COMMISSIONING GUIDELINES

ARTS ROUND, AUTUMN 2016

Proteus round: 2017 2018 – 2

NB: This Arts round does not follow the traditional pattern of Radio 4 commissioning rounds. It is therefore important that you read with care the whole of this document.

1. TIMETABLE 2 2. HOW TO SUBMIT AN ARTS IDEA 3 3. EDITORIAL BRIEFS 6 POETRY AND POETRY FEATURES 8 POPULAR ARTS FEATURE 9 MUSIC FEATURE 12 4. SPECIAL EVENTS AND SEASONS 13 5. CHECKLIST FOR SUBMISSIONS AND SUPPORTING 14 MATERIAL 6. BBC EDITORIAL GUIDELINES & COMPLIANCE 16 7. THE BBC RADIO 4 AUDIENCE 17

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1. TIMETABLE

There is only delivery deadline for proposals in this round. There is no pre-offers stage.

Guidelines published Week commencing 18 July

Offers deadline Midday 29 September

Shortlist published in Proteus Week commencing 17 October

Meetings with shortlisted suppliers 07-18 November

Results published in Proteus Week commencing 12 December

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2. HOW TO SUBMIT AN ARTS IDEA

Eligibility: We invite proposals from BBC departments and independent production companies with a proven track record in arts and documentary programme making. Where your offer is journalistic, we expect a track record in the relevant sphere of journalism at producer and executive producer level.

All ideas must be entered in the Proteus system by the stated deadline.

Enter in: Radio 4 Round 2017 2018 – 2

The following must be entered for each proposal:

 title - of your proposal, not the slot.  commissioning brief number Enter each proposal in one schedule slot only. If we consider it suitable for another slot, we will transfer it.  delivery date Linked to anniversary / event dates where relevant. This information will be used when scheduling a commissioned programme.  number of episodes  duration This is the total allotted airtime, including continuity announcements, for example 14’ and 28’.  short synopsis 50 words – the purpose of this synopsis is just to help identify your proposal, not to make a pitch.  price per episode Radio 4 has set prices that it expects to pay for programmes, as shown at the top of each commissioning brief. This is entered automatically in the guide price field. If your idea requires a budget significantly above or below the guide price, make this clear in the long synopsis and explain your reasoning. Although ideas submitted below the guide may increase your chance of a commission, the editorial proposition is always paramount in commissioning decisions.  producer Include a CV in long synopsis if producer is new to Radio 4.  executive producer Include a CV in long synopsis if exec is new to Radio 4.  key talent Any intended writer/abridger/performer/presenter etc should be shown in the long synopsis. You do not have to secure talent agreement before submitting an offer but you should let us know the degree to which named talent have expressed an interest in the project or have intellectual ownership of it.  long synopsis 500 words for a single feature, 1000 words for a batch or series.

Style guide

 Don’t use the Notes field. Anything in this field will be deleted.  Don’t insert a space or dots or asterisks before beginning the title.  Don’t put double spaces in the title.  Don’t put quotation marks around the title.  Don’t start the title with a slot name, e.g. The Wednesday Debate.  Do begin titles in Proteus with The or A as appropriate, e.g. A Short History of…  If you are preparing proposals offline to paste into Proteus, keep formatting simple: bold, underline and italic only. Proteus will remove other formatting, including bulleted and numbered points, as well as converting your font to the equivalent of Arial size 11.

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Results

When the commissioning editor has read all offers and selected those he thinks worth further consideration, we will let you know through Proteus. Proposals will show as either ‘rejected’ or ‘shortlisted’. Due to the number of proposals, we are unable to give on rejections at this stage,

If your offer is shortlisted, this means we want to consider it further and you are invited to make an appointment to discuss it with the commissioning editor.

When those discussions have taken place, the commissioning editor and the Controller of Radio 4 will decide what they want to buy. These results will then be released in Proteus.

Proteus will display one of five results: rejection, shortlist, pilot, or conditional commission

Rejection We will provide brief feedback on our reasons for not commissioning.

Shortlist We are seriously interested in the idea but feel more work is needed. The commissioning editor will be to explain what we are looking for.

