Ulster-Scots Radio Commissioning Brief

BBC NORTHERN IRELAND ULSTER-SCOTS RADIO COMMISSIONING BRIEF

BBC NI/Radio Ulster invites ideas for a range of programmes to enhance and increase our Ulster-Scots portfolio. In line with our television output in this area, projects short-listed by the BBC will be eligible to apply for principal production funding from the Ulster-Scots Broadcast Fund, administered by Northern Ireland Screen.

We are looking for programmes that reach in: speaking directly to a core audience and delivering a high level of audience satisfaction. We also want programmes that reach out: highlighting Ulster-Scots as part of our shared cultural heritage, now and in the past.

Our ambition is for radio that will broaden the conversation around what Ulster-Scots means, and can mean, for more than one community.

We are looking for a broad range of both specialist and mainstream programmes that will reflect the cultural significance of Ulster-Scots heritage, history and language and consider its contemporary relevance.

Your submissions should explore the diversity of Ulster-Scots artistic, musical and written culture in ways that are creative, contemporary and relevant to today’s digital/online world.

There’s room to be brave – to innovate and experiment, to find new ways to tell stories rooted in history, stories that many of our listeners might think they already know, and to bring these stories to a wider audience.

There’s room to be ambitious, to seek out co-productions with other broadcasters and institutions. We are interested in exploring and celebrating the Scottish connection as a constant factor in all our histories.

We will accept submissions from companies with a proven track record as trusted BBC independent suppliers. In line with television content supported by the Ulster-Scots Broadcast Fund, all submissions should include a named Ulster-Scots consultant.

We are always looking for fresh presenter talent, and welcome submissions which bring new voices to our Ulster-Scots portfolio. Factual: we are looking for stand-alone documentaries and series, which can and should draw from a great wealth of content. We want strong and surprising ideas, a rich mix to reflect a diverse and fascinating cultural heritage. From wildlife to the weather, from the historical to the contemporary, from topography to mythology, from the stories of Northern Ireland’s famous sons and daughters, to our unsung heroines and heroes – we look forward to hearing your ideas.

As well as more traditional long and short form documentaries, we will welcome projects that use the medium of radio to its full potential, finding unexpected ways and exciting new formats to connect with the listener.

Available: 8 x 30 minute documentary series at a tariff of £2,650 per half hour.

This could be one series of four, one of two and two single documentaries. These should be ambitious, crafted documentaries – based on impeccable research, built around strong stories and characters. We are looking for quality and passion here, great ideas that deliver talked about radio.

Music: we see this as an area with huge potential - from performance and presenter led offerings to insightful documentaries that explore the stories behind the music. From sacred to secular, from the traditional and familiar to more unexpected genres and performers, we’re hoping your music ideas will surprise us.

Available: 6 x 30 minute series at a tariff of £2,150 per half hour.

Burns night – 1 x 60 minute special at a tariff of £12,000

OB or ‘as live’ – bespoke hour long special. There’s an opportunity here to tap into more than one event across Northern Ireland. Submissions should include a mix of poetry, music and language and reflect the community aspect of this key event in the Ulster-Scots calendar.

We are also seeking short form content that can be stripped across Burns week and around Hallow’een. To be peppered through the daily schedule these could feature stories, comedy, poetry, short dramas, echoes from the archive or the great canon of Ulster-Scots literature. These also offer an opportunity to pitch ‘bite size’ language content.

Available: 10 x shorts (maximum duration 5 minutes)

Budgets to be agreed on an individual basis - maximum tariff of £1,000 per fifteen minutes. Digital: we live in a Digital world and all submissions should strive to reflect this. We welcome proposals that will set out how they would serve a cross- platform/digital/online/Social Media audience. We will always welcome ideas which best maximise digital impact.

All successful commissions must deliver the following digital content for each individual programme:

Bespoke pic/photo/image for iPlayer and other billings

Audio/video clip for pre-TX online/social media promotion

Audio/video clip for post-TX ‘In Short’ service

Gallery of photo; audio/video clips; other digital assets for online programme page

We encourage and welcome ideas for creative digital content which extend beyond these basic requirements eg visualisation/short films/slideshows/animations. Budgets will be discussed on an individual basis as appropriate.

We are also interested in hearing creative impactful ‘Digital Only’ ideas that exist online rather than on air, such as #WowTheFest eg visualisation/short films/slideshows/animations.

Available:

Burns Night OB Digital Support/1 x Visualisation/Short Film/Bespoke social media support/promotion at a tariff of £3,000

6 x Short Film/Slide Shows/Animations - budgets will be agreed on an individual basis

3 x ‘Digital Only’ ideas - Visualisation/Short Film/Bespoke social media support/promotion – budgets will be agreed on an individual basis

Archive : we are also interested in programmes that can find new ways to re-purpose and re-engage with precious archive material produced by some of the BBC’s most popular broadcasters, from W.R Rodgers and W.F Marshall to Sam Hanna Bell and Davy Hammond. The BBC Rewind project should be seen as a key resource.

Language: wherever possible and appropriate, our programmes should naturally include Ulster-Scots language. We are also interested in creative ideas based around literature and poetry which would reflect this rich linguistic heritage. We will also welcome observational content, programmes that allow listeners to hear Ulster-Scots speakers, opening an aural window onto daily life that allows for simply listening, without the interventions of presenters or interviewers. Drama: in this first commissioning round, we will have a limited budget available for drama development. We are open to ideas which are a genuine reflection of Ulster-Scots language and culture and draw on authentic source material. We’re keen to develop projects with co-production potential which can hold their own in this very competitive area.

As with our tv slate, we will operate a rolling commissioning brief for Ulster-Scots radio. If you have a project which you think would make great addition to our portfolio, please contact our Commissioning Executive for Uster-Scots, Fiona Keane.

Timescale

First call for ideas: 8th June 2017

Deadline for receipt of ideas on BBC Proteus: Tuesday, August 8, 2017 @ 12.00pm

Commissioning Pitches: Early September 2017

For more information and for submissions, please contact

Jackie Neill, Station Manager, BBC Radio Ulster

[email protected]

Fiona Keane, Commissioning Executive (Ulster-Scots) [email protected]