Royal Television Society

Annual Report 2012

AGM 23 May 2013 at 6:00pm at the RTS 3 Dorset Rise, London EC4Y 8EN Patrons

Principal Patrons RTS Patrons

BBC APTN BSkyB Autocue Channel 4 Television Bloomberg ITV Channel Television Digital Television Group International Patrons Granada Television HIT Entertainment NBC Universal Ikegami Electronics UK RTL Group ITV Anglia Viacom International Media Networks ITV London Walt Disney Company ITV Meridian ITV Tyne Tees ITV West Major Patrons ITV Yorkshire PricewaterhouseCoopers Channel 5 Quantel Deloitte Raidió Teilifís Éireann Enders Analysis Reuters Television FremantleMedia University College, Falmouth IMG Media House UTV Television ITN Vinten Broadcast Jonathan Shalit/ROAR Global KPMG S4C STV Group UKTV

2 R oyal T elevision S ociety Report 2012 Contents

Patrons 2 Board of Trustees report to members 4 1 Achievements and performance 4 National events 2012 4 Centres report 2012 24 2 Structure, governance and management 34 3 Objectives and activities 34 4 Financial review 35 5 Plans for future periods 35 6 Administrative details 36 Independent auditors’ report 38 Financial statements 39 Notes to the financial statements 42 Notice of AGM 2013 49 Agenda of AGM 2013 50 Form of proxy 51 Minutes of AGM 2012 52 Picture credits 55 Who’s who at the RTS 56

The Board of Trustees (who are also the directors of the Royal Television Society for the purposes of company law) presents its report and consolidated accounts for the year ended 31 December 2012. The financial statements comply with current statutory requirements, the Memorandum and Articles of Association and the Statement of Recommended Practice – Accounting and Reporting by Charities (March 2005).

 Cover (from top): 1 ‘The first digital Olympics’ was a triumph for television; 2 Veteran Paralympian Margaret Maughan during the opening ceremony of the 2012 Paralympics , which were broadcast by Channel 4; 3 RTS Futures Summer Party; 4 Debate at an RTS early-evening event; 5 Anne Sweeney, co- chair of Disney Media Networks and president of Disney/ABC Television Group, was the international keynote speaker. She was interviewed by RTS president Sir Peter Bazalgette.

R oyal T elevision S ociety Report 2012 3 RTS Board of Trustees Report 1 Achievements and Performance

The Trustees’ Report highlights the ways in which the Socie- Society will remain contemporary, relevant and representa- ty’s activities have provided real benefit to the public at large, tive; whether by extending the reach of its publications and web- ± Partnerships and alliances The Society will actively seek based initiatives or by engaging with the public in ways that relationships with other societies and bodies where the are easier and more affordable. It has also sought to target combined effect of co-operation will enable the Society to particular audiences that might in the past not have been increase its impact, influence, involved in the debate, discussion and learning opportunities reach and effectiveness; that the Society offers. ± Public lecture series The Society will formalise and extend During the year, the Board of Trustees decided that the RTS its current public lecture series into an annual programme to should implement the five-year strategic plan for growth that be delivered in different locations in the UK. had been developed for the Society by T Wise Consulting in After the plan was agreed, and in view of the retirement of May 2012. Simon Albury in November 2012, a search was initiated for The key components of the plan are initiatives that include: a new chief executive in July 2012. Theresa Wise, of T Wise ± Grow the membership base The Society has set itself a goal Consulting, who had previously held senior roles at Accen- to attract and retain a membership of 7,000 in the next five ture and Disney, was appointed and joined the Society in years, lifting it to a level never reached by the Society in its March 2013. history. Critical to this will be a broad, contemporary agenda During the year the RTS maintained its unique and influ- in events and activities and the empowerment of its mem- ential role in furthering public understanding of the trans- bership to define the areas of interest it wishes follow; formative changes affecting British television through its ± Digital hub The Society will undertake a significant invest- publications, website and the wide range of public events it ment in the development of its online and digital presence; has staged. ± Connect with the young The Society will formalise its inter- face with a number of establishments to provide scholar- RTS Digital World Conference ships, bursaries and research grants. The purpose is to sup- The RTS Digital World Conference Advisory Committee was port talent at the early stages of their development/career chaired by John Smith, then BBC Worldwide CEO. The con- progression as well to help bridge the gap between the needs ference took place in September in the immediate afterglow of the television industry and the activities of various educa- of the Olympics and Paralympics. The “Going for gold” ses- tional bodies; sion looked at how television had shaped – and been shaped ± Careers and jobs As well as providing capabilities via by – the Olympics, and was chaired by Rt Hon Dame Tessa the digital hub for support concerning careers, the Society Jowell MP. intends to establish a mentoring service for members of the The panellists were: David Abraham, chief executive, Chan- Society; nel 4; Alex Balfour, head of new media, London Organising ± Special Interest Groups The Society will ena- Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (Locog); ble the formation of SIGs on any topic that is Mike Darcey, then COO, BSkyB; Ralph Rivera, director of of interest to a defined quorum of members. future media, BBC; Cindy Rose, executive director of digital This means that any interest entertainment, Virgin Media; and Gary Zenkel, president, in any aspect of television can NBC Olympics, and operations, strategy, NBC Sports Group. and will be represented by “People talk about this being the digital Olympics, but it was the Society – in this way a triumph of linear, live viewing… a reminder of the power of members’ interests can be TV,” said Abraham. represented, encouraged The conference was opened by Anne Sweeney, co-chair and developed. Thus the of Disney Media Networks and president of Disney/ABC8

 Left: RTS Digital World Conference speaker will.i.am.  Opposite: In the ‘Going for gold’ session at the RTS Digital World Conference the panellists were: 1 Gary Zenkel, president, NBC Olympics, and operations, strategy, NBC Sports Group; 2 Alex Balfour, head of new media, London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (Locog); 3 Mike Darcey, COO, BSkyB; 4 Ralph Rivera, director of future media, BBC; 5 Cindy Rose, executive director of digital entertainment, Virgin Media; and 6 David Abraham, chief executive, Channel 4. 7 The ‘All fun and games’ session (from the left) was chaired by Ed Vaizey MP, minister for culture, communications and the creative industries, with panellists: writer Steven Moffat; Sefton Hill, co-founder and game director of Rocksteady Studios; and Henrique Olifiers, gamer-in-chief, Bossa Studios. The ‘Apportunity knocks’ session panellists were: 8 Simon Daglish, commercial director, ITV; 9 Nick Hall, director of operations for digital media, Endemol UK; and 10 Luke Bradley-Jones, brand director, TV products, BSkyB. 11 International keynote speaker, Anne Sweeney, co-chair of Disney Media Networks and president of Disney/ABC Television Group