We try to clear proposals from the shortlist quickly and we review it every 3 months or so to see whether we are in a position to move an idea forward or to reject it.

Pilot We need to hear a pilot before committing ourselves. You should discuss this with the commissioning editor before doing further work.

Conditional commission Acceptance of all ideas is conditional on the issues listed below. Radio 4 is not responsible for any costs incurred prior to the full agreement. There will be important information included in the feedback field in Proteus which will not be communicated through any other means so it is vital that you take time to read this and disseminate it to colleagues where necessary.

 Price and rights Each conditional commission will be made with a fixed price offer that has been judged as value for money by the Commissioning, Finance and Business Affairs teams. Most will be at the published guide but we reserve the right to propose an alternative price if we believe it appropriate. If our price is accepted by you in writing there will be no need to submit a detailed budget. Contracts will be issued immediately to independent suppliers by Business Affairs.

If, however, you wish to challenge the offer made then a detailed budget in Proteus will be requested and scrutinised by us with the aim of reaching agreement.

Conditional acceptances may be withdrawn if agreement on price is not reached within a reasonable period.

Radio 4 requires an appropriate set of rights dependent on the type of programme. This will vary only in exceptional circumstances. The price quoted on the commissioning brief is based on buying the standard set of rights for that programme. If fewer rights are bought, the price may be reduced. 4

Digital platform use Rights should be cleared for streaming, together with a 30-day “listen again” window and podcast. Independent suppliers are required to clear the rights for podcasts, unless otherwise agreed between the BBC and the independent producer.

 Schedule and delivery dates Each proposal should include your ideal delivery date, though our conditional acceptance will not necessarily be able to reflect this date. We are unlikely to issue precise transmission dates for programmes not pegged to a particular anniversary or season but will give the calendar quarter in which we intend to place them. If you cannot deliver to meet the given transmission quarter, notify Amanda Benson (Schedule Planning Manager). Precise delivery dates will be confirmed well before the start of each calendar quarter.

 Editorial A conditional acceptance might have specific editorial conditions attached to it, e.g. that a particular actor is available, and fulfilment of them must be confirmed before the commission is finalised and before you start work.

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EDITORIAL BRIEFS FOR ARTS FEATURES

Commissioning Editor: James Runcie Commissioning Co-ordinator: Georgina Southall

Poetry and poetry features Brief Number 47114 Popular Arts features Brief Number 47165 Music features Brief Number 47133 Special Events and Seasons Brief number 47132

The Arts on Radio 4

Artists see the world from a willfully non-conformist angle: angrily, critically, lovingly, sorrowfully, joyfully, wittily, irreverently and unexpectedly: loud and publically, soft and gently, intimately, personally, and, if they are truly original, they will define our flickering humanity in ways that no one has ever thought before.

The imagination gives the artist the truest freedom; of thought, language, expression and identity.

The artist lives in a world without borders, able to cross countries, continents, genders and generations. She, or he, can imagine better, different worlds, and take us to them.

And so at Radio 4 we’d like, above everything else, to hear the artist’s take on what it means to live now – and imagine a better future.

To see beyond impoverished political rhetoric.

To help us feel less isolated and afraid.

To build and re-shape communities for the better.

To laugh at the ridiculous.

To mourn injustice and fight for a fairer world.

To reconcile and inspire.

To look at the earth under a different lens, align it with the sun and discover our inner pyromaniac.

To have confidence. 6

To take risks.

To defy and refute all boredom.

To sing, to paint, to draw, to write and to live multiple lives.

The arts are necessarily alternative. Our job is to explore what they sound like and find the voices that make us listen differently.

How can artists help Radio 4 define what it means to live now?

General principles on Arts proposals

While being open to offers for single programmes, and holding back some commissions for offers throughout the year, we are looking to commission the following batches:

Popular Arts: 5 x 6 programmes Music Features: 3 x 6 programmes Poetry: 1 x 6 and 1 x 4 programmes

You do not need to list every programmme in the batch, but you do need to supply an idea of the range you have in mind. The remainder will be commissioned on a rolling basis throughout the year.

It is unlikely that any supplier will win more than one batch per brief.

