BBC Trust Approves Delivering Quality First Proposals

LONDON: The BBC Trust has issued its final conclusions on the pubcaster’s Delivering Quality First cost-savings strategy, which includes dropping all kids’ programming on BBC One and BBC Two and reducing the programming budget at BBC Three and BBC Four.

The BBC’s governing body notes in its report that "investment in children’s content will be preserved," but that the output will be exclusively on its digital kids’ channels CBBC and CBeebies following the switchover. "The number of children watching the dedicated blocks of children’s programming on BBC One and BBC Two is low and has fallen significantly over recent years," the report says. Further, "Only around 7 percent of CBBC’s target audience currently watch CBBC content on BBC One and BBC Two but do not also watch the CBBC channel, while CBeebies content on BBC Two has unique reach of just 2.3 percent of its target audience." The Trust’s report adds that the change in scheduling "may risk some short-term confusion among viewers." As such, the Trust wants BBC management to ensure that there is sufficient cross-promotion and marketing support ahead of the switchoff.

BBC One and BBC Two will see changes to their daytime schedules following the remove of kids’ fare, the details of which are still being hammered out. BBC Two will likely use repeats of mostly factual shows from the BBC archives, plus live sports. BBC One will produce original series for daytime.

On the digital channels BBC Three and BBC Four, the Trust says that they "can no longer be funded at their current levels but will remain valuable channels within the television portfolio." The Trust expects the two services to work more closely with BBC One and BBC Two via coordinated commissioning and scheduling. BBC Three will cut some of its original drama, music and entertainment offerings, while BBC Four will reduce investment on original drama and some specialist factual, the funding for which will be transferred to BBC Two.

Also part of the cost-savings endeavor, there will be a 15-percent reduction in spending on sports rights.

The proposals approved by the Trust also include further investments in HD, with a BBC Two HD simulcast set to launch this year and full BBC One HD channels for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

"The BBC will be judged, over the next five years, on its track record over this period: can we hit our efficiency targets while continuing to make the most distinctive programs and getting people in their millions to watch and listen to them?" said Lord Patten, BBC Trust’s chairman, in the report. "I believe it’s right we face this test because these are extremely challenging economic times and the BBC should not be immune to that reality. It will require a BBC at the very top of its game. Life being what it is there will need to be some changes and adjustments along the way. But I’m confident that this plan puts us in a strong starting position."