The BBC’s response to Lambert

Summary

The BBC believes Richard Lambert’s report is valuable in that it endorses the decision to launch BBC News 24 and sees the channel as a key part of our public service portfolio for the future. We also take on board much of his constructive criticism.

The review concludes that the channel’s performance against its approvals is satisfactory in all areas and better than that in some; that its existence has improved the BBC’s whole approach to newsgathering; and that News 24 is highly regarded by a range of opinion formers. Richard Lambert believes that the channel has a very important part to play in public service broadcasting and, to this end, urges the BBC to define its remit more clearly. Since he wrote the report, we have already gone a considerable way to meeting his desire for greater clarity about the purpose of the channel through the publication of the Statement of Programme Policy. We have also continued to develop the channel and improve its service in the months since Richard Lambert’s visits: for instance, the report was written around the time we were introducing new on-screen graphics and these have become a successful and established part of News 24. The channel has also provided effective coverage for BBC ONE of stories ranging from the Soham tragedy to the Firefighters’ dispute; and latest figures show audience numbers are continuing to grow. In this response to the review, we reaffirm our commitment to the “broadsheet” agenda and define the qualities that should distinguish BBC News 24 as a public service rolling news channel.

Specifically:

?? BBC News 24 is highly valued by its growing audience and is the news channel that opinion formers value most. (Source: MORI survey for the Lambert Report.) It remains our ambition to be the highest-quality, most respected continuous news service in the UK and we will seek to do that by (a) offering an agenda which is more analytical, more international and more diverse than those of our competitors; and (b) recognising that our primary purpose is to provide a home for compelling and serious journalism rather than aiming for market leadership at all costs. We believe, as our flagship BBC ONE bulletins have shown, that it is possible both to be more serious than ITV and Sky News and to gain the biggest audiences; but our focus for News 24 will unambiguously be on quality first. ?? We will deliver state-of-the-art interactive services branded closely with BBC News 24. ?? We will improve the profile of our coverage from around the UK by (a) more frequently taking examples from outside the South East of England (b) more effective indications on air when we are broadcasting from locations around the UK; and (c) a new agreement within the BBC between News and Nations & Regions ?? We will broadcast special ‘days’ from Scotland and Wales ahead of this year’s parliament and assembly elections

1 ?? In the coming financial year, we will reduce slightly the amount of pre-recorded built programming on News 24, but we will seek advantage from this by increasing the profile of breaking news and by ensuring that the built programming which remains is high quality and distinctive. ?? In particular, we will turn "Head to Head", a weekly debate and analysis programme which currently runs for six months each year, into a year-round feature of the schedule by investing more money in it ?? We will introduce a new, improved business programme in the late evening. ?? We will increase the profile of News 24 on BBC ONE through greater collaboration with Daytime scheduling and the channel generally; and we will re- brand some News Specials under the News 24 banner . ?? We will make £100,000 of commissioning money available in the next financial year for live coverage from Europe ?? We have reworked the channel's identity coming up to the top of the hour to make it more contemporary and stylish, and will continue to make the on-air look sophisticated and modern.

The review’s recommendation that there should be greater financial transparency will be achieved through fuller accounts of the delivery of News 24 in the BBC’s future annual reports. In particular, the Governors will explicitly consider the BBC News/BBC World relationship on fair trading grounds every year, as outlined below.

Channel mission

Breadth and depth

News 24 should clearly reflect the core values of BBC News: to be the UK’s first choice for News and Current Affairs producing the world’s best journalism which helps all audiences make sense of what’s going on in the world.

The Lambert review acknowledges News 24’s standing in the market-place as “broadsheet” compared with Sky’s “Daily Mail” positioning; and he shows that, after a poor start, News 24 has come to be more highly regarded by opinion formers than Sky News. Day to day, our business, science, environment, consumer and arts coverage is strong and the weekend specialist programming covers a huge range of topics. But we recognise that we have still further to go in building programming excellence and ensuring that News 24 shows all the benefits of BBC journalism and analysis.

The recent ITC and BSC research publication, “New news, old news”, found that users value 24-hour television news services because they are “in-depth’ (51%); convenient (44%); up to date (36%) and more varied (23%).

