BBC Surpasses £112 Million Creative Diversity Commitment

The BBC has invested a total of £128.5 million ($166 million) into TV and radio content in the first two years of its creative diversity commitment, exceeding the original commitment of £112 million ($145 million).

The three-year commitment—from 2021-22 to 2023-24—was to invest a minimum of £112 million (£100 million for TV and £12 million for radio) on focused efforts to ensure diversity is integrated into the way the BBC commissions programs across all genres, both on- and off-screen and -air.

In the second year of the commitment, the BBC invested £61 million ($79 million) in supporting a total of 118 TV programs. This follows a £59 million ($76 million) investment in the first year across 92 programs.

The BBC is committed to going further in 2023-24, with programs qualifying for the financial investment if they meet at least two of the following three criteria: diverse stories and portrayals, diverse production leadership and/or diverse company leadership.

Chinny Okolidoh, BBC’s director of diversity and inclusion, said: “I’m really proud of the progress we’ve made through our Creative Diversity commitment which is making a real difference in improving diversity off-screen and ensuring what audiences experience on-screen and on-air is more diverse, inclusive and authentic. There is still more to do across the whole industry and we’re working with other broadcasters and streamers to make a positive difference. We’ve always said the £112 million investment was a starting point. Diversity and inclusion is an absolute priority for the BBC and we’re fully committed to reflecting our audiences and improving representation, inclusion and accessibility even further across our content.”