Outside batching, please restrict your offers to six ideas per brief, including any ideas for series. If you would like to follow up on any of the specific ideas outlined below, please limit this to one pitch per supplier ( i.e. do not provide four different ideas on Henry James).

Each idea should be no more than 500 words for a single programme and 1,000 words for a batch.

You must include an indicative presenter (if appropriate) but do not approach them at this stage. You must also include the name of the person who would be producing the programme.

We may ask for further details after shortlisting.

BBC in-house suppliers with an output guarantee are welcome to compete for extra commissions.

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POETRY AND POETRY FEATURES

Reference number: 47114

Commissioning Editor: James Runcie Commissioning Co-ordinator: Georgina Southall

Slot: 16.30 (repeat: Saturday 23.30)

Duration: 28’

Transmission period: April 2017 to March 2018

Guide price: £6,200

Estimated number of programmes available for open competition: 15 episodes

EDITORIAL GUIDE

We want to develop original features that can offer the audience new and thoughtful perspectives on poets, poems or the craft of writing or listening to poetry.

We already have and The Echo Chamber and we are developing a new Poetry Magazine show.

What we are particularly looking for now is:

1 x 6 part series that represents the world in poetry; in other words, a new version of Poetry International (founded by Ted Hughes in 1967) where we hear and talk about poems both in the original language and in translation. Who are the emerging poets in Syria, the Middle East, Latin America, China and Japan. What of Europe, Africa, and Australasia? How can poetry help articulate the migrant crisis and the problems of the Middle East? What is it like to lose your language? What are the songs of exile - and what do we mean by “home”? Is it something that exists in a specific place or is it something people just have to carry in their heads?

1 x 4 part series in which poets are directly commissioned to make poetic moments specifically for Radio 4. What should this be and how should we do it?

What else should we be doing? We’d like to think how poetry can contribute to Radio 4 in other ways. Perhaps the challenge is this – not just to put poetry on Radio 4 but to make Radio 4 more poetic.

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POPULAR ARTS FEATURE

Reference number: 47165

Commissioning Editor: James Runcie Commissioning Co-ordinator: Georgina Southall

Slot: Mon 1602, Thursday 1130

Duration: 28’

Transmission period: April 2017 to March 2018

Guide price: £6,200 per episode

Estimated number of programmes available for open competition: 40

EDITORIAL GUIDE

Popular arts features offer audiences an opportunity to engage deeply with a single story or a series of programmes. To make the money go further we’d like to batch commission a few series or serials. They can be linked by theme, presenter or place, or they can even be quite loosely aligned, but they must answer these kind of questions:

What are people reading, painting, playing, singing, shouting, whispering, and having duvet days to do? What do we all feel passionate about?

How can we describe THE ART OF NOW? How can we do this with wit, personality, argument and compassion?

What would, say, a 1 x 6 part series on this be like?

How do we embody ideas rather than explain them straight out? How do we find meaning and identity through art? How can Radio 4 become an inspirational space?

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How much has art replaced religion? What do people hold sacred? What are the new sacred spaces? Should we have an architecture series about that? Or one about transitional spaces- in which we have “ no time to stand and stare” but are frequently marooned at a railway station or at an airport gate. This is where people listen to radio and podcasts. Now, through 4G phones, waiting time is no longer lost time, but it’s time that can become more than ever an opportunity for listening and reading and being entertained. Could we have a new series on THE ART OF WAITING? What would that be like?

Given the fractious attitude to Europe, how can we reflect the best of European culture?

What would a 1x 6 part series on the arts in Europe be like?

What is the new idealism? What do millennials and centennials really think? Does childrens fiction and YA represent a more accurate attitude to the world than “literary fiction”? ( e.g. Malorie Blackman’s Chasing the Stars, Simon Mayo’s Blame, Julian Clary’s The Bolds, Brian Conaghan’s The Bombs that Brought us Together, Lisa Williamson’s The Art of Being Normal)

The Internet lets us do almost anything at any time of day or night. We can pretend to be anyone or anything- we can live life as a digital goat if we want to. But is there also a “retreat from digital” to more craft based ideas in which people find respite in making things with their hands and exploring quieter pursuits away from the noise and crash of modernity?

