Popular music commissioning for TV

In a time of extreme content saturation, Pop Music TV continues to stand out and hold its own. At its best, this programming can jump out of the EPG and be must-watch-now appointment to view content, while simultaneously delivering strong performance for on-demand audiences across digital worlds.

We’re therefore always looking for ways to make our shows stand out within a crowded market by searching for stories that will create lots of press and PR noise, and sitting under the umbrella of BBC Pop Music means we have the luxury of working closely with the pop radio networks to create bigger moments across platforms.

We’re also working to expand our offering, pushing at the seams to find documentaries or boxsets which appeal to broader audiences, with a particular focus on younger or traditionally more underserved audiences.

What we’re looking for

Ambitious, premium feature documentaries or series that have scale

Ideas that can follow the success of our recent nostalgia boxsets Girlbands Forever,Boybands Forever or WHAM!: Last Christmas Unwrapped. Though it’s always great if there’s access to A-list artists, it’s not essential. What we are looking for is an ideas' unique selling point. In this space we often co-commission with other broadcasters internationally, which helps us to unlock more scale and even better access.

New and cost-effective ways to work with our rich archive

Like Banned in the 80s: Moments That Shook Music, …at the BBC’s and When ... Came to Britain. These shows have become returning brands for us because of their cost-effective nature and ambition when utilising the archive, whether that’s complementing our themed Saturday night BBC Two music slots or becoming must-watch pieces on iPlayer.

New ways to wrapper music for more casual audiences 

This could take many different forms. For example, Rob Brydon’s Honky Tonk Road Trip had our music slate at the centre of the programme, but we told the story using a comic national treasure with amazing landscapes which were a pleasure to watch. Or Reel Stories with Dermot O’Leary, which combines our core slate with elements of the entertainment spectrum in its broad chat show environment.

Our commissioners and how to pitch ideas

Please send all ideas for popular factual TV content to Head of Popular Music Jonathan Rothery or Commissioning Executive Rachel Davies via the PiCoS submission system.

Please note that ideas for classical music content should be pitched via the contacts listed on the arts and classical music page.