It is striking that News 24’s audience figures rise significantly when there is an on- going story, often to more than 10m a week on its various platforms, suggesting that viewers appreciate both the convenience and the depth of the coverage. So although News 24 should not pursue ratings above all else, we do need to cater for the way licence-fee payers choose to use the service. Sometimes this will mean focusing on a major news development at the expense of other stories (e.g. Iraq war) but we will have a higher threshold for abandoning normal scheduling than commercial rivals (as

2 with Soham, for example). Ultimately, greater development and availability of interactive services will allow us to offer both more convenience – instant access to news of the viewers’ choice – and depth through the channel’s analysis and live coverage.

The weekend schedule on News 24 is where the channel is most distinctive from the other news channels and reaches some of its highest audiences. The range of programming complements the wide range of items available every day on the channel by offering more in-depth and crafted output which enjoy longer time for story-telling.

Among the regular programmes are Africa Direct, Europe Direct, Australia Direct and Arab World Direct - all covering stories from their region which are uncovered on other outlets. Dateline London offers a weekly discussion of British and World news seen through the eyes of foreign correspondents based in London. And One to One and Straight Talk are dedicated to political discussion and interviews. In addition, the weekends offer more leisure-oriented news --- travel, movies and personal finance. There is also extended sports coverage.

These programmes genuinely deliver a different agenda from Sky, and offer opportunities for the best of BBC journalism to be given extended air time. But despite the value attached to all these programmes, all or any are dropped if there is a major breaking story.

In summary, News 24 aims to be the highest-quality, most respected continuous news service in the UK and seriousness of agenda need not be an impediment to popularity. However, should there ever be a conflict, we will be driven by quality of content rather than the quest for market leadership.

World coverage

We agree with Richard Lambert’s view that News 24 should consciously seek to broadcast a wider range of international stories than its commercial rivals and to provide greater depth, and that this should be done as part of regular news programming, not just in scheduled programmes.

We believe we already substantially deliver this although we may need to give our international coverage more impact.

In the past year there has been extended coverage of the French elections; the German election result (contrary to Richard Lambert’s criticism of the “unlikelihood” of News 24 previewing the German elections, we ran a series of films doing just this - before knowledge of his report); the launch of the Euro; the Loya Jirga and the return of the King to Afghanistan; the sustainable development conference in South Africa; CHOGM in Australia; the floods in Central and Eastern Europe and the US mid- terms.

3 News 24 carries international news throughout the night from 0100-0600, and includes The World Today at 0500-0600 offering international news, business and sport. This programme is aimed at an upmarket business audience and is regularly the most viewed programme produced by News 24. In addition, seven days a week, the 0930-1000 slot is dedicated to international news produced by BBC World. And 0030 on weekdays offers an international business programme, World Business Report.

The co-existence of BBC World gives the channel access to unrivalled expertise which we should continue to exploit as well as the BBC’s outstanding newsgathering strength.

Regional coverage

An essential element of News 24’s public service remit should be the provision of a national showcase for stories and perspectives from the UK nations and regions. As Richard Lambert suggests, regional coverage is unlikely to become a top priority for the BBC’s commercial rivals.

Although, as the review recognises, the channel’s performance has improved, we need to do better still.

We will take the channel “out of London” once a quarter, as during the last General Election. We will also better emphasise the regional spread of what we do by improving the local identity of UK newsrooms and exploiting graphic devices to make it visually obvious when we are not in London.

Nations & Regions division and News division are currently conducting an audit of the expenditure on journalism for News 24 in order to maximise the value the channel can offer viewers. In addition, the divisions are reviewing the management of staff in the regional newsrooms with a view to improving communications and ease of access to regional perspectives

Our priority is for more diverse national and regional coverage to be delivered in the general rolling news schedule rather than in specialist, more marginalised, output.

More detail on the improved regional coverage will be given in the revised Statement of Programme Policy in 2003.

Breaking news

Aiming to be first with the news is a primary purpose of any 24-hour news channel, but – particularly for a public service broadcaster like the BBC – it is essential to be accurate as well as fast.

The BBC’s reputation for authority would be badly damaged if News 24 broke news that was not true, as has occasionally happened on other channels. The ITC/BSC

4 report, “New news, old news”, found that almost all of the British public (92%) think the principle of accuracy in news is very important.

