BBC Trust Feed

Chairman's remarks on publication of BBC Annual Report and Accounts for 2015/16

2016-07-12T10:00:00+00:00

Today we publish our Annual Report and Accounts and I’m delighted to report that the BBC’s reach has remained almost universal. 96% of UK adults continue to use the BBC every week - remarkable given the variety of new media, devices and platforms competing for people’s attention.

Audiences have enjoyed an impressive roster of content, including outstanding, distinctive new dramas such as The Night Manager.

Public appreciation of the BBC’s services remains very high. The Trust’s purpose remit survey which has tracked the public perception since 2008 – shows long-term impressions of the BBC have improved further.

But no organisation can stand still – and the BBC is no exception.

This year, BBC Trust approved plans to move BBC Three online and the BBC continued to innovate, launching a range of new apps and content.

The Trust also set out its initial thinking on BBC Studios, potentially the biggest shake up of BBC production in its history – although further regulatory assessment will need to come.

And there has been a wide ranging debate about the BBC’s future as part of Charter Renewal – including a tremendous response from the public, with over 50,000 responses to the Trust’s consultations, and 190,000 to the Government’s.

Challenges

That’s not to say there is not still more to do.

The BBC must continue to work hard to represent all audiences. Reaching younger audiences remains an important challenge, as does serving audiences in the nations and regions of the UK. These will be key focuses in the year ahead.

The BBC also faces a future with less money. This will require tough decisions and even greater efficiency and you have already started to see some of this.

Collaboration and Partnerships will be a key component - an opportunity to make our funding go further. I want it to be an area in which the BBC excels, sharing our resources and working with partners and players across the industry, as the BBC did this year with the micro:bit.

And thirdly, the BBC must address the issues raised - so thoroughly but painfully - by Dame Janet Smith in her report.

This was a very dark chapter in the BBC’s history.

I want to reiterate our absolute commitment to confronting the failings of our past and doing everything possible on behalf of the survivors of Jimmy Savile and Stuart Hall to ensure these terrible events cannot be repeated.

We accepted Dame Janet's recommendations in full and the Trust has been receiving monthly updates from The Executive.

Today they have published a report on their progress.

We are confident Tony and his Executive team are taking all appropriate steps to bring about the substantial and permanent change necessary.

And you should expect this to remain an area of the intense focus.

BBC Board

These are significant challenges for the BBC and its new Board.

It’s essential that the new unitary Board has the right people with the right mix of skills to support Tony and his team in tackling these challenges. And ensuring the BBC meets its mission ever more boldly, ambitiously, distinctively and creatively.

We are currently in negotiations with the Government about the appointments process.

I am focused on ensuring the Board is in place and operating effectively as soon as possible.

This year will see the closure of the Trust after ten years of service on behalf of licence fee payers.

I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to my fellow Trustees and the Trust Unit staff who have shown dedication, skill and professionalism - and never more so in the recent months of uncertainty.

Finally, throughout Charter Review, we have been focused on ensuring the views of the public – who pay for the BBC – are heard.

The new Board will need to continue to be their representative.

The public have been clear that they want a strong BBC, a BBC that delivers something for everyone, that informs, educates and entertains, and a BBC that above all else is independent – editorially, creatively, financially.

I have said before that I welcome much of the White Paper – the government clearly listened to the public. And I am determined that as we work through the details of the new Charter and Agreement that their views continue to be properly reflected.

Future of the BBC

2016-05-13T12:30:24+00:00

Diversity includes everyone

2016-04-28T09:51:00+00:00

Today the BBC has published its new strategy on diversity and inclusion which sets out how they will work to reflect, represent and serve all audiences between now and 2020. It is a vital step and one which embeds diversity and inclusion as part of the BBC’s everyday culture.

The role of the Trust in this area is to set priorities and monitor the BBC’s delivery of them. For their part, the BBC present their plans to us and we are pleased to see the ambitious targets and projects set out in the strategy Diversity includes everyone.

Measuring progress

We welcome the new, tougher workforce and on-screen targets as well as steps to boost inclusion such as new Diverse Audience Panels. This will offer insight on what minority audiences think about the BBC and how they are represented. Further initiatives like Diamond will allow the BBC to benchmark against other broadcasters and accurately measure progress.

Both these things are vital as monitoring and consultation give those who run the BBC (and those who will govern it in future) direct feedback and evidence on how the BBC reflects all communities.

Opening doors

It’s fitting that, in a Paralympic year, the BBC is also refocusing on disability through the Diversity Creative Talent Fund and continuing the award-winning Extend work placement scheme.

We are pleased to see the BBC commit to achieving gender balance both on and off-screen by 2020, which we have previously identified as an area where we wish to see improvement. By creating a new centre for excellence in Birmingham and taking in more BAME trainees the BBC is planning for the future but we would also like to see more progress on diversity at senior levels.

These steps are part of what I hope are measures to make the BBC more porous in general to people from a wide range of backgrounds. Monitoring new employees’ socio-economic backgrounds for the first time is just one example of this and should open up the culture of the BBC to many different voices.

Ensuring delivery

The BBC is a unique and important cultural institution which we all pay for – as such it should represent and serve us all. Because of this it should also lead the way on diversity and inclusion, and we hope that adopting the plans set out in this strategy will achieve this.

In future, the regulators of the BBC will play a crucial role in this checking their progress against their targets and pushing for further improvement where necessary. By doing this we can ensure the BBC remains at the heart of our lives and is a national broadcaster ‘for all of us’.

Tomorrow's BBC - Glasgow seminar

2016-01-12T14:48:00+00:00

The Trust held its final Charter Review seminar in Glasgow on 7 December. The event was chaired by Kirsty Wark with opening remarks from the BBC Chairman, Rona Fairhead and the Trust member for Scotland, Bill Matthews.