And what if you’re unemployed or part of the Precariat, the low wage economy? What if you think no one cares about anything you say or do? How can you find meaning and consolation? What can the arts offer in a world of inequality? Is there such a thing as THE ART OF FREE?

We are also seeking ideas that will accompany key moments in the schedule next year.

April 2017 marks the 50th Anniversary of the decriminalization of homosexuality. Where and how should the LGBTQI artists feature in the Radio 4 schedule? Could we have a series of programmes about LGBT* artists who went below the radar? Gay presenters explore hidden homosexuality in art – the art of Saint Sebastian, homoerotic medieval romances, Victorian homosexual erotica in literature, a literary history of Polari.

May 2017 is the bicentenary of Jane Austen’s death. Can you think of doing something new about Jane Austen?

Summer 2017 will have a strand on Young Artists. What can Radio 4 offer emerging artists?

September 2017 is the 100th anniversary of the Russian Revolution. We’d like to look at this through art, music and literature. What would be the best way of representing the cultural history of communism?

October 2017 will feature quite a lot from Hull. How can we reflect, contribute to, comment on, and change contemporary culture? What should we be doing from Hull City of Culture? Can culture really transform a community in a lasting way? What did “City of

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Culture” status bring to Glasgow and Derry? Should we go back and see? Can art really transform lives? How do we show this? And how do we cope if we can’t?

November 2017 will feature Henry James. A man who chewed more than he bit off. And yet he is, most often, “ the writer’s writer”. Can you think of an interesting documentary programme or series on James – or on American Literature?

And, lastly, but most importantly, what do you care passionately about? What matters? Who is good? Where are the talented people we can spot and nurture? What will last?

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MUSIC FEATURE

Reference number: 47133

Commissioning Editor: James Runcie Commissioning Co-ordinator: Georgina Southall

Slots: Tuesday, 1130

Duration: 28’

Transmission period: April 2017 to March 2018

Guide price: £6,200

Estimated number of programmes available to open competition: 20

EDITORIAL GUIDE

We are looking for extraordinary stories that will immerse the audience in the world of music. Remember, we already have Soul Music and, elsewhere Tales from the Stave.

Let’s have some strong personal narratives, moving testimonies and a deep engagement with what music means.

Can we follow people in the act of making music? Can we travel to places where music and the conditions in which it is made are very different? What are the next versions of the Kinshasa Orchestra and El Sistema? Would this make a batch of four or six programmes? We’d like to find a new way of doing World Music and are interested in collaborations and serendipity across cultures. Why is Jim Reeves popular in Nigeria, and why has hip-hop taken off in Iceland?

We are looking for a series of ideas on cultural collisions – perhaps a six part series. We will also be featuring Bach at Easter and Faith in society with Neil Macgregor in the Autumn, so perhaps something on Sacred Music would be helpful.

What other one-offs or batches of programmes on popular music would you like to do?

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4. SPECIAL EVENTS AND SEASONS

Reference number: 47132

Jointly managed by the commissioning team

When entering a proposal here, do not also put ideas for component programmes into other briefs.

Transmission period: April 2017 to March 2018

Guide price: Not applicable

EDITORIAL GUIDE

Big seasons for 2017 - 2018 across the BBC include:

Civilisation with Simon Schama, Mary Beard and David Olusogo. Should we be asking what it means to be civilised? Is it something we should be proud of or does it involve culture appropriation and oppression? Is it aurally different? What is an “uncivilised “ society?

Faith with Neil MacGregor. Should we be looking at the connections between art and faith? What is the cross-over between arts and other areas such as natural history, ethics, politics and aesthetics?

The Future We are considering a series of programmes devoted to the future and are particularly interested in the rise of automation, the future of employment, and how people will earn money and/or sustain their lives. What can artists say about the velocity, breadth and depth of technological and social change? Does capitalism have a future? Can art offer a thoughtful contribution to scary fears about terrorism, pandemics, zombies and the future of children? Can we be more optimistic about post-capitalism and post-facts? Is there a moral and artistic alternative? And, if there isn’t, how can we cheer people up?

