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Governance Unit

GOVERNORS’ GENRE REVIEW: CURRENT AFFAIRS TELEVISION

The BBC Governance Unit prepared this report on behalf of the BBC Governors. It has drawn on quantitative analysis, specially commissioned focus group work, in-depth interviews with BBC executives and an expert panel.

January 2005

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1. Introduction

Background

Current Affairs is one of the BBC’s core genres for a number of reasons:

Its provision is central to most definitions of public service broadcasting and, accordingly, it is listed in the Programme Strategy Review as a top priority, in which the BBC should hold a ‘Commanding Reputation’ It is a genre in which the BBC, as a broadcaster independent of political or commercial influence, can be particularly distinctive It contributes to public value, by creating Democratic value - supporting civic life and national debate, helping citizens make sense of the world, encouraging them to engage with it.1 It is, therefore, a genre which was identified as a priority for Governors to review independently. This commitment was alluded to in last year’s Annual Report. 2 This review also provides an opportunity to inform Governors of progress against the commitments made in the News & Current Affairs Strategy, approved by the Board in December 2002.

Objectives

The review has asked two questions: What is the market for television Current Affairs? (What are licence payers’ needs and interests?) How well is the BBC serving the market?

The scope of the review is on the BBC’stelevision Current Affairs output, rather than radio or online, although these are both important sources of Current Affairs for audiences. The review has also not covered political programmes, as these have recently been included in a separate review and series of initiatives.

Approach

This review has been prepared by the Governance Unit and overseen by Richard Tait. The review is based on the following sources of information: Qualitative research amongst viewers – 13 focus groups and 6 depth interviews. The Governance Unit commissioned this work from an external agency, Blinc.tv An expert panel discussion, facilitated by Richard Tait. The panel comprised: Steve Anderson, Creative Director of Mentorn and former Controller of Current Affairs for ITV; David Lloyd, former Senior Commissioning Editor for News & Current Affairs at Channel 4, Stewart Purvis, Chair of Television Journalism at City University and former Chief Executive of ITN; Samir Shah, MD of Juniper Television (& former Head of Television Current Affairs at the BBC); Julian Ware, independent producer.

Discussions with Current Affairs executives in the BBC.

Analysis of BARB and other data, such as the Pan BBC Tracking Survey, Willingness to Pay research, etc.

1 Paraphrased from Building Public Value, page 30 2 Page 13, Review of Objective 1

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2. Executive summary

What is the market for Current Affairs?

The market for Current Affairs programming is challenging, as many programmes do not appeal to a mainstream audience. We have concluded that there are two broad market segments for Current Affairs: firstly, Committed viewers, who have an active interest in Current Affairs issues and regularly watch programmes; secondly, the much larger group of Mainstream viewers, some of whom are occasional viewers and some of whom never watch it. Young adults and viewers in digital homes are particularly hard to reach.

Viewers still believe that Current Affairs is an important television genre. As a result, they face a dilemma, knowing that they should watch Current Affairs programmes, but that they don’t really want to.

How well is the BBC serving it?

The BBC is serving committed viewers quite well, and audiences to its regular strands are steady. However, most are shown either off-peak on BBC One or on BBC Two, so do not reach a Mainstream audience. Despite this, they regularly have a huge impact on the areas they report on. The lack of a regular, high profile peaktime offering on BBC One means that the BBC is serving the mainstream less well. Our research suggests that Real Story is not fulfilling this role adequately.

In searching for a reason for Current Affairs’ lack of mainstream impact, there is some evidence that Current Affairs was ‘ghettoised’ at the BBC in the late 1990s, and that, as a result, it has resisted the forces of innovation which have swept other serious factual genres, such as science and history. We suggest that greater use of independent producers could help with the process of refreshment and drive towards innovation.

ITV1 has made a firm commitment to Tonight With Trevor McDonald which is shown twice weekly in peaktime. The programme has very high awareness and viewers respond very positively to Trevor McDonald. Channel 4 is the only other channel with significant Current Affairs output and, after a period in which its commitment appeared weak, it has announced plans to increase it substantially in 2005.

