BBC’s Annual Plan set to deliver greater value for all

The report sets out five strategic priorities which our plans for 2022/23 are based upon

OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE


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BBC One

The BBC’s Annual Plan, published today, reveals creative highlights for the year ahead and explains how we will continue reforming to deliver maximum value to all audiences.

The plan is published at a time when record numbers globally are tuning into the BBC for impartial news coverage of the war in Ukraine. During the first week of the conflict an estimated 280m people from the UK and around the world came to the BBC’s online news output.

At home, as we celebrate 100 years of the BBC, we remain the number one media brand and 86% of the UK public say the BBC has been important to the nation during this time.

The report sets out five strategic priorities which our plans for 2022/23 are based upon:

Strengthening impartiality
Creating distinctive, high-impact content
Transforming our digital offer and capability
Accelerating commercial and global growth

Delivering reform of the BBC, getting closer to audiences across the UK, and managing the impact of the first year of the new licence fee settlement.

Richard Sharp, BBC Chairman, says: “This Annual Plan shows the need for truthful, independent news and uniquely British content, is needed more than ever. Our plan highlights the challenges and opportunities in the media market. We will continue driving changes to our public service and commercial operations to fulfil our duty.”

Tim Davie, BBC Director-General, adds: “The BBC is performing an indispensable role delivering impartial news around the world, with 456m people using our services globally every week and growing. This Annual Plan shows significant progress has been made to reform the BBC, but we will continue to transform the organisation to provide value for all audiences in the digital age.”

A summary of the BBC’s plans for 2022/23 detailed in the report include:

Improving personalisation of BBC iPlayer and Sounds and the rollout of a new BBC News app – the current app was first released in 2010.
Our centenary year will be packed with creative highlights including Conversations with Friends the TV adaptation of Sally Rooney’s debut novel; Blue Lights, a drama from the writers of the Salisbury Poisonings; The English from Hugo Blick; and the return of Happy Valley, Ghosts and Alma’s Not Normal.
New factual series like Frozen Planet II, Inside the Autistic Mind and Five Days on Mars with Brian Cox will provide audiences with a new perspective on the world and beyond.
On BBC Three younger audiences will see more stories that reflect their communities, such as extreme tractor racing competitions on The Fast and Farmer-ish, a celebration of entrepreneurialism on Angels of the North and The Drop, and a look at the lives of young bricklayers in England in Brickies.
In audio our distinctive live events return to cities and towns across the UK. Radio 1’s Big Weekend will be hosting over 80,000 young fans in Coventry’s War Memorial Park, and in Cardiff, Little Simz, Idles and Manic Street Preachers are part of the 6 Music Festival line up.
In Children’s we will launch a new series called Phoenix Rise, set in a fictional West Midlands secondary school filmed in the region, alongside other key titles such as Jamie Johnson (Wales), The Dumping Ground (NE England); JoJo and Gran Gran (SW England).
The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee is a momentous milestone which will be marked across the BBC.
Sporting highlights will include the UEFA women’s European Football Championship, Commonwealth Games and Rugby League World Cup, alongside live coverage of the FIFA men’s Football World Cup from Qatar.
In News we will continue to find new ways to inform UK and international audiences about the ongoing conflict, such as the recently launched podcast Ukrainecast. Panorama will continue to deliver impactful investigations, with additional investment.
By September, all planned BBC News teams will be transferred to their new UK bases, including Newsbeat and Asian Network news to Birmingham, and News story teams to Salford, Leeds, Glasgow and Cardiff.
We will introduce a new target for 25% of our staff to come from low socio-economic backgrounds by 2027, to ensure our workforce is more representative of the audiences we serve.
As we expect to meet our goal of reaching 500m people outside the UK every week, we will accelerate the digital transformation of the World Service. Alongside today’s Annual Plan we are publishing new global research that shows the BBC is the UK’s greatest soft power asset.
BBC Studios will continue to develop and grow direct-to-consumer digital subscription services, with new non-executive director Damon Buffini taking on the role of chairing our commercial arm.
In January this year it was announced that the licence fee will be frozen for two years from 2022/23, then rise in line with inflation for the following four years.

Through careful financial management, we go into the coming year in a strong financial position to help us through the first year of the settlement. However, the BBC will need to find £285m in annual savings by 2027/28 as well as respond to ever-increasing superinflation in the media market. We will set out our longer-term strategy – which will outline how the BBC can continue to be a successful organisation for the country for the rest of the Charter - and how we plan to manage these resource pressures in May.

Alongside the Annual Plan, the BBC has today also set out new governance arrangements for BBC Studios. You can read about them here. The BBC has bold ambitions for what can be achieved and the changes are about creating a firm platform for success. The new research on global audiences and the BBC can be found below.

About

Notes to editors

The Annual Plan can be found below.

The Plan shows:

The BBC also has the largest share, at almost 25%, of all the time UK adults spend across video, audio and online.

The UK public chooses the BBC around 260m times a day.

Every single minute of the day and night, the BBC is being used by 5m adults, on average.
At home, more than 90% of UK adults used BBC services on average each week across the last 12 months, with a monthly figure of 97%. BBC News is overwhelmingly the first place UK audiences turn for impartial news coverage.

The BBC is the world’s most trusted international broadcaster. It is the UK’s best-known cultural export with 60% awareness across the world, contributing to the UK’s soft power globally.
BBC Studios is the number one international TV distributor, outside of Hollywood, and Studios continues to add to the UK’s economic success, with exports valued at £800m in 2021/22.

Source BBC One

March 30, 2022 6:12am ET by BBC One  

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