4 R oyal T elevision S ociety Report 2012 1 2 3 4 5 6

7

8 9 10 11

R oyal T elevision S ociety Report 2012 5 8Television Group. In her international keynote address, director of programmes, Channel 5; and Julian Bellamy, crea- “Innovation that empowers”, she argued that broadcasters tive director and head of production and development for sell stories, so they need to harness new technologies, audi- Discovery Networks International. ence research – and creative failures – to tell better stories. Two successful venture capitalists, Brent Hoberman, co- In terms of creative failure, she confessed that Disney had founder of lastminute.com, and Daniel Waterhouse, investor previously become obsessed with urgently developing new hit in Spotify and a partner in tech investor Wellington Partners, animation. It poured resources into pilots and series. “Every added their commentary on the start-ups’ pitches. quarter we needed to develop 12 scripts, three pilots, and pick The winning pitch was made by Fansauce, which promised up one series,” she said. “We became a machine for mediocrity “real pics, from real fans, shared instantly” with live televi- because our business model favoured quantity over quality. sion shows – all three broadcasters wanted to strike a deal. “We soon learned what others already knew: the most Turner Laing said: “It’s a bit of a no-brainer for Sky News… important ingredient in crafting a hit show, especially in the [Live viewing is] where advertisers want to be.” world of animation, is a singular, distinctive creative voice The conference finished with a spirited digital keynote that cuts through the rest of the animated landscape. from will.i.am, the entertainer, producer and digital entrepre- Learning that lesson delivered Disney’s biggest franchise, neur, who insisted that, “Television is yesterday. Broadcast- Phineas and Ferb, “because it was a true original, not cobbled ers, unfortunately, will go bust as they are.” The Black Eyed together by a development team staring down the barrel of Peas frontman said: “Their business is television, [which an arbitrary timeline”. they] monetise with ad spaces, and that’s it. It is not true The “Apportunity knocks” session considered how broad- innovation.” casters and producers appear to be finally getting the hang of Curiously, delegates seemed to enjoy the multi-Grammy- using apps to boost engagement with their shows. winning star’s full-on attack on them – even when he argued However, one of the panellists, Endemol UK’s director of that “until we figure out what the new hardware model is, operations for digital media, Nick Hall, said it was important piracy is good. Sharing is good.” to keep a sense of perspective about apps. “There is a danger This comment produced a notable spike in the Twitter con- of paying too much attention [to social media]… You’re not versation that had run through all the sessions. To encourage going to have a show decommissioned because there aren’t this debate, delegates had been infor-med of the #RTSDWC enough tweets,” he cautioned. hashtag in advance of the conference. The other panellists were: Luke Bradley-Jones, brand The RTS is extremely grateful to the conference’s principal director, TV products, BSkyB, and Simon Daglish, group sponsor, BBC Worldwide. It is only with the generous support commercial director, ITV. of all its Patrons that the Society is able to stage the range The next session, “All fun and games”, was chaired and calibre of the events that it does. by Ed Vaizey MP, minister for culture, communica- tions and the creative industries. The panellists were: RTS Futures Sefton Hill, co-founder and game director, Rocksteady This was a busy year for the RTS’s strand of events that seeks Studios; Steven Moffat, lead writer on Doctor Who and to engage a younger audience in the Society’s educational co-creator of Sherlock; and Henrique Olifiers, gamer- activities. Registration as a member of RTS Futures is free; in-chief, Bossa Studios. tickets to events are an affordable £10. They concluded that games offer some useful lessons and promotional value to The only way is… Zai At the first of eight events, BBC Three broadcasters, but creative con-vergence controller Zai Bennett was quizzed by Radio 1 DJ Greg James has been overhyped and makes limited about his career in TV and his plans for the channel that he sense. had recently taken over. “The Dragons’ Voice” He said his role involved “giving people enough rope to session saw three “drag- hang themselves. You have to let people have their head; in ons” grill three digital start- the creative industries that we work in, micro-management ups in search of the perfect is not a good thing.” television partner. In addition to an extended question-and-answer session, The dragons were: Sophie Turner seven members of the RTS Futures audience had the oppor- Laing, managing director, entertain- tunity to pitch their programme ideas to the BBC Three con- ment and news, BSkyB; Jeff Ford, then troller. Bennett thought many of the ideas would make8

 Left: Theo Paphitis chaired the RTS Futures event, ‘Pitching in the Den’.  Opposite: ‘The only way is… Zai’ with 1 (on the right) BBC Three controller Zai Bennett. 2 RTS Futures members at the ‘Speed date the news and current affairs gurus’ event. 3 Audience audition at ‘So you want to be a presenter?’ The panellists were: 4 Kirsty Milner, an agent from Billy Marsh Associates; 5 MTV News presenter Laura Whitmore; and 6 Neil McCallum, head of T4 and music at Channel 4. 7 Another RTS Futures member auditions