The Panorama debate

Panorama still dominates any discussion of the BBC’s Current Affairs output and many people inside and outside the BBC feel that it is an issue which must finally be resolved by giving a clear indication of support for the programme.

The programme performs reasonably well in its current place in the schedule, although less committed viewers do not find this slot attractive. Our research suggests that a move back to peaktime might well damage the programme, rather than enhance its impact: its recent peaktime specials have performed very poorly, and consistent poor performance in peaktime would inevitably begin to damage the morale and purpose of the programme. Its current format and style are also not judged to be suitable for peaktime and these may need to be changed.

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3. What is the market for Current Affairs television?

The market is challenging, as many programmes do not appeal to a mainstream audience

There is no doubt that Current Affairs has a challenging market, as programmes are not perceived to be very appealing or enjoyable. Qualitative research for this review highlighted the fact that recent developments in media consumption and in people’s worldview have created three new challenges for Current Affairs: People already feel over-informed. Most people do not see any difference between news and Current Affairs and the vast increase in output of news on all media – 24 hour TV news channels, free newspapers, headlines on web portals, etc – make them feel that they are too well informed. Why would they want to know more about these issues?

Television is primarily a form of entertainment. As the choice of TV programmes and channels, plus other media platforms (internet, newspapers and magazines) has grown, for many people, the role of television has narrowed. In multi-channel homes, there are always drama/comedy and entertainment on, and this creates a challenge for more informative, thought-provoking programmes, which now have to work hard to attract more than just a core of well-committed, curious viewers.

Current Affairs programmes offer problems, not solutions. There is a particular challenge for Current Affairs programmes, compared to other serious genres (like science, history, etc), as Current Affairs is widely perceived to offer “more bad news” about a confusing, and sometimes frightening, world. For example, while there is widespread interest in the ‘pensions crisis’, people feel that they need practical advice, rather than any more analysis and information.

Quotes from audience research

“Everything revolves around current affairs. I mean the plots on Eastenders revolve around drugs, teenage pregnancy, everything like that.”

“Sometimes you want to turn them off, although you do feel bad about it. It feels like some of these issues are a long way away, but you know you should watch them…. But they can be so distressing.”

Occasional viewer, age 18-24, Wales Potential viewer, 18-24, South

“I like the internet because you dictate when you see it. It’s not forced on you and rammed down your throat”

Potential viewer, age 25-45, South

Source: Blinc.tv for Governance Unit

“Online, you have a point made from lots of different angles, and I think that’s what’s good about it.”

Core viewer, age 45+, Manchester

Viewing to Current Affairs has fallen sharply in digital homes

Viewing to Current Affairs in digital homes, compared to four/five channel homes, offers the starkest evidence of the impact of these trends on the genre: when people have greater choice of channels and programmes, viewing to Current Affairs and other serious genres, is much lower. This drop in viewing is greatest amongst less well off viewers.

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Overall, young adults are the most difficult audience to reach with Current Affairs (see below).

Viewers believe that Current Affairs is important to have on television, but do not necessarily want to watch it

Current Affairs is a key contributor to public value, in that it directly serves the BBC’s democratic public purpose and because people still rank it very highly, when they think of themselves as citizens, rather than as consumers: As citizens, the public believes it is the fourth most important genre (only national news, regional news and wildlife are more important)3 But as consumers, the public only ranks it the 23rd most important

3 Note that current affairs differs from other “PSB” genres, such as arts and religion, as the public does not value these either as consumers or citizens

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Public preference for genres, as citizens and as consumers

“Which types of TV programme do you think are most important to the country as a whole?”

“What Type of Programmes Do You Prefer to Watch?”