In her introduction Rona outlined some of the successes of the BBC in Scotland, but also some of the issues going forward including playing a greater role in supporting the development of the creative talent across the UK, doing more to better represent and reflect audiences and in particular a devolved Scotland in all of its output - including news.

Bill then joined a panel of Chris Young, Managing Director of Young Films; Raymond Boyle, Professor of Communication at University of Glasgow; Charlotte Higgins, The Guardian’s chief culture writer; and James Purnell, the BBC’s Director of Strategy & Digital BBC, to discuss a range of issues. The audience was then invited to take part and give their views.

Much of the discussion focussed on the BBC’s role in Scotland with a clear message coming through that the BBC needed to do more to find the programmes and stories which speak to a Scottish audience. There were many people who felt that the BBC had failed to recognise the reality of devolution or understand the impact of the independence referendum, noting that modern Scotland was very different to that from 20 years ago. Some attendees said that network news was becoming increasingly irrelevant to audiences in Scotland, and that the reporting often failed to acknowledge devolved issues, with clarification rarely being made when policy issues only concerned England and an alleged lack of reporting of issues solely relevant to Scotland. James Purnell said that the BBC Executive was carrying out a consultative exercise to look at some of these issues and whether the BBC currently has the right balance between UK-wide and dedicated Nations news coverage.

In general there was felt to be a London-centricity in most of the things which the BBC did, with comments being made about the need to change the commissioning process to make it more fleet of foot, but also to have more of the decision making and budget allocation based outside London. Some attendees said that they considered a more federal stricture was required to ensure that the BBC betters serves and reflects audiences in Scotland. There was also a belief that more money should be spent by the BBC in Scotland, to at least equal that raised by the licence fee in Scotland and that BBC Scotland should be responsible for that budget rather than London. The BBC noted that it had said that there should be greater flexibility in future in local decision-making on how budgets are spent in each of the nations.

There was also a discussion about the BBC’s role in the creative economy of Scotland, with attendees saying that it was important for the BBC to invest in programmes being made in Scotland to help build the skills base needed to maintain and grow a production base across a range of programmes and genres.

Other issues raised included:

The BBC’s strategy for indigenous language provision – noting the differences in approach to broadcasting in Welsh and broadcasting in Gaelic
Difficult choices and possible cuts to services which needed to be made by the BBC in light of reduced funding
The BBC’s role as a cultural partner across the UK, and particularly in Scotland
Universality: What this meant and whether it was possible to deliver given the changing population and changing media consumption
Future governance models – particular to ensure that Scotland was properly represented – and whether a more federal structure was the correct way forward
The options for funding the BBC as outlined in the Green Paper
Using technology and data to develop a more personalised relationship between the BBC and its audience.

Tomorrow's BBC - Sunderland seminar

2015-12-23T12:00:00+00:00

On 24 November 2015, the BBC Trust held a Charter Review seminar at the National Glass Centre in Sunderland. The event was chaired by BBC Newcastle’s Charlie Charlton. BBC Trust Chairman Rona Fairhead opened the seminar by setting out the Charter process and the importance of ensuring that the public voice was heard.

A panel consisting of Graeme Thompson, Dean of Arts, Design and Media at University of Sunderland; BBC Trust member Richard Ayre; author and poet Kate Fox; John Tulip, Managing Director, Northern Film & Media Ltd and Tim Davie, CEO, BBC Worldwide & Director, Global discussed a range of issues.

The discussion was then opened up to other attendees.

Amongst the topics raised were:

How the BBC could be distinctive while still providing popular mainstream programmes and content which appealed to large audiences
Whether the BBC was in any way crowding out the market
How to achieve better and more authentic presentation of life in the north east of England
The lack of recognition in the Government’s Green Paper about socio-economic diversity – and the importance of the BBC recognising the socio-economic barriers which in making voices heard
Whether, given the geographic distance, that the BBC North operation in Salford had made a significant impact on audiences and the creative community in the north east
Opening up the BBC’s commissioning structure to ensure that people based outside of metropolitan centres, and London in particular, have equal opportunities to develop their ideas
How the BBC could be a better partner – with educational, cultural and media organisations
The importance of the BBC in developing and sustaining television production in the north east of England - and what more could be done
How the BBC could develop a more participatory relationship with its audience, be more open, and how technology could be used to facilitate this.

Tomorrow's BBC: Birmingham seminar

2015-12-14T11:27:11+00:00

On 10 November 2015, the BBC Trust held one of its Charter Review seminars in Birmingham. The event was chaired by BBC News presenter Jane Hill.

Rona Fairhead, Chairman of the BBC Trust, introduced the event by reporting the results of the research and consultation which the Trust had been conducting amongst audiences as part of the Charter review process.

A panel consisting of Fiona Allan, Chief Executive, Birmingham Hippodrome; Mark Florman, BBC Trust member for England; Joe Godwin, Director, BBC Birmingham and BBC Academy; Dorothy Hobson, writer and media commentator; and Jonnie Turpie, founder and Director, Maverick Productions, discussed a range of issues.

Audience members were then invited to take part in the discussion.

Amongst the topics raised were:

• Changing methods of media consumption and what this means for the BBC
• The public perceptions and expectations of the BBC
• The BBC’s role as an innovator and risk taker
• Reflecting and serving a multi-cultural UK – in particular Black and Asian audiences in mainstream and targeted programming
• The importance of ensuring that the BBC’s workforce is diverse and reflective of the changing UK population
• The BBC’s commissioning processes – and how these could be changed to provide programmes and services which better reflect all parts of the UK
• The disparity between the amount of money raised by the licence fee in the Midlands, compared to the amount of money which the BBC spends making network programmes in the region
• Ensuring that the BBC provides a diversity of opinion in its output – and the need to remain independent from Government
• The BBC’s role as a partner – with broadcasters and other cultural organisations.

