The media sector is changing rapidly because of technological developments, new competition and shifting consumer behaviour. While most of the BBC's audiences use programmes and services in a traditional broadcast schedule, many are increasingly accessing content through mobile and other devices connected to the internet, at a time and place of their choosing.

The BBC has referred publicly to the need to "ride two horses": to serve both those who are watching and listening on traditional channels, and also those who have adopted the internet as their primary medium. The BBC is therefore seeking to be an `internet-fit' broadcaster, with an aim to reinvent the BBC for younger audiences, where these changes are happening most quickly.

The BBC needs to deliver its strategy in a tightening financial context. While the TV licence fee is now linked to inflation, following a period where it was frozen, the BBC will take on responsibility for funding free TV licences for those aged 75 and over. It has stated that it must save an additional ?800 million annually by 2021-22.

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Overview | A Short Guide to the BBC

Overview

BBC Television

BBC Radio

BBC Online

Appendix

About the BBC continued

On 3 July 2017 the BBC published its Annual Plan for 2017-18. The plan sets out 12 panBBC priorities for achieving its overarching aim to reinvent the BBC for a new generation (see below).

Our mission:

To inform, educate and entertain all audiences, to deliver our public purposes

Our aim:

To reinvent the BBC for a new generation

We'll do this through...

Our ambitions:

Making sure everyone gets

value from the BBC

World-class creativity

Global reach

Financial stability

Making the BBC an

even greater place to work

We'll support these ambitions through our content plan

Grow iPlayer and Live

Reach 20m members

Review of brands

Younger audiences

We also need...

12 pan-BBC priorities:

Reinvent and grow

audio

Newstream and slow news

Revitalise our

education mission

Reflect the diversity of

the UK

Britain's creative partner

Grow Studios

Grow Worldwide

Grow the World Service

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Overview | A Short Guide to the BBC

Overview

BBC Television

BBC Radio

BBC Online

Appendix

Key trends

Audience reach is one of the BBC's key performance indicators published in its Annual Report. It is defined as the percentage of people in the United Kingdom who use BBC television, radio or online each week. The BBC is operating in a context of increased competition and technological change, and its strategy is to create an `internet-fit BBC'.

Zoom Out

The BBC's audience reach in the UK

Percentage of the population

100

90

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0 2010-11

All (ages 16+)

2011-12

2012-13

2013-14

2014-15

2015-16

Financial year ended 31 March

Network radio (ages 15+)

Local radio (ages 15+)

Television (ages 4+)

Online (ages 16+)

Source: BBC Annual Report and Accounts, 2010-11 to 2016-17

Zoom In +

2016-17

BBC Worldwide's return to the BBC comprises programme investments, dividends and other rights payments. The Director General has stated that, "maximising our commercial revenue is imperative" and the BBC Board has set a target for BBC Worldwide to provide ?1.2 billion in the first five years of the new Royal Charter.

Zoom Out

Zoom In +

BBC Worldwide's total return to the BBC

Total return (?m) 250

200 182

150

216

227

222

211

174 156

100

50

0 2010-11

2011-12

2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 Financial year ended 31 March

Source: BBC Annual Report and Accounts, 2010-11 to 2016-17

2015-16

2016-17

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Overview | A Short Guide to the BBC

Overview

BBC Television

BBC Radio

BBC Online

Appendix

Where the BBC spends its money

Zoom Out

BBC Public Service Broadcasting Group expenditure by service in 2016-17

Zoom In +

Television ?2,186m

Restructuring costs ?48m

Radio ?640m

S4C ?110m

License fee collection costs

?82m

Income generation

?154m

Development spend ?68m

BBC Online and Red Button ?286m

Pension deficit reduction payment ?100m

Orchestras and performing groups ?28m

Source: BBC Annual Report and Accounts, 2016-17

World service ?286m

BBC Monitoring ?6m

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Overview | A Short Guide to the BBC

BBC Public Service Broadcasting Group service licence spending by service, 2016-17

Spending (?m)

2,500 2,000

2,186.4

1,500

1,000

500

0 Television

639.7 Radio

285.6

BBC Online and Red Button

417.6

Other service spend

Content Distribution Content and distribution support General support

Source: BBC Annual Report and Accounts, 2010-11 to 2016-17

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