BBC Unveils Strategy Review

LONDON: Reducing spending on imported programming and sports is among the proposals put forward by the BBC in its Strategy Review, unveiled today.

The Review sets out five key priorities: put quality first; do fewer things better; guarantee access to all; make the licence fee work harder; and set new boundaries for itself.

The putting quality first directive includes directing almost £600 million a year towards higher quality content by 2013. This includes £50 million a year for BBC Two, children’s output and journalism. From 2013, the BBC is proposing to spend at least 90p in every license fee pound on "high-quality content and getting it to audiences," said Director General Mark Thompson in the review.

In order to do fewer things better, Thompson said, priorities include halving the number of sections on the BBC site, spending 25 percent less on the site per year by 2013 and doubling monthly click-throughs to external sites. The pubcaster has also proposed the shuttering of the Asian Network radio service, as well as the teen offerings BBC Switch and Blast!

On the point of guaranteeing access, Thompson said the BBC must ensure that British audiences can get BBC services for free, on devices that suit them; and access catch-up content on the website and on other platforms.

In order the make the license fee work harder, costs of running the BBC must be reduced, the Review said. The aim is to reduce the costs from 12p in a licence fee pound today to under 9p by the end of the Charter in 2016; lower senior management numbers, freeze pay and suspend bonuses; and reinvest savings in new British programs.

For the BBC to set new boundaries for itself, it needs to lower spending in imported shows and movies by 20 percent, bringing investment down from £100 million today to £80 million in 2013, capping it thereafter at no more than 2.5p in every licence fee pound. Sports rights should be capped at 9p in every licence fee pound.

The proposals will now be subject to a 12 week consultation. BBC Trust will look to deliver a final strategy for the pubcaster in the fall.

BBC Trust Chairman Sir Michael Lyons said, "The public pick up the bill for the BBC and it is right that it constantly evolves to meet their expectations. This strategy review is a key part of that process. We welcome the general direction of this report, although we will want to test it and consider how it is delivered. We are clear it heads towards a more disciplined and sharply focused BBC. That will mean some difficult choices. But we will not shrink from those choices where they are in the interests of licence fee payers. The end result should be a BBC that is genuinely distinctive, genuinely open and transparent and genuinely public service."