Tomorrow's BBC: Belfast seminar

2015-12-03T11:39:11+00:00

The fourth of the Trust’s Charter Review seminars was held in Belfast on 3 November 2015. The event was chaired by BBC Radio Ulster’s William Crawley.

Rona Fairhead, Chairman of the BBC Trust, introduced the event by outlining the work the Trust had been doing to understand audience views of the BBC.

A panel of Anne Bulford, Managing Director, Finance and Operations, BBC; Nick Garbutt, PR consultant and former editor of the Irish News; Professor Neil Gibson, Director, Economic Policy Centre, University of Ulster; Aideen McGinley, the BBC Trust member for Northern Ireland; and Aaron Taylor, digital entrepreneur and co-founder of the ICONS Festival discussed a range of issues. The conversation was then opened to the audience.

Amongst the topics discussed were:

• The scale and scope of the BBC, and whether it should be doing more or doing less
• The BBC’s role in the digital world and how it needs to change to ensure it remains current
• The independence of the BBC – and its relationship with the UK Government
• How it could provide something for everyone, especially those considered 'underserved' including younger audiences
• Future funding models for the BBC
• How the BBC should reflect and represent today’s Northern Ireland
• The need for effective regulation and governance which recognises a devolved UK
• Creative and cultural partnerships.

Our decision on BBC Three’s future

2015-11-26T13:23:35+00:00

In January this year, we began looking at BBC proposals which included closing BBC Three as a TV channel and moving it online. This has been a very detailed study which has sparked a large response through two phases of public consultation.

It hasn’t been an easy process either. It’s a difficult decision to close a TV channel and one that’s been finely balanced throughout but in the end we have given approval to the BBC’s proposal with a range of conditions attached.

We know that a lot of people care deeply about the channel and the programmes it is home to. We hope that the conditions, which were written with the public’s feedback in mind, will help to answer some of the fears that were raised.

Why did we take this decision?

The outcome of this process was by no means a foregone conclusion, you only have to look at past decisions blocking the closure of BBC 6 Music or even the proposal to launch BBC One+1 (which was put forward at the same time as plans for BBC Three) to see that we don’t ‘rubber-stamp’ what is put in front of us.

On this occasion we agreed with the BBC that the future of broadcasting is online and that the BBC, as it has done many times in its history, must adapt and change with the times in order to remain relevant. This decision ensures that BBC Three will continue to develop and flourish.

Younger people are watching less broadcast television, they’re watching more online and they’re using newer digital services in different ways. We need to move with our audiences and respond to these changing habits.

BBC Three online will provide a dedicated space for innovative content, like the groundbreaking drama, comedy and factual programming currently provided, which is a real strength.

Did you listen?

We have received a lot of correspondence on BBC Three; letters, emails, petitions, tweets and consultation responses. Some simply asked us to save BBC Three, while others set out what it was that concerned them and what they needed us to preserve.

We looked at the proposals afresh each time, and considered everything that we received. So while our first period of consultation helped us to set conditions in our provisional conclusions, the second consultation allowed us to test the conditions and get more feedback.

One of the main concerns raised, was that some people will be unable to access BBC Three online. We have now imposed a tight condition to ensure that all long-form content is also available on BBC One or BBC Two.

People also said they didn’t want BBC One and BBC Two to use only late night slots:

In previous iterations of content for a younger audience, BBC One and Two have typically only shown these programmes in late night slots, or inconsistent slots, meaning that many younger viewers may miss them and stop looking for that form of content altogether.

(Male, 25-34)

We don’t want that to happen either, our condition is that content has to be available across the schedule throughout the UK. This will be checked as part of a review in 12-18 months’ time as well as checking that the BBC remains committed to creative risk taking on television, which was raised by other people who responded to our consultation.

BBC Three is the only channel committed to showing programmes aimed at the younger generations, and is also much more creative and experimental with the type of programmes broadcasted

(Female, 16-24)

What will happen to BBC Three?

The BBC can now move forward with their plans for BBC Three’s online service. This will involve making sure people know about the move and can find them online.

All long-form programmes will be shown on BBC One or BBC Two on an ongoing basis, so you will be able to watch them on television or online as you choose.

There will be a service review in 12-18 months’ time to check whether the conditions are working, which could result in more formal quotas or targets if they aren’t.

I’d like to thank everyone who shared their views with us, we have used them to make sure that while the way people watch television may be changing, the BBC continues to reach as many people as possible with the programmes and content they love.

You can read the Trust's decision here.

What is "distinctiveness", why is it important and how can we ensure the BBC is committed to it?

2015-11-18T16:29:34+00:00

The government’s green paper on the BBC’s Charter Review asks about the distinctiveness of BBC content and how it should be measured and many stakeholders have been commenting on this in their responses, sparking, in some areas, some debate over what would be right for the BBC.

The Trust has been discussing this at our series of public seminars but have found that even expert panellists find it tricky when distinctiveness lacks a widely agreed definition. Having a definition might also help to move the general debate along as it is hard to argue for something that people don’t agree how to define – does a distinctive BBC mean that it focusses on areas of market failure?

So we thought we would share (again) the results of joint work undertaken by the BBC Trust and Executive a few years ago which sought answers to this and two other questions:

Why is distinctiveness important for the BBC?
Is distinctiveness linked to market failure?
How should we define distinctiveness?

And we have some suggestions which we are discussing with government for how the BBC’s commitment to being distinctive could be clarified in the next Charter.

Why is distinctiveness important for the BBC?

We concluded that distinctiveness is essential to the BBC in justifying its public funding. The Trust and BBC Executive agreed that there is little justification for public funding if the BBC cannot show that it is significantly different from commercial operators in ways that are of value to licence fee payers.