6 R oyal T elevision S ociety Report 2012 1 2

3

4 5 6 7

R oyal T elevision S ociety Report 2012 7 8engaging vignettes but would struggle to sustain a whole about tweets?” asked the winner, Tiannah Viechweg, when show or series. she pitched her celebrity panel show, A Battle of Twits. Channel 4 head of formats Dominic Bird commented: “Of So you want to be a presenter? In April, eight audience mem- everything we’ve seen tonight, that is the closest to the sort bers took the chance to sell themselves as potential present- of thing that professional development teams are bringing ers. Each was filmed for 60 seconds and their performances to E4.” played out on a giant screen in the room as they talked. Offering their experience and wisdom to the would-be Speed date the drama gurus A stellar line-up of channel presenters were: Neil McCallum, head of T4 and music at commissioners, programme-makers, writers and directors Channel 4; Kirsty Milner, an agent from Billy Marsh Associ- offered their advice to young hopefuls. ates; and MTV News presenter Laura Whitmore. They were “The evidence of Downton Abbey and Call the Midwife is quizzed in turn by T4 presenter Nick Grimshaw. that drama can define a channel,” said Wall To Wall executive Milner advised potential presenters to shoot a show reel producer Richard Burrell. “Drama is on an upward swing.” and “upload it to YouTube, try to get some hits and feedback Even so, drama budgets are under great stress. “We are and send it to agents”. employing very talented people with experience, which is what you need if you want to make drama faster and faster. Speed date the news and current affairs gurus The RTS Futures But we are paying them less than five years ago and we’re Committee organised another of its signature speed-dating working them a little bit harder,” said Burrell. evenings that have proved very popular, by marshalling a Bharat Nalluri, the director of the BBC One dramas, Spooks dozen of the leading practitioners in the field to spend three and Life on Mars, told would-be directors: “Learn to write – it’s minutes with a succession of young people keen to learn the quickest way to directing. It’s an easier pitch. You walk how to get their ideas made into programmes. into the room with a script that everyone wants to do and you “I can’t remember a time, short of the late 1980s… when say, ‘I want to be the director’; as opposed to going into a room more people have been talking about investigative journal- and saying, ‘I want to direct – have you got anything?’ “That’s ism,” said one guru, Tom Giles, editor of BBC One’s Pano- how I started; I wrote, and that got me my first directing gig.” rama. “It’s been reinforced by the Leveson Inquiry and the phone-hacking scandal. Investigative journalism has come RTS Futures summer party The party was held in July at Cine- back into the heart of British political life.” flix in association with Broadcast Hot 100. TV presenter and radio DJ Nick Grimshaw talked to 12 of the country’s biggest Pitching in the Den This event in May was chaired by Theo TV names – 11 of whom featured in the current Hot 100 – Paphitis, a panellist on the long-running BBC Two business about how they broke into the industry and built a career. show, Dragons’ Den, and brought together commissioners Among those sharing the lessons of their own routes into TV from Channel 4 (Dominic Bird and David Glover), ITV digital with today’s young hopefuls were: Jay Hunt, Channel 4’s chief (Angela Jain), the BBC (Tom Edwards) and Sky (Phil Edgar- creative officer; Danny Cohen, controller of BBC One; Lucy Jones). Lumsden, head of comedy at Sky; David Glover, senior com- Following a question-and-answer session with Paphitis the missioning editor for factual at Channel 4; Sue Vertue, producer, panel was pitched six Hartswood; and Andy Harries, head of Left Bank Pictures. programme ideas from the audience, Speed date the comedy gurus As a genre, comedy is “incred- with the winner ibly strong at the moment”, reckoned one of the 10 gurus receiving a week’s assembled in October, Bwark Productions’ Simon Wilson. work experience “Some great shows are being made. Meanwhile, great shows at a leading inde- that might never have made it to screen, because they didn’t pendent pro- fit with a particular channel’s remit, have now got an outlet duction com- [thanks to the internet].” pany. Roughcut Television’s Ash Atalla warned aspiring comedy “As 40% of producers and writers: “There are no dry slopes. It’s not like tweets are about other genres, where there are research and assistant producer TV, why not jobs.” make a TV show “One in six comedies is a break-out hit,” reckoned Com-8

 Left: Publicity material for the RTS Futures event, ‘Speed date the comedy gurus’.  Opposite: 1 RTS members at the ‘Speed date the drama gurus’ event, with gurus: 2 (on the right) Diederick Santer, Lovely Day; 3 (on the right) Huw Kennair-Jones, BSkyB; and 4 (on the left) Sophie Gardiner, Channel 4. 5 ‘Battle of the broadcasters’ was compered by Stephen Mulhern; 6 Each team included two broadcast executives; 7 The winning team included staffers at Channel 4. ‘Speed date the comedy gurus’: 8 Sarah Farrell, Comedy Central; 9 Nana Hughes, ITV Studios; 10 Simon Wilson, Bwark Productions; 11 Nerys Evans, Channel 4; and 12 Ash Atalla, Roughcut Television

8 R oyal T elevision S ociety Report 2012 2

3

1 4

5 6 7

8 11

9 10 12

R oyal T elevision S ociety Report 2012 9 8edy Central’s Sarah Farrell. “It’s more difficult to make a Lee disputed the common misperception that the tradi- comedy work. You can watch a bad drama to find out what tional TV schedule is “on the cusp of disintegrating at the happens. Bad comedy is unwatchable.” hands of technology, be it on-demand services or PVRs”. He predicted that 95% of all TV programmes watched during the Battle of the broadcasters The final RTS Futures event of the year would be viewed live or within 24 hours of broadcast year was a quiz. Channel 4 pipped the BBC to the title, with (and turned out to be correct). UKTV in third place. Other teams were led by executives from Lee added that one of the perverse outcomes of content BSkyB, MTV and National Geographic. An unofficial team of proliferation and more choice is that people become more RTS Futures Committee members somehow placed last. conservative in their choices. The RTS Futures members in the winning Channel 4 team Darcey said that it was easy to misunderstand the impact were rewarded with a meeting with BBC One controller of changing technologies, but “the device is not the end Danny Cohen for their efforts. “It can take years to get an game; the end game is the consumption of content.” audience with Danny – that’s an amazing prize,” said RTS Futures chair Camilla Lewis. Mark Thompson In March outgoing BBC director-general The Society is extremely grateful for the hard work of the Mark Thompson looked back on the triumphs and trials of RTS Futures Committee, chaired by Lewis. his eight years in power through the prism of the corpora- tion’s ambitions for 2012. In the light of the crisis that was to RTS Lectures engulf the BBC (and cost his successor his job) a few months In her RTS Huw Wheldon Memorial Lecture in October, the later, Thompson’s comments about public trust were salu- BBC’s chief international correspondent, Lyse Doucet, argued tary. He said: “Trust in the BBC is at an all-time high.” that social media has not usurped broadcast news. Instead, Asked about the fall-out from the Ross-Brand affair, Twitter and Facebook have enabled TV journalists to raise Thompson said that “the business of making sure that every their game. She said: “Journalism is no longer an exclusive programme was listened to or being watched by at least one club enjoyed and practised by the few.” senior manager came itself as a new discipline and a rather But Doucet said that the story and the storyteller are still unpopular one.” key: “Above all, we need accuracy. Any broadcaster worth Thompson also pointed to other dangers: “We’ve already anything at all would rather be second with the news and taken nearly £1bn of costs per year out of the system in right, than first and wrong.” productivity gains. Further efficiencies are getting harder to Who do viewers and online users trust the most, she asked? identify.” “The people who have to get it right in order to survive.” Her lecture, “#Breaking news: can TV journalism survive Do the arts still need TV? At this event in May panellist Ruth the social-media revolution?” was recorded and broadcast Mackenzie, director of the Cultural Olympiad, laid down the on BBC Two. gauntlet: “No, the arts don’t need TV… the real worry for television is when the arts don’t want TV.” Early-evening events But fellow panellists Tabitha Jackson of Channel 4 and the The Society’s early-evening events continue to BBC’s Roly Keating did not believe that the internet had revo- provide an accessible and low-cost way for the lutionised arts organisations’ relationship with the public to public to hear and question television practition- such an extent that TV had become a backwater. ers on a wide range of issues. Eight events with David Sabel, the National Theatre’s head of digital media, top-flight participants were staged during the year. was also more cautious than Mackenzie: “Opportunities for arts organisations are unprecedented, but I adamantly say What the future holds The first event was introduced that we need TV – for scale, quality and as a viewer. The by Deloitte Research director Paul Lee, who pre- power of television is pretty undiminished.” sented his firm’s 11th annual predictions for the year However, all agreed the stranglehold that television pro- ahead in the technology, media and telecom- ducers once exerted over how the arts were presented on munications sector. Lee then participated screen was long gone. in a panel discussion alongside Mike Darcey, then BSkyB COO, and Theresa If I ran the BBC… In June, three weeks before George Entwistle Wise, at the time the head of T Wise won the race to succeed Thompson as director-general, Consulting. the RTS brought together four luminaries to reveal their8