79

70

48

Top 10

Football History Science Sport

37

News

Regional news Soaps Blockbuster movies British Comedy US films British films Wildlife British drama Sport

36

36

36

Investigative US Films Other local British Drama Home & DIY

Gardening Chat shows Food & cookery Period drama Quiz shows Politics US comedy Popular music Classical music

32

32

32

31

28

28

28

27

26

Home & DIY Football Chat shows History Quiz shows US comedy Gardening

Consumer programmes Period drama Investigative programmes Science Food & cookery

25

Current affairs

25

23

23

17

17

16

16

15

15

14

14

Popular music programmes Other local programmes Reality TV programmes US drama Observational documentary Education Foreign films Classical music Children’s animation Politics Art house / independent films

13

13

Arts

12

Business

Children’s live action

Religion

Source: Governance Unit analysis of Willingness to pay research, 2004

This creates a dilemma for many viewers: they know that Current Affairs programmes are important, but they don’t really want to watch them, particularly in peaktime, when there are many more entertaining options.

Interest is greatest in domestic, social topics, while foreign affairs has quite narrow appeal

Current Affairs covers a broad spectrum of issues – from ones with very immediate impact on people’s lives, like education and health policies, to those where they only have a distant, or no direct involvement – foreign affairs, eg. human rights in North Korea.

The key drivers of people’s interest in different topics are:

Their age: younger adults are often more idealistic, so may be interested in issues which do not directly affect, such as environmentalism, foreign affairs; slightly older adults are mostly pre-occupied with issues of immediate relevance, such as education, house prices, etc and much older adults who may have a more duty-bound approach to understanding the world around them, so be interested in a broader range of subjects Their socio-economic level: more educated people are more likely to be ‘information hungry’, while more affluent people may be less prone to using television as a form of escapism and less turned off by negative issues.

These indicators summarise quite a complex set of drivers of interest, but the key message is that the level of interest in issues of personal or national importance far outweighs that in international issues.

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Quotes from audience research

“In a very selfish way, what concerns me is what has an immediate impact on me.”

“The last thing anybody wants is to end up poor and old, so pensions are a major concern for me at the moment.”

Potential viewer, age 25-45, SOuth

Occasional viewer, age 45+, South

Source: Blinc.tv for Governance Unit

The public’s degree of willingness to make an effort to consume Current Affairs is reflected in their habits of newspaper buying. In total, two thirds of adults read a national newspaper, but broadsheets which are more akin to Current Affairs programmes than tabloids, represent only 21% of all sales (about 7 million readers). Broadsheet readership is concentrated amongst slightly older and better off adults – those who are most likely to be regular viewers of Current Affairs on television.

We have therefore concluded that ‘the market’ for Current Affairs can be divided into two broad segments: The core of committed viewers. Those who have a real interest in Current Affairs topics, regularly watch Current Affairs programmes, and probably consume Current Affairs via other media, such as broadsheet newspapers. They tend to be older and better off adults The mainstream audience, some of whom are Occasional viewers of Current Affairs, and some of whom never watch it.

The next section examines how each of these two groups are being served by the BBC.

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4. How well is the BBC serving the market?

The BBC is serving committed viewers quite well

The BBC is serving those viewers who still want to watch Current Affairs well, with regular strands such as Panorama, Question Time, Newsnight, Breakfast with Frost, and a range of one-offs. (We have reviewed Panorama separately below, so this section concentrates on the other strands and programmes.) Qualitative audience research for this review showed that these programmes are all valued by their audiences, and respected by those who are aware of them, but do not watch them. Audiences to these programmes are all steady. But all of these programmes are shown off-peak, and so attract quite small audiences.

Average audiences to BBC’s off-peak strands

Average audiences

2.6

2.3

2.4

1.5

1.3

1.4

1.0 1.0

Newsnight

0.9

Question Time

Breakfast with Frost

0

2002 2003

2004 2002

2003 2004

2002 2003

2004

Source: Governance Unit from BARB data. Audience in millions. Uplift in 2003 may have been due to interest in the Iraq war

Since 2002, BBC Two has refreshed its Current Affairs output successfully in several ways: The relaunch of Correspondent as This World. Whether the programme itself has become more appealing, or whether it is due to better scheduling (it has moved from 7pm on Sunday to 9pm on Thursday) or marketing, This World now attracts an average audience of 1.7 million, compared to just 1.2 million for Correspondent. (The only note of caution is the fact that This World had surprisingly low awareness amongst our expert panel which raises a question mark over the wisdom of its rebranding.)