We agreed that delivery of its public purposes is not sufficient to demonstrate BBC distinctiveness. While the BBC is unique in existing to deliver its public purposes, we accepted that commercial operators are also capable of delivering these purposes – newspapers deliver ‘citizenship’ and Channel 4 delivers ‘culture and creativity’. So delivery of the purposes alone cannot provide sufficient evidence of the BBC’s distinctiveness.

So we agreed that distinctiveness lies in how the BBC delivers the public purposes: what distinguishes the BBC from those who can also deliver its purposes must be the ways in which it provides them. The BBC, by virtue of its public funding, will pursue values and demonstrate behaviours that mark it apart from commercial operators and, in so doing, provide something of particular value to audiences.

Is distinctiveness linked to market impact?

We concluded that distinctiveness should be considered separately from the issue of market impact. A claimed lack of distinctiveness on the BBC’s part is often seen as synonymous with it having undue negative market impact. But there are many examples of how a more distinctive programme or service can also be more popular – and therefore have greater market impact. 6 Music is a good example of this as, after 2009 when it began to focus more on its mission to “celebrate the alternative spirit in popular music”, its listening figures rose from 600,000 each week to 2.1 million. Similarly, BBC News Online is highly distinctive, in adhering to the BBC’s unique editorial guidelines, but it is also popular with users in the UK and abroad, so undoubtedly has an impact on the market.

How should we define distinctiveness?

After a lot of detailed discussion, we settled on four values which we believe define distinctiveness. They are:

• High editorial standards
• Creative and editorial ambition
• Range and depth
• UK-focused content and indigenous talent.

The values vary in importance by type of programme or service, but a distinctive programme or service will clearly demonstrate at least one of these values. Here are some examples:

• High editorial standards: BBC news across TV, radio and online is distinctive because displays very high editorial standards. Specifically, it is held to higher standards of accuracy, impartiality and independence than other news providers are. In an online world where there are more sources of news than ever before, the BBC can claim to be more distinctive than ever by virtue of its unique editorial values. And audiences implicitly recognise this: there is an enduring high level of trust in the BBC’s news content amongst those who consume it.

• Creative and editorial ambition: This value was described beautifully simply by producer Jane Tranter at a recent Trust Charter seminar as “be bold”. We judge that this value is what defines distinctive BBC TV output. For example, it was bold to create BBC entertainment shows based on baking or ballroom dancing and these are distinctive programmes. BBC Three programming has been characterised by its boldness, perhaps because it has always felt like it was a place where, in the words of one of its former controllers, there was the freedom to fail. So this is what the Trust proposes safeguarding on other BBC channels if permission is given to close BBC Three as a broadcast channel. The value is well understood within the BBC: BBC One controller Charlotte Moore was reported in Broadcast magazine recently: “Charlotte Moore has reasserted her desire for distinctive programming for BBC One, declaring: 'If it feels like it’s more of the same, then I’m not interested.' Charlotte explained, 'The nature of the licence fee allows us to take those creative risks.'" [see footnote 1]

• BBC television established a metric which could be used to measure audience perceptions of every programme in this respect: ‘fresh and new’. It reports regularly on how services (although not individual programmes) are performing in this respect and the scores have been rising in recent years.

• Range and depth: This value is best represented by a service, rather than a programme. The BBC’s music radio services display this value well. For example, the range and type of music they play sets them materially apart from commercial stations even though, to a casual or light listener, they might seem similar. Each station has service licence quotas which underpin their points of distinctiveness:

1. Radio 1’s music mix is distinctive because it plays a large number of tracks and more new, UK and live music than most other pop radio stations. Around half of its music output is not played on other UK radio stations. [see footnote 2]
2. Radio 2’s music is distinctive because it mixes new music with a very wide range of musical genres from across many eras and has a very low repetition of tracks. Around three quarters of its music output is not played on any other UK radio station.
3. Radio 3 plays a much wider range of music and from a larger number of composers than the UK’s other Classical music station, Classic FM.

• UK focussed content and talent: The BBC’s remit and funding makes it entirely focussed on serving UK licence fee payers. As media markets become more global – both online and in broadcasting – a focus on serving the needs of a UK audience becomes an increasingly important point of distinctiveness and a critical driver in delivering some of the BBC’s public purposes, around representation of the UK and its nations, regions and communities and the stimulation of UK culture and creativity. A high proportion of the BBC’s online service is very focussed on UK users: news, sports, travel, weather, formal and informal learning content. Of course, there are other UK providers of content in many of these areas too, but much internet use in the UK is of international sites.

Given how important distinctiveness is for the BBC, we strongly support that it should be enshrined in the next Charter, linked to the public purposes. And the nature of the commitment for each BBC service should be set out more clearly.

To achieve this, we recommend that each BBC service should have clear commitments relating its distinctiveness included in its service licence. This will enable the BBC to be held to account more easily in this area and for everyone to have a common basis on which to judge its performance.

Finally, while it is clear that every BBC programme should aspire to be distinctive when it is developed, not all will succeed and some may be emulated by the market, so we agree with the BBC Executive that the BBC should only be held accountable at the level of each service, rather than programme.

[1] Broadcast, 8 October 2015: Charlotte Moore explains BBC1 vision

[2] Based on BBC Radio music monitoring from June 2014 which compares Radio 1 and Radio 2 with seven commercial stations

BBC Yfory: Seminar Caerdydd

2015-11-18T10:20:00+00:00

Cynhaliwyd y trydydd seminar ar Adolygu’r Siarter gan yr Ymddiriedolaeth yng Nghanolfan y Mileniwm ar 20 Hydref 2015. Cadeiriwyd y digwyddiad gan Bethan Rhys Roberts.