 Left: The RTS Huw Wheldon Memorial Lecture was given by Lyse Doucet, the BBC’s chief international correspondent.  Opposite: ‘If I ran the BBC…’ panellists: 1 Rt Hon James Purnell; 2 Lorraine Heggessey, former controller of BBC One; 3 Trevor Phillips OBE, chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission; and 4 John Whittingdale MP. The event, ‘Election coverage: is it too boring? A challenge to broadcasters’, was introduced by 5 Colette Bowe, chair of Ofcom. The panellists were: 6 John McAndrew, Sky News; 7 Steve Richards, the Independent; and 8 Jonathan Munro, ITV. 9 ‘Do the arts still need TV?’ panellists 10 Tabitha Jackson, Channel 4; 11 David Sabel, National Theatre; 12 Roly Keating, BBC; and 13 Ruth Mackenzie, director of the Cultural Olympiad

10 R oyal T elevision S ociety Report 2012 1 2 3 4

6

7

5 8

10 11 12 13 9

R oyal T elevision S ociety Report 2012 11 8manifestos in an absorbing and occasionally fractious excluded from the small-screen debates: “The guidelines discussion. didn’t work for me. I was being treated like a nutcase.” They were: corporation loyalist Lorraine Heggessey; John Channel 5’s head of corporate and regulatory affairs, Mar- Whittingdale MP, who said he believed in a radically scaled- tin Stott, agreed that Ofcom’s major-party rule needed recon- back BBC; erstwhile broadcaster Trevor Phillips OBE, chair sideration as politics continues to fragment. He pointed out of the Equality and Human Rights Commission; and Rt Hon that in “Scotland the Lib Dems and the Conservatives are James Purnell, briefly a Labour culture minister (and who, major parties according to Ofcom rules”. since the event, has returned to the BBC in the newly created Indicating that this RTS event could have important long- role of director of strategy and digital). term consequences, Bowe concluded by saying she had Purnell worried that “the BBC has lost its creative mojo moved from being worried of Southwark to being “pretty [and]… is not as confident about its creative direction as it flexible of Southwark”. should be.” “Everything that has been said tonight is encouraging us Whittingdale said he was “convinced that you could oper- all to move in that direction,” she said. “We very much want ate the BBC more efficiently with half the management to do that hand-in-hand with our broadcasting colleagues.” removed”. Heggessey conceded only that “The BBC is far too bureaucratic and far too complex… I would be questioning Second-screen experiences: your new companion? The Sep- every penny that is not being spent directly on the services.” tember event showed that while companion-screen content might improve shows, it is hard to finance. Election coverage: is it too boring? A challenge to broadcasters The panellists were: Jody Smith, Channel 4’s multi-plat- The event was introduced by the chair of Ofcom, Colette form commissioning editor for comedy and entertainment; Bowe, who stressed the importance of this RTS forum: “It is Neil Mortensen, research and planning director at Thinkbox, not a discussion of academic interest only. There is a hell of the marketing body for UK commercial broadcasters; BSkyB a lot riding on this for the broadcasters.” director of emerging products Gareth Capon; Zeebox co- She believed the time was ripe to re-examine the broad- founder and chief technology officer Anthony Rose; and Shed casting rules that govern election coverage – or risk more Media Group head of digital Juliette Otterburn-Hall. people, especially the under-24s, failing to vote. Rose noted that, “The second screen makes bad TV watcha- Introducing herself as “worried of Southwark” (a refer- ble.” But it is also inevitable “because we all have more devices. ence to Ofcom’s HQ, adjacent to Southwark Bridge), Bowe In future there shouldn’t be a first and second screen; there’ll pointed out that lots of elections were on the horizon – for be a small screen you carry around, and a medium screen you police commissioners, for Scottish independence, the Euro- sit in front of (mostly with a keyboard) and a big screen. But the pean Parliament and a general election due in 2015. content and the experience will play everywhere.” She was joined by panellists Steve Richards of the Inde- pendent, ITV’s Jonathan Munro and John McAndrew of Sky Analogue pennies, digital pounds An event in November News. McAndrew recalled how he had wanted to stage a approached the same territory, but revolved around YouTube. debate between London mayoral candidates Boris “We are most people’s default sharing platform. Just under Johnson and Ken Livingstone, but had been pre- half of our 4 million views a day come because someone else vented by the three-major-parties rule. has shared that piece of video,” said YouTube’s Ben McOwen “We couldn’t put [Boris and Ken] on Wilson. together so we got a boring programme Another of the night’s panellists, Nick Cohen, managing and no one watched,” said McAndrew. partner and UK head of media-buying agency MediaCom, “That was the news story. We should have claimed that brands are queuing up to help fund content: been able to say to [Liberal Democrat “Brands will fully fund content, they’ll part-fund content or Brian] Paddick: ‘You have performed badly they might sponsor it.” three times out of three, you don’t warrant But Liam Tootill, managing director of specialist music a place.’” channel SB.TV, and ChannelFlip founder Justin Gayner both Also present was a somewhat disen- agreed that making money without the collaboration of You- chanted Siobhan Benita, the Tube is an uphill struggle. independent London may- oral candidate. She felt Crisis! What crisis! The final e-event of the year, chaired by Lor- let down by TV and raine Heggessey, asked if the BBC could have weathered8