In fact, on most major stories News 24 is as fast as Sky at breaking news, despite our commitments to specialist programmes making this more challenging. The channel is utterly committed to carrying breaking news and to regular updates as news events develop. However, we will not compromise standards of accuracy and so our determination to be first and right will mean we sometimes have a higher threshold for breaking news or a more detailed checking process than our competitors.

In addition there will be occasions when it is right for the BBC to speak with one voice (e.g. a Royal death) and it is important to bring all the BBC networks together before any announcement is made.

As regards Richard Lambert’s suggestion that BBC ONE should give a higher profile to News 24 when news breaks into the regular schedules, BBC ONE Daytime has been commissioning branded News Specials from News 24 for the past two years. This has developed recently with a new partnership between the commissioning team and Television News: we are now providing some specials with more planning in addition to the fast responses to news events. As an example of this, specials on the Fire-fighters' Strike were commissioned a couple of days ahead of the walkouts allowing for greater investment on screen and opportunities for trailing. At the more reactive end, News 24 did three pieces of extra programming for BBC ONE on the day of the arrests at Soham.

News generally has produced and branded more special output as News 24: for instance, it is now automatic that events like the American mid-term elections and the French Presidential elections are produced by News 24 and trailed from BBC1 programming (or, for the mid-terms, simulcast on BBC1). Plans are already well advanced for BBC News 24 to help cover any potential conflict in Iraq for BBC ONE. We will encourage more of this in the future, while recognising that there are times when the needs of a terrestrial audience differ from those of a news channel.

Business news

The channel’s commitment to business coverage is in keeping with News 24’s broadsheet agenda, but we accept that we need to be clearer about the audience we are serving.

The hourly business news should be pitched at a general audience who want the latest market numbers and news about companies in which there is wide interest. During the day, it is unlikely that the average business person would need to get specialist news from News 24 when there are many other more focused sources of information.

Business Today at 2030 is not broadcast at a particularly appropriate time for business people, and the governors had previously expressed concern about this scheduling. We will replace it with a more targeted programme which will be

5 scheduled for later in the evening (possibly 2230), when links with New York will strengthen the proposition and capture the same spirit as World Business Report at 0530.

This programme (WBR) gets a significant audience because the channel offers something that is not available elsewhere at that time. It contains live market analysis from London, Frankfurt and Singapore and reporting from New York and Tokyo. It is a thorough early morning briefing on US and Asian overnight news and previews of the markets and business in Europe.

We will also add a business loop to our interactive services as soon as possible.

Interactivity

The Lambert Report strongly urges the BBC to improve the interactivity around BBC News 24 and, in part, to use this interactivity to allow the linear channel to be more creative and responsive to breaking news events.

Issues of voter apathy and disaffection with conventional politics mean that a public service news channel like News 24 has a vital role to play in finding ways of drawing in audiences. Working with New Media division, News 24 aims to expand and improve its interactive service (which in October won the RTS award for technical innovation) and offer more opportunities for viewers to engage with the news. The BBC’s New Media and News divisions are working on seven main proposals for strengthening the service:

1. We have recently added two extra loops. The plan for a Business loop is well advanced. We will also: 2. Introduce a new multi-screen “home page” – more dynamic and engaging than the status-quo 3. Integrate text and video much better (at present, they feel like two separate services – confusing to users) 4. Improve the branding and design to fit more closely with BBC News 24 5. Introduce greater functionality – especially voting and messaging 6. Get a version up on Dcable and DTT as soon as possible 7. Introduce clickable background guides to add context and illumination to news stories.

More detail on improved interactivity will be made in the revised Statement of Programme Policy in 2003.

Costs

The Lambert review recommends that the BBC should publish more information about the channel’s performance and broad details of the financial relationship with BBC World.

Unlike the commercial news broadcasters, the BBC’s annual report already contains information about the fully-allocated cost of its main channels, including the cost of

6 BBC News 24. Nonetheless we will respond to Lambert’s recommendation by providing an annual breakdown of News 24’s costs, splitting them out into its production and its regional and central costs. From its 2002/03 annual report the BBC plans to publish the cost of its licence fee funded newsgathering separately from the allocated costs of its channels to reflect the fact that newsgathering is a shared resource for all its licence fee funded services. In 2002/03 we will also publish the allocation of newsgathering cost to News 24.