Cyflwynwyd y digwyddiad gan Rona Fairhead, Cadeirydd Ymddiriedolaeth y BBC, ac Elan Closs Stephens, aelod Ymddiriedolaeth y BBC dros Gymru. Tynnodd Rona sylw at ychydig o’r gwaith yr oedd yr Ymddiriedolaeth wedi bod yn ei wneud gyda chynulleidfaoedd fel rhan o broses adolygu’r Siarter. Rhoddodd Elan drosolwg o’r swyddogaeth bwysig yr oedd y BBC wedi’i chwarae dros y blynyddoedd.

Fformat y digwyddiad oedd panel yn trafod rhai o’r materion a ofynnwyd gan Lywodraeth y DU ym Mhapur Gwyrdd yr Adran dros Ddiwylliant, y Cyfryngau a Chwaraeon ar y Siarter, ac yna gwahodd y rhai oedd yn bresennol i ymuno yn y drafodaeth.

Ar y panel gydag Elan oedd yr Athro Justin Lewis, Athro Cyfathrebu, Ysgol Newyddiaduraeth Caerdydd, Astudiaethau Cyfryngau a Diwylliannol; James Purnell, Cyfarwyddwr y BBC, Strategaeth a Digidol; Paul Islwyn Thomas, ymgynghorydd darlledu a Chynhyrchydd Gweithredol; a Jane Tranter, PSG Bad Wolf Productions.

Trafodwyd llawer o faterion gan y panel, yn cynnwys maint a chwmpas y BBC, darparu rhaglenni a gwasanaethau nodweddiadol o ansawdd uchel, a’r pwysigrwydd o sicrhau bod cynrychiolaeth gywir o’r cenhedloedd datganoledig ac atebolrwydd i Seneddau a chynulliadau datganoledig mewn unrhyw system lywodraethu newydd.

Gallwch wylio trafodaeth y panel yma:

Roedd llawer o’r drafodaeth o’r llawr yn canolbwyntio ar ddarlledu yng Nghymru a sut orau i wasanaethu cynulleidfaoedd yng Nghymru. Tynnwyd sylw at y ffaith fod y dirwedd ddarlledu yng Nghymru yn golygu bod gan y BBC swyddogaeth bwysig i’w chwarae fel darlledwr gwasanaeth cyhoeddus mewn cenedl ddatganoledig.

Cydnabuwyd fod llwyddiant rhaglenni fel Dr Who a Torchwood wedi creu canolfan ardderchowgrwydd ar gyfer drama yng Nghymru. Fodd bynnag, y cam nesaf oedd sicrhau bod hyn yn cael ei ddefnyddio i greu gwir bortread o fywyd yn y Gymru fodern. Nododd y mynychwyr er gwaethaf bod llawer o raglenni ffeithiol o ansawdd uchel wedi cael eu gwneud gan wneuthurwyr rhaglenni yng Nghymru, roedd y strwythur comisiynu presennol yn golygu, y tu allan i fyd y ddrama, ei bod yn anodd cael comisiynau o Gymru ar deledu rhwydwaith. Roedd angen ailfeddwl yn sylfaenol ynglŷn â sut yr oedd comisiynu yn gweithredu drwy’r BBC, gyda rhywfaint o ddatganoli yn y broses. Mae’n rhaid i’r BBC ddarganfod ffyrdd o ddefnyddio talent bresennol a thalent newydd yng Nghymru i ddweud straeon sy’n atseinio yng Nghymru yn ogystal â gweddill y DU.

Un o’r trafodaethau allweddol oedd ynglŷn â’r ddarpariaeth o raglenni yn yr iaith Saesneg a oedd wedi cael eu gwneud yng Nghymru ar gyfer cynulleidfaoedd yng Nghymru. Dywedodd y mynychwyr y bu lleihad sylweddol mewn cyllid rhaglenni a gynhyrchwyd yn lleol ar gyfer cynulleidfaoedd lleol dros y ddeng mlynedd ddiwethaf, a oedd wedi arwain at ddiffyg portreadu’r genedl iddi’i hun. Cydnabuwyd gan y BBC fod hyn yn broblem, ond nid oedd wedi dod o hyd i ateb – ac roedd y rhaglenni hyn yn bwysig i gynulleidfaoedd yng Nghymru, ac roedden nhw’n ffordd allweddol o gynnal a datblygu talent oddi ar yr awyr ac ar yr awyr.

Gallwch wylio’r drafodaeth lawn yma:

Tomorrow's BBC: Cardiff seminar

2015-11-18T10:20:00+00:00

The third of the Trust’s Charter Review seminars was held at the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff on 20 October 2015. The event was chaired by Bethan Rhys Roberts.

Rona Fairhead, Chairman of the BBC Trust, and Elan Closs Stephens, the BBC Trust member for Wales introduced the event. Rona highlighted some of the work which the Trust had been carrying out with audiences as part of the Charter review process. Elan gave an overview of the important role which the BBC had played in Wales over the years.

The format of the event was a panel discussing some of the issues which the UK Government had asked in the DMCS Charter Green Paper, and then inviting attendees to join in the discussion.

On the panel, Elan was joined by Professor Justin Lewis, Professor of Communication, Cardiff School of Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies; James Purnell, the BBC’s Director, Strategy and Digital; Paul Islwyn Thomas, a broadcast consultant and Executive Producer; and Jane Tranter, CEO of Bad Wolf Productions.

Many issues were discussed by the panel including the scale and scope of the BBC, providing high-quality distinctive programming and services, and the importance of ensuring the correct representation of devolved nations and accountability to devolved Parliaments and assemblies in any new governance system.

You can watch the panel discussion here:

Much of the discussion from the floor focussed on broadcasting in Wales and how best to serve audiences in Wales. It was pointed out the broadcasting landscape in Wales meant that that the BBC had a particularly important role to play as a public service broadcaster in a devolved nation.