 Left: ‘What the future holds’ was introduced by Deloitte Research director Paul Lee.  Opposite: ‘Crisis! What crisis!’ panellists: 1 Matt Baker, former chief press officer, Channel 4; former directors of corporate affairs at the BBC 2 Howell James and 3 Colin Browne; and 4 ex-Sun editor David Yelland. 5 BBC director-general George Entwistle faces the media scrum. 6 ‘Second-screen experiences: your new companion?’ panellists (from left): Jody Smith, Channel 4; Neil Mortensen, Thinkbox; Gareth Capon, BSkyB; Anthony Rose, Zeebox; Juliette Otterburn-Hall, Shed Media Group; and chair Kate Bulkley. ‘Analogue pennies, digital pounds’ panellists: 7 Liam Tootill, SB.TV; 8 Justin Gayner, Channel Flip; 9 (on the left) Nick Cohen, MediaCom; and Ben McOwen Wilson, YouTube. 10 Outgoing BBC director-general Mark Thompson. 11 The inaugural meeting of the RTS All Party Parliamentary Group, with (from the left): Diane Coyle OBE, vice-chair, BBC Trust; chair Lord Fowler; and Lord Burns, chair, Channel 4; and 12 Sir Martin Sorrell, CEO, WPP.

12 R oyal T elevision S ociety Report 2012 1 2 3 4 5

6

7 8 9 10

11 12

R oyal T elevision S ociety Report 2012 13 8the PR disaster centred on Jimmy Savile and Newsnight of economic output, and more than 10% of total exports (with better than it did. 2.6% contributed by TV and radio), said Coyle. The panellists had all handled high-profile crises during their careers. They comprised: two former directors of cor- RTS Dinners porate affairs at the BBC, Howell James and Colin Browne; The RTS’s retiring chief executive, Simon Albury, bowed out Matt Baker, then acting head of media at Oxfam and a long- with a dinner celebrating his contribution to the Society and serving chief press officer at Channel 4; and ex-Sun editor to television on 10 December. David Yelland, now a partner at the corporate communica- It was the biggest and brightest gathering of broadcasting’s tions company, Brunswick Group. great and good to have assembled in one place for many a In drawing crisis-management lessons from the affair, all year – for 12 years, to be exact, suggested Albury. That was agreed that thorough preparation and the maintenance of when his predecessor, Michael Bunce OBE retired. relations with stakeholders were key assets; the midst of a Among those paying tribute to Albury were Sir Peter Bazal- crisis is not the time to start thinking about a communica- gette, Lord Macdonald of Tradeston, Baroness King of Bow, tions strategy. Gerhard Zeiler and Michael Palin CBE. Browne said: “It’s not normally the mistake that counts; Bazalgette compered the evening devoted to “Simon it’s the way the mistake is handled immediately afterwards.” Albury, the man, the myth, the mensch”. The Society is very grateful to the Early-Evening Events Former transport minister Lord Macdonald described Committee, chaired by Dan Brooke, for continuing to deliver Albury’s influence on legislation through his leadership of the such a high-quality programme of events. Campaign for Quality Television. Former MP and chief diversity officer of Channel 4 Oona RTS All Party Parliamentary Group King said Albury had “persistently come up with ideas to “Going for Growth”, the inaugural event of the RTS All Party make television more representative and diverse”. Parliamentary Group, was held in the Houses of Parliament Gerhard Zeiler, president of Turner Broadcasting System in October. International, paid tribute to Albury’s success in ensuring The question of how to grow the creative industries was the “world-class” quality of RTS events: “Simon, you are the addressed by Sir Martin Sorrell, CEO of WPP, and by two embodiment of the RTS; thank you on behalf of the whole economists, Diane Coyle OBE, the vice-chair of the BBC television industry in the UK.” Trust, and Lord Burns, chair of Channel 4. In the chair was Michael Palin said television would be “many shades Lord Fowler. greyer without Simon Albury… Few people have greater The distinguished audience included some 15 parliamen- powers of persuasion – he has even persuaded me to sing tarians. Among them were: Lady Bonham-Carter, deputy a song that I wrote 50 years ago and haven’t sung since.” convener of the Liberal Democrat peers; shadow culture min- Palin proceeded to sing “Grin” – a song whose positive out- ister Helen Goodman MP; and Lords Bragg and Inglewood, look had more than a little in common with Albury’s. the latter the chair of the Lords Communications Committee. Sorrell said the UK is the most savvy internet economy RTS Legends in the world – the internet surpassed television in 2009 in Formerly known as RTS Veterans lunches, these events are advertising terms – yet “I am not often held at the Royal Over-Seas League. betting my future, or the “ITV – controllers at war” assembled four one-time ITV future of WPP, on growth in barons to relive the high drama of the legendary Monday the UK or, indeed, West- Controllers’ Group meeting, where executives’ reputations ern Europe.” were won or lost and five companies carved up the weekday Burns was more and weekend schedules. The event, which was sold out well upbeat: “Broadcasting in advance, featured Greg Dyke of London Weekend Televi- has held up rather better sion, Steve Morrison of Granada, David Elstein of Thames than many had feared. and John Fairley of Yorkshire. The entertainment and This weekly battle of each against all, with no quarter media sector continues to asked or given, once made perfect sense for the individual grow faster than GDP.” ITV licensees – but proved costly to the feuding federation The creative industries when the broadcasting environment changed. account for almost 3% From the floor Brian Tesler, former MD of LWT, said: “In8

 Left: Retiring RTS chief executive Simon Albury.  Opposite: The RTS Legends event, ‘ITV – controllers at war’, brought together 1 Steve Morrison of Granada, 2 Greg Dyke of London Weekend Television, 3 David Elstein of Thames and 4 John Fairley of Yorkshire. 5 The billing promised a robust encounter. 6 RTS Dinner to celebrate the contribution of RTS CEO Simon Albury – (from left) Michael Palin CBE; Simon Albury; Lord Macdonald of Tradeston; and Lord Hollick. Tributes to Albury were made by 7 Gerhard Zeiler and 8 Baroness King of Bow. 9 Selection of Television covers from the year, including a special supplement on past BBC director-generals.