Quote from expert panel

“I was talking to [BBC producer] and I said ‘What are you working on’ and she said ‘The World’ (sic). And I said, ‘What’s that?’ … And then I remembered that Jane Root had killed off Correspondent… And it’s been replaced by something I’d never heard of.”

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New foreign affairs series: Holidays in the Danger Zone/Axis of Evil which were co-commissioned by BBC Two and BBC Four. These were mostly shown in late evening on BBC Two, so attracted less than a million viewers, but they demonstrated an innovative approach to presenting foreign affairs If… was a new approach to Current Affairs analysis, using docu-drama. It was first shown in March/April 2004. The series format was not judged by some BBC executives to have been wholly successful. However, the first episode attracted 3.2 million viewers to an analysis of the potential energy supply crisis facing the UK - far more than would usually have watched a programme on this topic. Episodes in the second series will be followed by a 30 minute debate, chaired by Jeremy Paxman The Power of Nightmares was a three-part programme, shown in October 2004. It was an exploration of how real the threat from global terrorism is. It was well-marketed, received lots of positive newspaper coverage and was given a good slot (9pm on a weekday), but attracted fewer than 2 million viewers. (Audience appreciation scores were very high, however.) As these examples show, BBC Two tends to attract Committed, rather than Mainstream, viewers. Audiences to all of BBC Two’s Current Affairs programmes tend to be skewed towards the core of older (and better off) viewers. Even the Holidays in… programmes which were fronted by relatively young reporters, had audiences which were more than two thirds aged over 45.

For this reason, the majority of viewers still perceive BBC One to have the best quality and range of output. Panorama probably plays a large part in this, as it is much more established than BBC Two’s strands.

Audience opinion of quality and range of Current Affairs on the main channels

Sky One -2 Channel 4 ITV1

BBC Two

BBC One

0

Those who choose to watch current affairs

0

Those who choose to watch current affairs

Source: Governance Unit analysis of Licence Fee Value Survey, 2003. % of those who choose to watch

BBC Current Affairs programmes can have a big impact on the areas they report on

BBC Current Affairs programmes still regularly create a major impact, demonstrating the BBC’s position as a major force in British journalism. Well known cases includeThe Secret Policeman, Panorama’s Seroxat investigation and Real Story’s probes into cot death cases. Some examples from this year’s output are listed below.

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Examples of post-broadcast impact in 2004

Panorama Killers tracked down a key figure in the Rwandan genocide who was subsequently convicted. Panorama A Failure of Intelligence preceded the Butler report into the quality of intelligence used prior to the Iraq war. A former Deputy Chief of the Defence Intelligence Staff, was dismissed from his post with the Intelligence Select Committee following comments he made in the programme.

Panorama Buying the Games investigated ongoing corruption in the IOC. A member was suspended and may be expelled ed after a follow-up investigation.

Fergie & Son (BBC Three) investigated the relationship between Sir Alex Ferguson’s son, an agent, and Manchester United. The club subsequently severed ties with him.

This World Access to Evil exposed North Korea’s testing of chemical and biological weapons on humans.

It led to the introduction of new human rights legislation.

Real Story Nurseries Undercover investigated private pre-school care in the UK. Ofsted’s monitoring process is likely to be revised as a result of the findings.

(Source: Governance Unit. Note that this list is indicative, but not exhaustive)

Members of our expert panel did comment, however, that television Current Affairs is currently very dominated by investigations and, in particular, undercover reporting. Some believe that this is leading the BBC, and other broadcasters, to ignore other approaches, such as debate and analysis.

The relative quality of BBC Current Affairs output is further demonstrated by peer review, in the form of awards won: in 2002 and 2003, the BBC won 11 Royal Television Society journalism awards, including Home Current Affairs, International Current Affairs and Regional Current Affairs in 2003.

Less committed viewers (the mainstream) are not being as well served by the BBC

Around 60%4 of adults view BBC One and Two’s Current Affairs programmes on a regular basis. None of the BBC’s programmes has as broad a reach asTonight With Trevor McDonald, 5 but BBC One’s Current Affairs ‘specials’ still attract some of the largest audiences to Current Affairs of any broadcaster.