It was acknowledged that the success of programmes such as Dr Who and Torchwood had created a centre of excellence for drama in Wales. However, the next step was to ensure that this was used to create an authentic portrayal of life in modern Wales. Attendees noted that despite many high-quality factual programmes having been made by programme makers based in Wales, the current commissioning structure meant that outside of drama it was difficult to get Welsh commissions onto network television. A radical rethink of how commissioning operated across the BBC was needed, with some element of devolution in the process. The BBC must find ways of using established and new talent within Wales to tell stories which resonate within Wales and also to the rest of the UK.

One of the key discussions was about the provision of English language programming made in Wales for audiences in Wales. Attendees said that there had been a significant reduction in the funding for locally produced programmes for local audiences over the last ten years, which had resulted in a lack of portrayal of the nation to itself. The BBC had acknowledged that this was a problem but had not come up with a solution – and these programmes were important to audiences in Wales, and were a key way of maintaining and developing on-air and off-air talent.

You can watch the discussion in full here:

Tomorrow's BBC: Future Funding seminar

2015-11-11T12:30:01+00:00

On 16 October, the Trust held its second Charter Review seminar to look at the issues related to BBC funding in the next charter period and beyond. The public event was chaired by the BBC’s Business Editor, Kamal Ahmed, and was held in partnership with the Media Policy Project at the London School of Economics.

At the outset of the event, the BBC’s Chairman, Rona Fairhead, outlined recently published research and consultation findings from the Trust, which demonstrated clearly that the principle of the BBC as a universal service is important to audiences and is inextricably linked to the method by which the BBC is funded. Methods which could potentially undermined the BBC’s ability to serve all audiences, free at the point of use, were less favourable to respondents to the Trust’s first phase of Charter Review consultation and within the Trust’s qualitative and quantitative audience research.

Opening speech by Trust Chairman, Rona Fairhead

Our event panel consisted of experts including David Fernández-Quijada (European Broadcasting Union), Prof. Charlie Beckett (LSE), Dr Helen Weeds (University of Essex), James Heath (Director of Policy, BBC) and Nicholas Prettejohn (Chair of the BBC Trust’s Value for Money Committee). Together they explored a range of topics from the mechanism of funding the BBC, through to efficiency, value for money and the role of the BBC as the guardian of the licence fee.

Panel discussion

Audience members were invited to ask questions of the panel, or give their comments. Among those who gave their views a large number remarked on how the BBC’s funding is linked to its independence. The summer licence fee settlement, where the BBC was charged with adopting the over-75s licence fee concession was cited as a concern of many participants. Others questioned whether the Charter Review process had already been fixed as a result of the settlement, and other cautioned about the licence fee being used to pay for other government projects (commonly referred to as ‘topslicing’ of the fee).

Others questioned the framing of the debate to date – with some arguing that the focus on the scale and scope is not correct way to approach BBC funding. Instead they believed debate should look at whether the BBC performs well against its overall mission and purpose.

Some in the audience disagreed with Rona’s view that reform of the licence fee system should be had at a later point, when technological developments and audience use of the media are both further advanced. Some attendees queried why the BBC is not having this debate now given the rise of on demand services and the increased adoption of different devices.

You can watch the debate in full here:

Audience debate

Tomorrow's BBC: Who Governs?

2015-10-09T11:24:34+00:00

Representing the licence fee payer is a key element of the Trust's work, and I cannot overstate how important the licence fee payer is within the Trust itself. Almost everything that the organisation does is viewed and debated through the lens of the licence fee payer’s interests. So it follows that, when it comes to the debate about the future of the BBC governance and regulation, I felt that it was vital that licence fee payers were given the opportunity to have a platform to talk about what that means to them.

The notion that the governing and regulatory body of the BBC should represent the licence fee payer, that it should work to ensure that the BBC is accountable to them – as the Trust has done historically – was strongly supported by panellists and members of the audience who turned up to pack out the Fyvie Hall, at the University of Westminster last week. The event was over-subscribed, with a capacity audience of over 150 people who turned up to take part in the discussion.

‘Tomorrow’s BBC: Who Governs?’ was our first charter review seminar, and its focus was to explore and unpick the differences between governance and regulation and how this should be applied to the BBC in the future. Having been the Chairman of the body that does the dual role of both governor and regulator of the BBC for nearly a year now, I set out some of my thoughts on the challenges for the future. We also called on a panel of experts from a range of backgrounds and views to give their contributions to set the tone and scope for the debate ahead.

Within the debate a number of themes emerged of interest to panellists and audience members alike. From the importance of the independence of the BBC, to how good governance is an integral part of delivering the kind of content that audiences love. You can see a film of the audience discussion with our event host Steve Hewlett below:

There were a lot of contributions about the structure of models themselves, with many people coalescing around the idea of separation of governance and regulatory functions. There are a lot of ideas out there on how this might work, which is why I am pleased that Sir David Clementi was recently asked to lead an independent review of this topic on behalf of the Government. The Trust will fully participate in this, sharing our experiences of the last eight years and our understanding of licence fee payer views.

Since this event, the Trust has responded to the Government’s Green Paper using the 40,000 responses received to our consultation. You can read our response in full.

Details of forthcoming seminars can be found here.

Tomorrow's BBC – seminar series

2015-09-04T10:40:00+00:00

Back in January the Trust’s Chairman, Rona Fairhead, called for the debate on the future of the BBC to "include the voices of all the people out there who pay for the BBC… who love its programmes, who are its true owners." The Trust has a duty to represent licence fee payers' interests. It's clear to us not only that the public must be given an opportunity to have their say, but also that their views ought to be central to the Government's decision-making process. We see it as one of our jobs to help make that happen.