14 R oyal T elevision S ociety Report 2012 RTS LEGENDS

Royal Over-Seas14 May League, 2012

12:30pm for 1:00pm ITV Over-Seas House, Park Place, London SW1A 1LR - CONTROLLERS AT WAR

GREG DYKE VS DAVID BOOKING OPENS LATE FEBRUARY Back in the day, before the 1990 Broadcasting ELSTEIN Act changed things of 15 separate and competing licence holders. The Network was run by the Big Fiv STEVE Granada, LWT, Thames forever,and Yorkshire. ITV was a federation Every Monday the Programme Controllers met to carve up the schedule, with Granada, T VS and LWT ghting ercely to advantage their own not all the old scores have been settled. production divisions. e: Central, MORRISON Now The key participants have long memories and (Thames)Greg and Steve Dyke Morrison(LWT), (Gra meet once again to remind us all why Emmerdale Farm had to ght for its existence on an annual hames David Elstein basis; why Coronation Street could never be shown on a Friday night, why som nada)  exipool’ had to be invented and who was rst will to perch at the Financial Times, will stoke t subvert it – and how they each played to debate. Paul Bonner, who served as Director of Ray Snoddy, who watchedething it all from called his ‘the the Programming S 32 RTS house ad v3.indd 2 Network Controllers Group) from 1987 to 19 will be on hand ecretariat (Chairman of the WWW.RTS.ORG.UK as he did then. he win. Everyone attending to seek should to ensure expect balance today night call from at least one of the three spea o ering untold rewards for their support on the following day. Come along t 92,

a Sunday-

o see who wins what.kers 1 2 3 4 5

03/02/2012

1 0:15

7

6 8

An RTS publication June 2012 July/August 2012 November 2012 November January 2012

Disney’s digital The BBC visionary top job: Anne Sweeney’s strategy for global success TOO BIG Surf’s up FOR Paul Lee: Why TV is riding ONE the digital wave, What makes a good MAN not drowning in it BBC director-general? ...or one  woman Paul Ashford: Embracing regulation Lessons from the past ?  Theresa Wise: What’s next on YouTube? Colette Bowe on media regulation  Essex, Chelsea and beyond Andrew Billen: The secret life of Roger Graef Channel Six: YouTube takes on TV  Olympic legacy on screen  Is TV too posh?  RTS Awards Sir Paul Fox and Sir Peter Bazalgette Greg Dyke casts his vote on Simon Cowell Maria Miller makes her mark  The Billen Profi le: Kevin Lygo Dorothy Byrne  Alex Connock  Sarah Dillistone  Elena Egawhary Claire Enders Plus – Pitching to Theo Paphitis; drama gurus; and the Olympics      Claire Faragher  Alex Graham  Stephen Grey  Lord Inglewoood  David Jordan Ash Atalla Ben Boyer Michele Buck Lord Burns Diane Coyle Nerys Evans Alex ConnockLorraine HeggesseyTabitha JacksonRoly KeatingRuth Mackenzie Daran Little Sally Osman  David Potter  Marcus Ryder  Fiona Stourton Sarah FarrellNana HughesSaurabh KakkarHenry NormalRobert Popper Trevor PhillipsJames PurnellDavid SabelJohn SmithJohn Whittingdale 9 Donna Taberer  John Ware  Nigel Warner  Toby Young Simon ShapsSir Martin SorrellChris SussmanSimon Wilson

01-02 Cover section.indd 1 08/06/2012 00:04 01 Cover January v5.indd 1 15/12/2011 11:33 01 Cover July v3.indd 1 15/07/2012 22:2501 Cover v2-Nov.indd 1 13/11/2012 20:29

R oyal T elevision S ociety Report 2012 15 8spite of all these rows and tensions, the people on that some newcomers that are already giants, such as YouTube committee were genuinely… interested in programming.” and Netflix. With the June issue of Television the RTS published a sup- Television magazine plement on the lessons for the present provided by past BBC The Society’s monthly magazine, Television, is highly valued director-generals. It was based around the transcript of a for its timely and incisive coverage of key media debates and wide-ranging discussion between Sir Paul Fox CBE and Sir developments. Peter Bazalgette as they discussed “What makes a good BBC Each issue carries articles on a huge variety of topics. director-general?” The March issue led on the seemingly arcane issue of meta- From the vantage point of his long corporation career, Fox data – the descriptive information appended to every digital gave his assessment of past DGs’ strengths and weaknesses programme file – that has become the key to video search and their handling of the various crises that either engulfed and hence to unlocking new revenues for content owners. them or which they successfully rode out. “Metadata is the future of television and the future of con- The October issue was devoted to in-depth coverage of the tent distribution,” according to IHS Screen Digest analyst Tom RTS Digital World Conference and IBC for the benefit of those Morrod. unable to afford the cost of attending those events. This was accompanied by articles on the global reinven- The monthly column, Our Friend from the North, sought to tion of Top Gear, the inadequacies of the copyright system, balance the inevitable metropolitan bias of Television’s cover- the rise of online comedy and profiles of app developer age (given London’s dominance in UK television production Monterosa and the new Roath Lock Studios in Cardiff. Plus a and commerce). Throughout the year, columnist Alex Con- spirited demolition by journalism professor Stewart Purvis of nock focused on important television trends that M25-bound some (print) media owners’ belief that Ofcom-style regula- broadcasters are prone to miss. tion is somehow a barrier to investigative journalism. Over the year Television’s book reviewers included: North- In a similar vein, the May issue led with a detailed look at ern & Shell’s Paul Ashford, analyst Claire Enders, Greg Dyke, how the risks to journalists reporting from war zones can Simon Shaps, Tony Garnett and Nigel Warner. be managed. The reports were based on a rigorous – and The TV diarists were: David Abraham, Tess Alps, Colette sometimes vigorous – roundtable discussion involving Fran Bowe, Michele Buck, Sally Osman, Marcus Ryder, Richard Unsworth, the BBC’s head of news gathering, Sarah White- Sambrook, John Smith, Mimi Turner and Andrea Wong. head, head of international news at Sky News, and Fiona Stourton, creative director at Ten Alps, and formerly at the Website BBC and Channel 4 News. Important progress was made towards integrating the Soci- Other articles analysed the impact of Netflix’s arrival in the ety’s online services with its databases to improve e-com- UK, the lure of the small screen for movie directors, the key merce and membership services. challenges for the BBC’s new boss, TV-related apps From the beginning of the year, reports of all national RTS and advances in ultra-mobile live news-gathering and RTS Futures events have been uploaded within four technologies. working hours of the event. More detailed reports continue Starting with the May issue, Times journal- to be published in Television. ist Andrew Billen contributed a landmark The Society’s website had 136,645 visitors, who viewed an series of insightful and revealing profiles average of 3.26 pages; their average time spent on the site of major figures in the British broadcast- was two minutes 20 seconds; 38.71% were returning visitors. ing landscape. These included Channel 4’s This compares with 71,882 visitors in 2011, who viewed Dorothy Byrne, BSkyB’s Mike Darcey and an average of 3.45 pages and stayed on the site two minutes ITV’s Kevin Lygo – and the RTS’s outgoing 26 seconds; 43.42% were returning visitors. CEO, Simon Albury. The separate RTS Futures site had a further 16,063 visitors, The magazine also profiled more than 20 who stayed for an average of three minutes 15 seconds. channels, companies, programmes, produc- On the main site the most popular pages related to the ers and executives that are making waves Society’s events and awards. Each issue of Television is pub- in broadcasting. They ranged from the lished as a PDF magazine at the same time as the print edi- long-established, such as Japan’s tion, but the articles are only viewable by RTS members. One NHK, to newcomers such as month after the print publication date, the full issue is made Shazam and ChannelFlip – and available to all online viewers.8