Top 10 Current Affairs programmes, Jan-Nov 2004

Source: Governance Unit analysis of BARB data

This figure is based on 15’ reach during a 3 month period in 2004

5 Tonight has 47% reach (15’), compared to 33% for Panorama and 31% for Real Story during 2003/4

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Of all the five main channels, BBC One still has the greatest ability to attract a mainstream audience to Current Affairs. Tonight With Trevor’s audience is skewed towards older viewers - nearly 70% of viewers are aged 45 or over.

BBC One currently has two peaktime strands:

Inside Out is a regional Current Affairs strand, which also runs national editions Real Story with Fiona Bruce was launched in 2003 and has now run for four series on Mondays at 7.30pm (against Coronation Street). Its average audience is ranges from 2.7 to 3.3 million (which is considerably below the average audience for that slot).6 Our qualitative research and expert panel discussion both showed that Real Story does not come close to ITV1’s peaktime strandTonight with Trevor McDonald, in terms of public awareness.7 Our qualitative research did not elicit any comments specifically on the programme, while viewers talked at length about Tonight. The programme was also totally overshadowed by discussion of Panorama on the expert panel.

This is almost certainly due to its much lower volume and frequency – it runs two or three times a year in short series, while Tonight runs year-round twice a week. Many of our expert panel (most of who are former BBC current affairs producers) commented that the BBC seems less willing than other channels to use well-known presenters to drive the appeal of its Current Affairs.

Why is the BBC in this position?

Former Director General, John Birt, regarded news and Current Affairs as one of the most important genres for the BBC. The approach he took to strengthening Current Affairs tended to narrow its scope to areas of public policy. An example of this was that programmes, such as Watchdog, were not deemed to be Current Affairs and so moved out of the department. The benefit of this approach may have been to strengthen Current Affairs editorially and make it, together with news, one of the BBC’s most respected genres. This review demonstrates that this is still the case. The downside of this approach was that Current Affairs became cut off from other programme-making areas, and from the innovation and the trend towards audience-focus which other departments embraced.

Expert panel quotes

“John (Birt) had a very clear, narrow definition (of current affairs).

Anything vaguely innovative or interesting was kicked out.”

They’ve retreated to this little enclave, so it has driven some of the best film-makers and more imaginitive people out of the current affairs mode. It’s become too narrow.”

“Current affairs has conspired in its own downall by taking an elitist view of what current affairs is. It drove more independent minded and imaginative people away..”

“Current affairs has been reduced to making the boring bits, while all the fun stuff have gone to documentaries departments… It has become stigmatised.”

Average audiences to series 3 and 4 (Oct-Dec ’03 and Mar-May ’04), compared to 2003 average slot audience of 3.7 million

7 Our focus groups were run in October 2004, just before the most recent series began, but expert panel took place in November, mid-way through the series

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As a result, the genre gained a reputation amongst channel controllers for producing programmes which viewers found challenging but unappealing. This has clearly changed, with regard to BBC Two, BBC Three and Four, where a new approach to programme development within the Current Affairs department is now visible on-screen, but the Current Affairs department’s relationship with BBC One is still not satisfactory and this is reflected, ultimately, in the ongoing debate over Panorama.

Independent production may offer a way of refreshing the genre

The BBC is now committed to commissioning more from independents, in order to ensure that it takes the best ideas in each area.

The BBC’s recent use of independents for Current Affairs is as follows: Question Time is made by an independent production company;

Occasional episodes of Real Story and This World are commissioned from independents; Some one-off programmes are commissioned from independents: for example, in 2004/5 Hunting Bin Laden on BBC One, Cockerell on Howard and Screws – Inside Belmarsh on BBC Two; So What Do You Do All Day on BBC Two was made by an independent; Episodes of the BBC Four strands Profiles and Storyville are made by independents. The fact that Question Time is made by an independent means that a relatively high proportion of hours of current affairs output comes from the independent sector8. However, the range of output from the independent sector is quite narrow and the independent producers on our expert panel all thought that opportunities for independent current affairs producers at the BBC were quite limited. This was backed up by examples of leading current affairs producers who had never worked for the BBC as an independent.

