BBC Trust plan to open up 10% of BBC radio output on top of independent quota mirrors TV 'window of creative competition'

John Plunkett in The Guardian has published details of the review that the BBC Trust has undertaken into the relationship between radio based independent producers and the BBC.

[The Trust] has announced plans that a further 10% of BBC radio programming will be opened up to independent programme-makers on top of the 10% quota that is already guaranteed to the sector.

 But the 10% isn't currently guaranteed, it is a voluntary quota!

The extra 10% – which can be competed for by both in-house and independent producers – will mirror the window of creative competition, or WoCC, which already exists in BBC TV.

As someone who took part in that review it is a step forward but I wouldn't call it a victory. The BBC by restricting the amount of commissions to 10% and a 10% of  WoCC isn't going to make a huge difference. The best would be a doubling of commissions available to the independent sector, the worst case scenario is no change as the BBC decides to commission all the 10% WoCC from in house. The Guardian report continues...

The trust called for a "step change in the way in which the BBC operates" in commissioning programmes from the independent radio sector. It said the relationship had become "strained" and called for the BBC to be "more open and transparent" in its dealings with outside producers. "Urgent improvement" was required, it said. The BBC has exceeded its 10% voluntary indie quota in all but one of the last 10 years. 

I am not sure I agree with that statement.

But the trust said competition for the best ideas "has not been consistently embraced by the BBC in radio". It said it was "concerned" by the BBC's current approach commissioning, with tightly defined supplier lists that "may restrict the range and diversity of those who supply content to the BBC". Independent radio producers had called for a minimum 25% quota and a further 25% WoCC, as operates in BBC TV. But the trust stopped well short of such an increase, saying a reduction in the BBC's in-house operations to a guaranteed minimum of 50% of output "would cause great instability".

But if the independent sector doesn't get a larger quota it can't expand and develop. To put it simply there isn't a viable living to be made.

The trust also criticised BBC management after it "encountered difficulties in conducting this review due to the lack of detailed information being collected". "We are therefore looking to the executive to better develop the way in which it monitors its obligations, particularly with regards to how range and diversity might be assessed in the trust's next review."

David Liddiment, chair of the trust's audiences and performance committee, said the BBC's radio services were "both popular and distinctive [and] make a vital contribution to the public purposes".
"However, this review has shown that the BBC's approach to commissioning from the sector does not always work as well as it should. "Putting more of the programmes up for grabs will help promote competition for the best ideas, wherever they come from. That will be good for licence-fee payers, whose interests the trust is here to serve. And we are particularly keen to see a much more open and fair approach to commissioning from the independent sector."

Well I am not impressed with this outcome. I was really hoping the radio sector would get parity with the TV sector, but I am pleased to see the Trust reporting their dissatisfaction with the way the BBC deals with radio indies. But again I wait to see what effect this will have on the way BBC Radio works with the indie sector.