 Left: Television investigated the worldwide success of the Top Gear format.  Opposite: In June Television published a supplement on past BBC director-generals and the lessons their crises have for the present, based on an extended discussion between 1 Sir Paul Fox and 2 Sir Peter Bazalgette. 3 The magazine analysed the perceived trend of young viewers abandoning television for other media. 4 Among the leading figures profiled by Television was the new culture secretary, Rt Hon Maria Miller MP. Television took a detailed look at how the risks to journalists reporting from war zones can be managed, centred on a roundtable discussion, ‘Reasonable risk versus recklessness – the challenge of front-line reporting’. Contributing were 5 Fran Unsworth, the BBC’s head of news gathering, and 6 Sarah Whitehead, head of international news at Sky News. Times journalist Andrew Billen started his landmark series of revealing profiles of major broadcasting figures with 7 Channel 4’s Dorothy Byrne and 8 ITV’s Kevin Lygo. 9 Television also profiled a wide range of companies and technologies, including the audio app creator, Shazam.

16 R oyal T elevision S ociety Report 2012 1 2 3

4 5 6

7 8 9

R oyal T elevision S ociety Report 2012 17 RTS Awards three RTS Masterclasses. The Fiction Masterclass was given The RTS’s Awards continue to provide the gold standard of by Doctor Who and Sherlock writer Steven Moffat. peer recognition. The ceremonies, produced by RTS Enter- His advice to aspiring young writers was succinct: “I’d be prises, continue to be well attended, thanks to the unparal- YouTubing, making my own films. You can shoot stuff using leled integrity of the judging process, the continual refine- an iPhone in HD, so you have no excuse. For people starting ment of award categories to match emerging technologies out now, it’s never been more competitive, but to actually and new areas of creative expertise, and the level of profes- get something made off your own back, it has never been sionalism with which they are mounted. easier.” The Society is extremely grateful to the awards judges and The Factual Masterclass was presented by Sue Bourne, presenters, all of whom donate their services. who makes high-impact films focused on individuals to doc- Although these events help fund the Society’s charitable ument major social issues. She said she got “a huge kick out activities, the RTS has modified the presentation and kept of taking tabloid themes, but then doing something intelli- ticket prices as low as possible in response to the economic gent with them”. climate. The Society recognises the financial pressures on Siobhan Greene, then-head of TV at entertainment jugger- producers and broadcasters and has sought to balance these naut Syco TV and now ITV Studios director of entertainment, against the relatively inflexible costs of providing public was interviewed by Eyeworks TV producer/consultant Paul opportunities to celebrate the highest standards of achieve- Jackson for the third masterclass. ment in broadcasting. “I wanted to be the best runner ever and I wanted to be the best researcher,” she said of her early career. Greene also RTS Television Journalism Awards 2010/11 The awards were drew attention to herself by bombarding the documentary presented in February at the London Hilton. The evening was department of the first TV company she worked at – as a typist hosted by ITV News’s Mark Austin. – with programme ideas. Sky correspondent Alex Crawford won Television Journal- Undergraduate and Postgraduate Awards were judged in ist of the Year for the third year running, while al‑Jazeera four categories: Animation, Fiction, Entertainment and Fac- secured News Channel of the Year. The BBC’s Pano- tual. Entries for the Undergraduate group were judged on a rama and Newsnight journalists garnered five awards regional basis and these regional winners were then put for- among them. ward for national judging. The national juries selected three The Judges’ Award went to Japan’s NHK for its nominees per category and the winner was chosen by secret extraordinary live coverage of the previous year’s ballot. The Postgraduate nominees were judged at a national earthquake and tsunami, and the Lifetime Achieve- level only. ment Award was presented to Sir David Nicho- Students at the National Film and Television School scored las CBE. a hat trick and Edinburgh College of Art won two awards. The ceremony was hosted by comedian Nathan Caton and RTS Programme Awards 2011 The awards the awards were presented by the chief creative officer of were held at Grosvenor House in March BBC Vision, Patrick Younge. and were hosted by comedian and pre- senter Rob Brydon. RTS Young Technologist of the Year 2012 The title was pre- The Judges’ Award went to drama sented to the BBC’s Matthew Tushingham for his work at executive Laura Mackie and the Life- MediaCity. In a major project for CBeebies and CBBC, he time Achievement Award to Beryl Ver- designed and documented workflows for the whole produc- tue OBE. tion chain, from studios through post production to trans- Dominic West and Emily Watson won mission delivery. He also provided operational training and the Actor awards for their roles in Appro- fine-tuned the workflows as the service developed. priate Adult. Twenty-six awards were pre- The purpose of the RTS Young Technologist of the Year sented, with Channel 4 accounting for 10 of award is to advance education in the science, practice, tech- them and the BBC nine. nology and art of television and its allied fields, giving the winner the opportunity to attend IBC in September. RTS Student Television Awards 2011 and RTS The judges look for applicants to demonstrate how the Masterclasses The awards, held in May at Lon- award would enhance their understanding of technol- don’s Barbican Centre, were accompanied by ogy’s role in television and related fields, and how the8

 Left: RTS Programme Awards 2011 Lifetime Achievement Award winner Beryl Vertue OBE.  Opposite: 1 Appropriate Adult stars Emily Watson and Dominic West won both the Actor awards at the RTS Programme Awards 2011. 2 Sky correspondent Alex Crawford won Television Journalist of the Year for the third year running at the RTS Television Journalism Awards 2010/11. 3 Keir and Louise Lusby received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the RTS Craft & Design Awards 2011/12; 4 Three awards recognised the craft skills involved in the 2012 Olympics coverage. 5 Panorama’s Undercover Care investigation won three awards at the RTS Television Journalism Awards; and 6 Sky News won News Coverage – Home for its reporting of the UK riots. Three RTS Masterclasses were held at the RTS Student Television Awards 2011: 7 the Fiction Masterclass was given by Steven Moffat; 8 the Factual Masterclass by Sue Bourne; and 9 the Entertainment Masterclass by Siobhan Greene; 10 the Entertainment Undergraduate award winners.

