大象传媒

This is my first Annual Report as Chairman and, despite all the noise around the 大象传媒, I think the past year shows that it remains an extraordinary national institution and is in strong creative shape.

It reaches 97 per cent of all adults each week – slightly up from last year – and there have been many highlights that show the 大象传媒 at its best creatively.

It’s particularly pleasing to see 大象传媒 One performing so well in drama (one of the Trust’s targets for the 大象传媒 for the year), with highlights including Happy Valley, The Missing and Poldark.

There is of course always more for the 大象传媒 to do on distinctiveness on TV, particularly in reaching audiences from diverse ethnic backgrounds and serving the whole of the UK. But it is clear to me that the 大象传媒 has had considerable achievements on screen during 2014/15.

It was also a successful year for the 大象传媒 on the airwaves.  The Trust’s review of the 大象传媒’s music radio stations published in March found that they provide a distinctive alternative to commercial radio and are of critical importance to the music sector, although again there are challenges in some areas in reaching diverse audiences.

Special mention should go to 6 Music which, let us not forget, was threatened with closure five years ago and during the course of the year became the first digital station to attract audiences of more than two million listeners.

I mentioned the inevitable noise around the 大象传媒 a moment ago, but it is important to remember that what audiences really care about is getting great programmes that are great value, from an organisation that is well run. 

On the latter point, Anne will say more on this in a moment, but the 大象传媒 has continued to make good progress in becoming more efficient and is on course to achieve an ambitious £1.5 billion savings plan, although improving efficiency is a never-ending journey.

As for that noise, it has been turned up considerably in the past week, given the announcement in last week’s budget on TV licences for over 75s.

The Trust has been clear that, although we were involved throughout the process, the process itself  fell well short of what the public had a right to expect.

It is the people’s 大象传媒, not the politicians’ 大象传媒 and the public should have a vital say in decisions that fundamentally affect the services that they receive for their money.

And, while it was legitimate for the Government to make the decision it did last week, it is part of a pattern in which 大象传媒 funding decisions have been caught up in Government Budgets and spending reviews. You can actually chart this back to the original decision to subsidise the licence fee for over 75s in 2001.

Our learning from the last two weeks is twofold.

Firstly, we believe the public need a guarantee from the Government that measures will be put in place to protect licence fee funding from being changed without due process. These measures could include a requirement for more formal public and Parliamentary scrutiny of Government decisions about the 大象传媒’s funding. We will return to this when we respond to the Government’s Charter proposals.

Secondly, that the public voice must be absolutely pivotal in Charter discussions.

The nature of that consultation will now inevitably change in light of the Budget.  The broad financial framework is essentially set.  The review will be focussing on the question of what audiences want for their money, and we will redouble our efforts to ensure that those who pay for the 大象传媒 have a genuine say in its future.

As for the decision on over 75s itself, we argued, with the Director-General, for the measures that we believe make the 大象传媒 financially sustainable in something like its current form, including what the Government have said about the licence fee rising in line with CPI over the Charter period.

It’s on that basis that we agree with the Chancellor’s statement that he has given the 大象传媒 a sustainable income for the long term.

That’s not to say that there aren’t tough decisions ahead.  While we will be looking for the 大象传媒 to achieve more through efficiencies and better exploiting of other sources of revenue, the Trust is clear that there are likely to be scope cuts.

It will be for the 大象传媒 to propose where those cuts might fall, but we want an honest and open debate with the public about the nature of them.

Let me make one more point on this question of what audiences want.  Newspaper headlines in the last few days have suggested that in its Green Paper the Government will say the 大象传媒 should do less of the ‘entertain’ when it comes to the mission to ‘inform, educate and entertain’.  We have seen no evidence that the public want less entertainment on the 大象传媒.  Our audience research published earlier this year showed that not only do the public back that current mission, but when asked to choose from some words describing what the 大象传媒’s mission should be, over 6 in 10 people chose ‘entertain’, more than any other.

For the 大象传媒 to serve the nation, serve the public and support the creative industries it needs to be a confident and strong 大象传媒.  Any challenge to that confidence, and in particular to the 大象传媒’s independence, risks having chilling effect on the organisation.  And our research shows that over 80 per cent of the public see the 大象传媒 ‘s independence from Government and MPs as crucial.  That is why we need to ensure in the forthcoming Charter Review that the 大象传媒 remains an important international, cultural and economic institution, connected to the diverse audiences around the UK and confident in its ability to deliver its mission.