Things haven't gone entirely to plan. Regrettably, the way that funding decisions were made through the Budget in July did not allow the public to give their views. But there is still a lot at stake in the Charter Review for anyone who cares about the BBC, and the Government's Green Paper poses some big questions about its future purpose as well as its size, scope and funding.

The Green Paper also included the following helpful line about the work we intend to do:

"The Trust will ... also be consulting on proposals for the future of the BBC. We will take full account of the Trust’s work and work with them on a range of public and industry events to explore in detail the important issues in the coming months.”

We made a start on this in the summer, when we launched a consultation with some straightforward questions about the BBC, designed to allow anyone to take part and have their say. The response has been strong and we’ll be asking you questions about the BBC management's own proposals shortly.

In addition to the consultation, we have a lot of work planned over the course of the autumn to provide the government with further evidence to help them make their decisions including a programme of audience research, some economic analysis and a series of public seminars.

Today we're publishing the list of seminars we will hold around the UK. There is some more information below about when and where these will take place, as well as how you can take part.

Of course many of the participants in these events will be those who already work in and around the media, with particular interests and points of view. But we are opening them up to the wider public, too, in the hope that we hear a slightly different sort of debate. Anyone who comes along will be able to express their view and to ask questions of a panel that will include industry experts, academics and commentators as well as BBC management.

We want this to be an open, honest process, so our first event on 1 October - Tomorrow’s BBC: Who Governs? - will include a debate about the future of the Trust itself. This seminar is being organised in conjunction with the University of Westminster and the Media, Communication and Cultural Studies Association (MeCCSA).

Further information about the Trust’s seminar series and how you can get involved

The Trust will film the events and will publish them online on the Trust's site, so those who can’t attend will be able to watch the discussion.

Event title	Location	Date	Booking/registration
“Tomorrow’s BBC: Who Governs”	London	Thursday 1 October	View the event video
“Tomorrow’s BBC: Future Funding”	London	Friday 16 October	View the event video
“Tomorrow’s BBC: Your Say”	Cardiff	Tuesday 20 October	View the event video
“Tomorrow’s BBC: Your Say”	Belfast	Tuesday, 3 November	View the event video
“Tomorrow’s BBC: Your Say”	Birmingham	Tuesday 10 November	View the event video
“Tomorrow’s BBC: Your Say”	Sunderland	Tuesday 24 November (Morning)	View the event video
“Tomorrow’s BBC: Your Say”	Glasgow	Monday 7 December (Afternoon)	View the event video

Arolygu BBC Radio 4 a BBC Radio 5 live

2015-08-20T10:00:00+00:00

Yn yr un modd â miliynau o bobl eraill, rydw i'n cyfaddef yn agored fy mod i'n gaeth i radio. Rydw i'n deffro i glywed newyddion a materion cyfoes; rydw i'n gyrru'r car i gyfeiliant rhaglenni cylchgrawn, drama a cherddoriaeth; Rydw i'n coginio (un o'm hoff ddiddordebau) wrth wrando ar drafodaethau, ac rydw i'n gwrando ar bodlediadau wrth fynd â'r ci am dro. Mae gen i ddiddordeb brwd yn Rygbi'r Chwe Gwlad, Pêl-droed Menywod a Wimbledon. Pa orchwyl sy'n well fel un o Ymddiriedolwyr y BBC nag arwain cipolwg yr Ymddiriedolaeth ar sefyllfa Radio 4, Radio 4 Extra, BBC Radio 5 live a 5 live sports extra?

Cafodd yr ymgynghoriad 5,200 o ymatebion gan dalwyr ffi'r drwydded, a buom yn craffu ar bob un ohonyn nhw. Fe wnaethon ni gomisiynu ymchwil cynulleidfa meintiol, cyfweld rhanddeiliaid ac edrych ar ddata ariannol a pherfformiad. A oedd y gwasanaethau radio gwerthfawr a phoblogaidd hyn yn cyflawni eu cylchoedd gwaith ac yn bodloni dyheadau gwrandawyr?

Ni fydd yn syndod i wrandawyr ffyddlon BBC Radio 4, BBC Radio 5 a'u chwaer orsafoedd ein bod ni wedi dod i'r casgliad bod y gwasanaethau mewn cyflwr da. (Nid yw hynny yr un fath â dod i'r casgliad nad oed angen cynnal archwiliad.) Roedd cynulleidfaoedd, rhanddeiliaid, a hyd yn oed gwasanaethau eu cystadleuwyr o'r farn bod y gorsafoedd o ansawdd uchel ac yn nodedig. Dywedodd un gwrandawraig: "Byddwn yn fodlon talu fy ffi drwydded yn llawn i gael R4 yn unig - mae'n orsaf sy'n cyfoethogi bywyd!"

Mae cyrhaeddiad wythnosol cyfartalog BBC Radio 4 dros 10.7 miliwn erbyn hyn, ac mae podlediadau'r orsaf yn cael eu llwytho i lawr dros 4 miliwn o weithiau'n wythnosol. Mae BBC Radio 4 Extra yn cyrraedd 1.8 miliwn o bobl yr wythnos erbyn hyn er gwaethaf toriadau yn y gyllideb ar gyfer rhaglenni gwreiddiol. Bu gostyngiad yn nifer gwrandawyr BBC 5 live, yn enwedig ymysg gwrandawyr iau, ond mae boddhad gwrandawyr yn dal yn uchel ar 82%. Dywedodd un gwrandäwr "Roedd y darllediadau o'r digwyddiadau yn Ffrainc ynghylch […] Charlie Hebdo […] yn EITHRIADOL.”