The BBC’s need to improve its commissioning process (speed of decision-making, number of people involved in decision-making, etc) has been well documented elsewhere, but these issues were highlighted by our expert panel as a barrier to getting good ideas on screen, particularly, when many current affairs issues lose their relevance quite quickly.

Quotes from expert panel

“You need a clear sense of what a dept wants because it is expensive to develop an idea.

We don’t know what the BBC wants. They take three months to take a decision on an idea, by which time it’s dead.”

“[Current affairs independent producer] found seven Executive Producers in the edit suite when he did a programme for BBC Four.”

Some of the innovations in BBC current affairs output – such as the successful docu-dramas - have initially come from independents. Wall to Wall made Smallpox 2002: Silent Weapon (shown in February 2002) and The Day Britain Stopped (shown in May 2003). People we have spoken to, both inside and outside the BBC, suggest that giving independent producers

8 Around one third of Current Affairs output on BBC One and BBC Two in 2004/5 was sourced from independents, but Question Time represents a quarter of all output on these channels, Therefore, nearly 70% of all independent output is due to one programme.

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wider opportunities in current affairs could be a way of refreshing output and encouraging in-house producers to innovate more, in order to win commissions.

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5. How does this compare to what other broadcasters are doing?

The amount of Current Affairs shown on BBC One and BBC Two has been flat over the past few years across all hours and in peaktime, while ITV1’s peaktime output hasdoubled. This is wholly due to creating a second weekly episode of Tonight With Trevor McDonald, which is shown at 8pm on Mondays and Fridays (against Eastenders). The result of this is that, many weeks, ITV1 now shows double the amount of Current Affairs in peaktime than BBC One.

A member of the expert panel commented that this creates an “easy PSB win” for ITV1, and we suggest that this is an unsustainable position for BBC One.

Expert panel comment

“You seeTonight in the peaktime schedule in a commercial station. And BBC One is the showcase channel for the BBC. And the message that (lack of CA) sends is that, if you want current affairs, go to the other channels.”

(Newsnight etc = very good, but…) “There’s nothing really connecting in peaktime.”

ITV1 replaced its long-running strand World In Action with Tonight in 1999. The programme was then moved from 10pm to 7.30pm in 2001. Average audiences fell in response to this move – from 4.7 million in 2000 to 3.5 million in 2003. Viewing to Tonight is well below the average for its slot on ITV1 (The Bill is on other weekdays in that slot).

Viewing to ITV1’s Current Affairs

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Average annual audience (millions)

World In Action (Mondays, 8-8.30pm)

Tonight With Trevor Macdonald

8

10-11.00pm 7.30/8pm

6.8

6.2

0

1993 1994

1995

Source Governance Unit from BARB data. Note that change in BARB method may account for change between 2001 and 2002

Despite this, ITV1 has stuck by Tonight and the programme commanded considerable respect on our expert panel as an accessible form of Current Affairs. As a counter-balance, the ITC has criticised the programme in the past for its regular usage of celebrities and focus on the ‘soft’ end of Current Affairs issues.

More importantly, there is very high level of public awareness of the programme, even if many people do not spontaneously associate it with ‘Current Affairs’, due to its focus on human interest stories. And most viewer comments on it are positive. Trevor McDonald is a particularly successful aspect of the programme.

Quotes from audience focus groups

“Trevor McDonald would probably tell a story that had only just happened. He is more immediate and relevant to me personally.”

Core viewer, aged 45+, Manchester

“He’s easy and likeable. He feels more approachable. Also, it’s a nice short programme and he interviews real people, or at least people on your level, so it becomes more a part of your world.”

Potential viewer, age 18-24, South

Source: Blinc.tv for Governance Unit

“Trevor McDonald is good. You don’t need to concentrate that hard and it’s short… only half an hour.”

