The BBC has set out how it has transformed its finances over the past decade to ensure it continues to deliver exceptional value for all audiences.
The Corporation has faced an effective real-terms reduction in income of around 30 per cent since 2010/11 as a result of increased funding obligations, such as the World Service and S4C, and the freeze in licence fee income for five years from 2010.
At the same time, there has been an unprecedented increase in competition for audience time with the rise of streaming services, social media and gaming.
The BBC’s report, BBC Value for Audiences, looks at the effectiveness of the response to these changes, and how the BBC has saved, sold and spent sensibly to increase efficiencies, grow commercially and reprioritise to make the most of its licence fee funding.
Despite financial and market challenges, the report shows the BBC is:
The Corporation’s most recent savings programme is on course to deliver £951 million (€1.08bn) of savings by March 31st 2022; the commercial entities have grown their income by 50 per cent, consistently boosting returns to the BBC for investment in programme-making; and over 95 per cent of the BBC’s controllable spend is now on programmes, services and delivery – with more spending across the nations and regions of the UK, and greater investment in digital services.
However, given the BBC’s last ten years of work to deliver significant gains in productivity, the report identifies that further savings will involve difficult choices that will impact programmes and services.
“The BBC has made big changes to ensure we provide outstanding value. We are smarter spenders and savers and more efficient than ever before, but there is more to do,” admitted Tim Davie, BBC Director-General. “The financial challenges and competition we face continue to evolve and while we have demonstrated we can deliver, I want us to adapt and reform further to safeguard the outstanding programmes and services that our audiences love for the future.”
The report sets out that as a smart saver, the BBC has:
As a smart seller, the BBC has:
As a smart spender, the BBC has:
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