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5. CHECKLIST FOR SUBMISSIONS AND SUPPORTING MATERIAL

Apart from published books and commercially published DVDs, all work must be sent electronically.

Examples of Presenters and Talent

If they have work online (YouTube, blogs, podcasts etc.) please include a link in your offer rather than sending in downloads on physical media, etc.

Delivery of Supporting Written Material

Written material (e.g. CVs, sample dialogue or scripts) should not be put on Proteus. It must be sent by email to [email protected] . Please identify which offer it is for within the filename.

Delivery of Supporting Audio and Video

Submit via an online file-sharing service (e.g. wetransfer.com) to [email protected]. Audio must be .mp3 format. Please identify which offer it is for within the filename. You do not need to include audio for returning series as we already have access to the programmes.

These must be delivered by 1700 on the day of the commissioning round deadline.

A complete inventory of materials supplied must be included, using the form below.

 Any physical supporting material (published books, DVDs etc.) must be delivered by the submissions deadline to: Commissioning Co-ordinator, BBC Radio 4, Room 4028 Broadcasting House, London W1A 1AA

 Label each item with your name, department / company, the title and the commissioning brief number of the offer.

 Indicate in the long synopsis that you are supplying supporting material.

 With the exception of published books and videos, we cannot return supporting material to you.

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INVENTORY OF SUPPORTING MATERIAL FOR FINAL OFFERS

SUPPLIER DEPARTMENT / COMPANY COMMISSIONING BRIEF TITLE SUPPORTING MATERIAL NUMBER e.g. 47112 e.g. The Best Play Ever e.g. Book: The Best Story in the World

SIGNATURE…………………………………………………

CONTACT NAME …………………………………………..

EMAIL ………………………………………………………..

TEL ………………………………………...…………………

DATE…………………………………………………………..

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6. BBC EDITORIAL GUIDELINES & COMPLIANCE

BBC Editorial Guidelines http://www.bbc.co.uk/guidelines/editorialguidelines/

All programmes, whether commissioned in-house or from an independent producer, are subject to the BBC Editorial Guidelines. These set out the BBC’s editorial standards, policy on sensitive content, legal and political issues, and the system for consultation and referrals during the production of programmes. Failure to comply with these guidelines may lead to the commission being withdrawn and/or a claim for breach of contract.

Compliance

We require that every recorded programme be heard by a production person of appropriate seniority and formally signed off by them. BBC programmes are signed off by their executive producer or editor. But independent productions must be heard and approved prior to broadcast by Roger Mahony, Radio 4’s Editor, Editorial Standards (sometimes referred to as the compliance editor).

These decisions are logged in a compliance form, where editorially sensitive content must be flagged. The form is available on Proteus.

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7. THE BBC RADIO 4 AUDIENCE

 Reach: 10.6 million or 1 in 5 adults listen to Radio 4 each week, 20% of the population.

 Hours: Radio 4 continues to have a very loyal audience. The average Radio 4 listener tunes in for 11 hours and 28 minutes each week. In total that makes 121 million hours every week.

 Share: Share takes all the minutes listened to any radio, and works out what proportion of this Radio 4 makes up. Radio 4’s share of listening is 12%, or one in every 8 minutes of all radio consumed.

 Genre: News attracts the largest number of listeners, at 9.3m per week. Drama attracts a strong 6.8 million average listeners a week, and comedy reaches 5.4 million.

 Online: Radio 4 attracts a record 1.8 million unique browsers to its site each month, the biggest of any BBC Radio station. Of this, over half come via mobile or tablet. There are almost 20 million Radio 4 podcasts downloaded globally each month as well as over 20 million requests on iPlayer Radio, providing Radio 4 with a huge digital footprint.

 The station continues to have a balanced audience in terms of gender (51% male / 49% female). The average age of the Radio 4 listener is 56 years old and skews towards an older audience. Our target audience of 35-54 ABC1 (commonly termed ‘replenishers’) make up 24% of the audience. The station also continues to have an upmarket bias – 76% of those tuning in fall into the ABC1 demographic.

When do they listen?

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What other radio stations do they listen to?

For any questions about the Radio 4 audience, please contact Elizabeth Lane, Research Manager for Radio 4 and 4 Extra: [email protected].

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