Core viewer, 25-45, Belfast

“Trevor McDonald is familiar and I trust him, but I usually just watch him because he is on before a drama.”

Core viewer, age 25-45, South

Channel 4’s level of commitment to Current Affairs has been more variable. Its main strand, Dispatches, declined in recent years to just seven programmes in 2003 (down from over 30 in the 1990s), but Channel 4 has made a recent commitment to show 28 episodes in 2005. Its second strand is Unreported World, launched in 2002, which gets average audiences of around one million, which is well below This World on BBC Two’s 1.7 million. Channel 4 has committed to show more than 100 hours of Current Affairs each year, which is still far below BBC Two’s commitment of 240 hours in 2004/5, but nevertheless, a major change in direction for the channel.

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6. The Panorama debate

A member of our expert panel commented that Panorama has become “the BBC’sNews at Ten” (referring to ITV’s ongoing problems with attempting to reschedule it) – the issue to which critical discussion of Current Affairs, and even of the BBC’s overall commitment to public service broadcasting, always reverts.

Expert panel comment

“Here you have a programme that is deemed to be an institution… The whole genre and the whole department is judged by this programme. … Discussion keeps coming back to Panorama.”

Panorama’s current scheduling was almost an accident but now serves the programme quite well

Panorama was rescheduled in 2000, from 10.05pm on a Monday, to 10.15pm on a Sunday night. The move was a by-product of the move of the BBC’s evening news bulletin from 9pm to 10pm, in order to create a more competitive weekday peak schedule.

No doubt partly as a result of this reschedule, the average audience to Panorama has dropped from 3.5 million in 2000 to 2.6 million (excluding peaktime specials) in 2004. This should, however, be seen in the context of falling audiences to all programmes during this period.

This suggests that committed viewers are able to view the programme at this time in the schedule. There is a feeling that they are now at least ‘used to it’. However, for less committed viewers, late Sunday evening is an unappealing time at which to engage with something in which they only take a reluctant interest. (The comments below are from occasional or potential, not core, viewers).

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Viewer comments in focus group research

“They put Panorama on a Sunday night and that’s wrong. I would rather have it in the week, because I think Sunday night is for relaxing.”

“On Sunday, you always have that ‘Have you done your homework’ feeling, so you are not in the mood for anything heavy duty.”

Occasional viewer, age 45+, South

Potential viewer, age 18-24, South

A move back to peaktime may actually damage the programme

For many people, both BBC staff and external commentators, Panorama should be rescheduled in peaktime on a weekday, in order to finally silence the critics and to give a more mainstream audience the opportunity to view the programme.

There is, however, a counter-argument to this, which is broadly that the move would lead to a downward spiral of falling performance and quality. The sequence of events is expected by many, inside and outside the BBC, to be: Panorama is given a regular slot in weekday peaktime on BBC One ITV1, and other channels, schedule very competitively against the programme (A former ITV executive admitted that the attitude would be “Let’s kill it!” ).

Panorama’s audiences fall to one million or less and the programme team comes under huge pressure to cover subjects which attract more viewers. Over time, no matter how well it was ‘institutionally ring fenced’, the programme would give into this pressure and would begin to cover fewer challenging issues Key talent leaves the programme and quality falls, so that its reputation is lost The programme is axed. The programme has run regular peaktime specials – four in 2003/4 - alongside its Sunday night editions. However, these have failed to bring a more mainstream audience to the programme - only two out of the five attracted a larger audience than programmes in the usual slot (see below).

Audiences to Panorama’s peaktime specials in 2004

(average audience on Sunday night = 2.6 million)

A Fight to the Death (Hutton) 2.9m Out of Guantanamo 2.3m Shamed (Abu Ghraib) 1.6m Buying the Games (Olympics) 1.9m Miracle Baby Grows up 3.0m

Source: Governance Unit from BARB data

Moving the programme to peaktime is also not without controversy. If it is placed in a tough slot (against an ITV1 soap, for example), then this will be seen as an expedient move which brings little or no benefit to the audience, as it does not create much more opportunity for

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them to see it. But, as described above, a ‘safe’ slot for the programme will not remain ‘safe’ for long.