In addition we will publish figures on the usage of BBC News 24’s programming also shown on BBC ONE to highlight the additional value our news channel gives to analogue as well as to digital viewers.

Lambert states that it is not possible to make firm comparisons between BBC News 24 and its commercial rivals. Despite this, he draws the conclusion that News 24 is expensive relative to Sky News though he acknowledges the lack of robust and comparable data from Sky. The £35m cost for Sky News which Lambert quotes is lower than some other analysts suggest. Last year ABN Amro’s securities analyst suggested the true cost of Sky News, including indirect costs was some £45m.

In any event, there are three areas where we would expect BBC News 24 to cost more than Sky News: ?? built programming (Hardtalk, Simpson’s World and so on) which Sky doesn’t have ?? the overnight service, where Sky is playing to tiny audiences and offers a skeleton service but we are broadcasting to our biggest audience through the simulcast on BBC ONE ?? more comprehensive newsgathering, especially overseas.

The current relationship between BBC News’s publicly funded services and BBC World is that when BBC World takes content or resource from the public services it pays any incremental cost incurred as a result. As the Lambert report notes, material gathered by BBC World for its own use, such as content targeted at South and East Asia, is fully funded by that channel where it does not run on News 24 or other BBC domestic channels. This approach to pricing the shared news resources is consistent both with the BBC’s own Fair Trading regime and with the EC Commission’s guidance on State Aid and public service.

Greater transparency about the financial relationship between News 24 and BBC World will be achieved in future as a result of the recent incorporation of BBC World as a separate commercial subsidiary which will file its own separate accounts.

In addition, the Governors will explicitly consider the BBC News/BBC World relationship on fair trading grounds every year in the Annual Report. This will be done by: ?? commissioning a triennial benchmarking exercise from independent consultants, validated by the fair trading auditors to confirm that marginal cost pricing remains market practice. ?? asking the auditors to verify each year that the principle is applied appropriately.

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Governance

Much was made in the press of Richard Lambert's criticism of the role of the BBC Governors’ oversight of News 24, particularly in the early years. In fact, the Lambert critique of the Governors is based only on extracts from four BBC Annual Reports between 1997 and 2001. He summarises the comments made by the Governors in those reports as 'perfunctory' given the cost and profile of the service. Lambert then draws brief, critical inferences about the role of the Governors generally and recommends that the Governors both consider publishing a much more detailed remit for News 24 and that they consider its relationship with BBC One's main bulletins. If the Governors only role in the BBC was to approve the Annual Report, his analysis might be justified.

Although the BBC's Annual Report is a key element in its governance and accountability framework, it is merely the tip of the oversight iceberg. In the early years after its establishment, vigorous debate took place among Governors and senior management about the operational difficulties of News 24. The service was discussed in a substantive way in 15 separate Board meetings between 1997 and 2001. Minutes of those meetings reveal that the Board has concerns about the operational difficulties but also that the Board strongly supported the rationale for the service and the staff involved. No sensible Board would contemplate publicly criticising a new service during its teething period, but that does not mean that the Governors were not keeping a close eye on the service and encouraging senior management to do so as well. As the Lambert report makes clear the long-term perspective adopted by the Governors - of internal criticism and public support - has proved to be effective in helping to deliver a strong, distinctive public service 24-hour news channel.

Nevertheless the Governors accept that in the context of the Lambert review and the imminent establishment of Ofcom, they should adopt a more demonstrative approach to their oversight of all the BBC's new services, including News 24; and they believe the objective-based framework for governance and other governance reforms introduced in 2002 will assist in demonstrating improved rigour and transparency. These reforms are set out in BBC Governance in the Ofcom Age published in February 2002. Some of the concerns Richard Lambert raises - for example about the lack of clarity in the respective roles of Governors and senior management - are specifically addressed in the BBC's governance arrangements following these reforms.

Finally, the Lambert review urges the Governors to adopt measurable targets for News 24. These will be considered as part of the Governors’ review of the channel’s objectives later this Spring. A revised Statement of Programme Policy for the channel will be published in April 2003 and improvements to future annual reports have already been described.

(Ends)

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