Felly, a oes materion sy'n peri pryder? Mae'r Ymddiriedolaeth yn disgwyl i BBC Radio 4 ddiogelu ansawdd ac amrywiaeth y genres hynny nad ydyn nhw'n cael eu cynnig yn gyffredinol gan orsafoedd radio eraill y Deyrnas Unedig - comedi a drama, er enghraifft. Wedi'r cyfan, fel y clywson ni mewn trafodaeth o amgylch y bwrdd gyda dramodwyr, cynhyrchwyr a Chymdeithas yr Awduron, nid oes llwyfan arall yn y Deyrnas Unedig sydd â'r un faint o amrywiaeth ag allbwn dyddiol BBC Radio 4.

Rydyn ni hefyd yn ymwybodol bod y Deyrnas Unedig yn wladwriaeth amrywiol. Mae datganoli gwleidyddol yn arwain at bolisïau gwahanol yn y gwledydd. Mae cynnydd mewn amrywiaeth ar draws y Deyrnas Unedig gyfan, ac mae angen clywed lleisiau a diddordebau merched yn fwy amlwg hefyd. Mae Radio 4 a 5 live angen adlewyrchu cyfoeth y gymysgedd sydd yn y Deyrnas Unedig o fewn cyfanwaith cydlynol. Maen nhw'n ymwybodol o'r angen hwn, wrth gwrs, gan eu bod nhw'n ddarlledwyr cenedlaethol uchel eu parch. Ond mae hwn yn darged sy'n symud mewn tirwedd newidiol.

Roedd gennym ni rai pryderon ynghylch canfyddiadau gwrandawyr o 5 Live a sut mae hyn yn cyfateb i realiti rhaglennu. Mae llawer o bobl yn credu mai gorsaf chwaraeon yw 5 live. Mewn gwirionedd, mae tri chwarter o'i hallbwn yn newyddion a materion cyfoes - yn unol â'i thrwydded gwasanaeth. Gan hynny, rydyn ni wedi gofyn i 5 live edrych ar y ffordd y mae'n marchnata ac yn hyrwyddo ei hun.

Rydyn ni'n cytuno â rheolwyr y BBC bod y cysyniad o "newyddion sy'n torri" wedi dyddio braidd yn yr oes hon o newyddion symudol ac ar-lein. Ond rydyn ni hefyd yn gwybod bod gwrandawyr yn gwerthfawrogi'n fawr iawn dôn ysgafnach y drafodaeth wybodus am faterion cyfoes ar 5 live, ac agosatrwydd a natur gyfeillgar yr orsaf. Rydyn ni hefyd wedi symud cais y rheolwyr i ehangu 5 live sports extra i gam rheoleiddiol ffurfiol, gan ei fod yn un o ddyletswyddau Ymddiriedolaeth y BBC i ystyried pwy allai gael eu heffeithio wrth ehangu gwasanaethau'r BBC.

Rydyn ni hefyd yn gwybod bod cyllidebau'r BBC dan bwysau cynyddol, ac yn ddiweddar cyhoeddodd y Canghellor na fyddai'r Adran Gwaith a Phensiynau yn darparu cost trwyddedau teledu am ddim pobl dros 75 oed i'r BBC. Felly, mae'r Ymddiriedolaeth yn ymwybodol o'r angen i'r BBC gydbwyso gwasanaethu ei wrandawyr radio ffyddlon gystal ag y bo modd, gan gadw costau'n isel yr un pryd

Ar ddechrau'r blog hwn roeddwn i'n sôn am wrando ar bodlediadau wrth fynd â'r ci am dro. Un o'r pethau mae'r adolygiad hwn wedi ei amlygu o ddifrif yw sut mae ein harferion wedi newid y tu hwnt i adnabyddiaeth mewn llai na degawd. Pwy sy'n meddwl am fyd heb ffôn clyfar neu iPad neu app erbyn hyn? Neu fyd heb YouTube, Spotify neu Netflix? Lai na mis yn ôl, ail-lansiwyd BBC iPlayer Radio, gan arwain at dros filiwn o raglenni'n cael eu llwytho i lawr yn ystod ei fis cyntaf! Y cynnwys mwyaf poblogaidd oedd drama ar Radio 4. Efallai nad yw'n syndod mai'r awr fwyaf poblogaidd ar gyfer llwytho i lawr oedd 10 o'r gloch nos Sul, wrth i bobl baratoi ar gyfer cymudo, gyrru neu hedfan ar ddechrau'r wythnos waith - neu yn fy achos i, pob un o'r rhain, yn ogystal â mynd â'r ci am dro!

O ganlyniad i'r newidiadau hyn mewn ymddygiad, cyhoeddodd yr Ymddiriedolaeth heddiw hefyd ei bod wedi caniatáu i raglenni llafar fod ar gael ar-lein hyd at saith diwrnod cyn y darllediad. Bydd llawer o'r rhain yn rhaglenni blasu, gan obeithio denu gwrandawyr at wasanaethau. Bydd eraill yn denu gwrandawyr at yr App Radio newydd ac at BBC Ar-lein.

Gan fod yr Ymddiriedolaeth yn cynrychioli buddiannau'r rhai sy'n talu'r drwydded yn yr Adolygiad o'r Siarter, mae'r cwestiwn ynghylch lle gall gwrandawyr ddod o hyd i wasanaethau yn dod yn bwysicach byth, ac yn ein harolwg rydyn ni eisiau gwybod sut rydych chi'n meddwl y dylai'r BBC ymateb i arferion sy'n newid ynghylch y cyfryngau.

Nid yw llawer o bobl yn ymwybodol bod ffi'r drwydded hefyd yn talu am ddarpariaethau radio (ac ar-lein). Nawr yw'r amser i feddwl faint o bethau rydych chi'n eu cael am eich taliad o £145.50 y flwyddyn. Cofiwch ddweud eich dweud ar werth radio i chi ac ar ddatblygiadau newydd fel rhan o ymgynghoriad BBC y Dyfodol.