Expert panel comments

“What’s the point of putting Panorama against Coronation Street. It’s utterly cynical.”

“All the other channels say ‘They’re putting a Panorama on at 9 o’clock.

Let’s kill it!’”

Despite this, the problem with leaving Panorama in its current position is that, unless another programme can offer serious Current Affairs in peaktime on BBC One, the BBC’s approach may look half-hearted.

Expert panel comment

“Panorama is worth another bash around the block. You don’t solve it by being half-hearted.. Not this terrible gutless approach at the moment.”

The programme’s tone and style may need rethinking

While our qualitative audience research was generally positive about the programme, we also found some evidence that the programme may be getting out of touch with its audience. Its core audience is made up of people who probably also read broadsheet newspapers; they may listen to Radio 4 and use the internet to stay up to date. Thus, they are already likely to be well-informed about Panorama’s subject matter, and so sometimes its approach appears to be simplistic, and the narrative rather slow.

There was a strong feeling amongst our expert panel that its style can be rather ‘flat’ compared with other factual genres which use a range of techniques to bring their subject matter to life. Comments from the panel below confirm the perception that the programme is not keeping up with changes in viewing behaviour.

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Expert panel comments

“Panorama has reporters who seek to produce a definitive analysis.” “Audiences now look toa range of material to inform them, not a single programme. But Panorama still presents itself as this.”

“Panorama still has that worthiness about it… The world has changed.”

“I watched last Sunday’s Panorama and I didn’t understand what it was doing… It was about 8-12 year olds. I could have seen it done easily in seven minutes on Channel 4 News.”

“Panorama can’t really deliver a piece of really engaging television which has the quality of documentary.”

How this research could be considered alongside management’s new strategy

At the same time as this review, BBC management has developed proposals for a new approach to Current Affairs in peaktime on BBC One. Our research suggests that there are two issues to take into account, when considering a new strategy for Panorama: Panorama’s current style, format and subject matter is not suitable for BBC One peaktime. This is clearly demonstrated by the recent performance of its peaktime specials. If the intention is to schedule the programme in peaktime, then it needs to be radically changed, but there is a danger that this may damage its journalistic values and its current ability to make an impact beyond the broadcast.

A new strategy for Panorama should be clear enough to finally silence the critics, by giving clarity over its purpose. Is it a serious programme for Committed viewers which is best shown off-peak? Or is it the BBC’s main way of extending reach to Mainstream audiences? Can it achieve both of these things?

Ends.

BBC Governance Unit

January 2005

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Appendix:

Review of Current Affairs on BBC Television Terms of Reference

1. Background

In 2001-2, there was a broad consensus that the audience’s needs and interests, relating to current affairs, had shifted significantly, and that the BBC was no longer serving them as well as it could do. This led to the commitment to a “creative revival and expansion” in BBC current affairs in the 2002 News Strategy which was complemented by a Governors’ objective in 2002/3 and 2003/4 for “more high impact, memorable” current affairs programmes.

2. Scope

The scope of this review is to reassess licence payers’ needs and interests in current affairs on television, and to measure how well the BBC, in the context of other broadcasters, is serving these needs.

The two specific objectives for the review are to:

• Monitor the effectiveness of Current Affairs on television. (This commitment was made in the 2003/4 Annual Report, in the Governors’ review of Objective 1)
  
• Provide an update on progress made against the commitments relating to current affairs in the 2002 News Strategy.
  

3. Approach

The review will be undertaken by the Performance & Accountability team. P&A will work with BBC management, in terms of gathering information for the review, but the analysis and findings will be wholly independent of them.

The review will include specially-commissioned qualitative research amongst licence payers in order to understand their needs and interests and their perceptions of how well they are now being served by BBC Television. Research will be undertaken amongst licence payers in the English Regions and Nations, but will cover only UK-wide issues, rather than Regional and National Current Affairs.

4. Timetable

The review will begin immediately and a final report will be presented to the Board before the end of this year.

October 2004

BBC Governance Unit

January 2005

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