18 R oyal T elevision S ociety Report 2012 1 2

5

3 4 6

7

8 9 10

R oyal T elevision S ociety Report 2012 19 8applicants propose to share their understanding. side University in May, organised by North East and the Bor- AM Beresford-Cooke, in whose memory the award is pre- der Centre. sented, was a distinguished engineer who made a substan- BBC director-general Mark Thompson’s valedictory talk in tial contribution to British broadcasting technology, helping March was streamed live to four venues, allowing those Cen- to pioneer VHF and UHF transmission. tres’ members and guests to participate in the Q&A session. The Society’s regional awards nights continued to do well, RTS Craft & Design Awards 2011/12 The awards were pre- despite the very challenging economic environment. North sented in November at the Savoy in London, and hosted by East and the Border Centre attracted more than 500 guests to Laura Hamilton. Three awards recognised the craft skills its awards ceremony in Gateshead. involved in the 2012 Olympics coverage: the Judges’ Award More than 450 attended Thames Valley Centre’s awards; (to BBC Sport); Graphic Design – Trails and Packaging; and North West and Southern had 430 and 250 guests, respectively. Design and Craft Innovation (to the Olympics opening cer- Many of the Centres’ student awards ceremonies have also emony production team). performed well, with growing numbers of entries, frequently Three programmes each gained two awards: Noel Field- of a very high standard. Yorkshire Centre’s student awards ing’s Luxury Comedy, Appropriate Adult and The Fades. attracted 60 entries from 11 universities. Props suppliers Keir and Louise Lusby received the Lifetime Achievement Award. IBC The Society is a partner in IBC, Europe’s premier broadcast RTS Offices technology event, which is held each September in Amster- The Society relocated its offices from the fifth to a smaller dam’s RAI Centre. A record 50,937 visitors and 1,440 exhibit- and more cost-effective space on the seventh floor of 3 Dor- ing companies attended IBC 2012, which has continued its set Rise in March. successful evolution away from a purely broadcast engineer- ing focus to serve a wider set of constituencies, including RTS Centres consumer electronics and social media. In 2011 IBC had The RTS Centres continued to organise an impressive range 50,500 visitors and 1,365 exhibitors. of local events, which are considered in more detail on pages One of the main themes on the exhibition floor and in [24-33]; they contributed the majority of the 90-plus events the conference sessions was the surprisingly fast progress held by the Society during the year. towards ultra-high definition broadcasting (with pictures North West Centre’s inaugural Brian Redhead Lecture was either four or 16 times the pixel-count of HDTV). Despite attended by 180 people. They heard BBC political editor Nick the fact that there will be no ultra-high definition broadcasts Robinson give an entertaining and thought-provoking explo- until at least 2014, the excitement completely overshadowed ration of politics and the challenges for journalism today. the admittedly slow progress of the very real and present 3D Several Centres organised “breaking into media”-style broadcasting technology that had dominated the previous events at universities, aimed at students and young people year’s IBC. considering a career in broadcasting and related media. The other significant themes were multi-screen viewing Southern Centre’s “Meet the professionals” day at Bourne- and connected-TV services. mouth University had 13 professionals from a wide For the second year running, the IBC Leaders’ Summit gath- variety of specialisms on hand to give advice; ered some of the most significant figures in world media for a Devon & Cornwall and Northern Ireland held day of private discussions with several dozen senior European similar, successful events. broadcasters. The contributors to the summit, which focused Bristol Centre organised an evening with on the response of consumers to connected TV, included three wildlife photographers aimed specifically Michael Fries of Liberty Global, Cisco’s Chris Dedicoat and Bill at younger people. More than 100 people came Roedy, former CEO of MTV Networks International. to “Getting the perfect shot – how to be a wildlife camera op”, which was Governance hosted by Natural History Unit crea- The AGM in May unanimously passed a Special Resolution tive director Mike Gunton. amending the Society’s Articles of Association. The principal More than 170 youngsters, aged intentions were: seven to 19, took part in the Young 1) To update the constitution to reflect changes introduced by People’s Media Festival at Tees- the Companies Act 2006;8

 Left: North West Centre’s inaugural Brian Redhead Lecture was given by BBC political editor Nick Robinson.  Opposite: 1 Devon & Cornwall Centre’s ‘Breaking into Media’ day for students. 2 North East and the Border Centre presentation by sound recordist Chris Watson. 3 The Factual award winners at Yorkshire Student Television Awards. 4 Producer Jane Bolesworth received the Outstanding Achievement Award at the North East and the Border Centre Annual Awards. 5 IBC Exhibition halls. 6 Bristol Centre organised a event, ‘Getting the perfect shot – how to be a wildlife camera op’, with three wildlife photographers, aimed at young people. 7 IBC Leaders Summit panel session.

20 R oyal T elevision S ociety Report 2012 1

2

3 4

6

5 7

R oyal T elevision S ociety Report 2012 21 82) To provide a more simple governance framework the Trustees of the Society, all the RTS Chairs, Centres Coun- within which the Society can exercise greater flexibility with- cil Members, members of the former Advisory Council and out each change requiring an amendment of its Articles of Officers for giving us so much of their time. The Society is Association; and very grateful to those Trustees who retired during the year, 3) To simplify the RTS’s structure and promote more effective Paul Corley and Emma Scott (Vice Chair), for their support. In communications between the Trustees and the membership. particular, we thank Simon Albury, who stood down as chief The Special Resolution was previously endorsed by the executive in October after 12 years. He has been awarded an RTS Trustees in March. RTS Fellowship. The most significant changes fell in four areas. First, the Advisory Council with nationally elected mem- RTS national events in 2012 bers has been abolished and replaced by the Centres Coun- 20 February RTS Futures event: Zai Bennett cil. Its membership of elected Centre Chairs gives a direct 22 February RTS Television Journalism Awards 2010/11 voice to the nations and regions in all aspects of the Society’s 8 March RTS early-evening event: What the future holds operations. 14 March RTS early-evening event: Mark Thompson The composition of the Centres Council better reflects the 20 March RTS Programme Awards 2011 spread of membership around the country by having two 23 April RTS Futures event: So you want to be a presenter? representatives from the London Centre, which has more 30 April RTS Futures event: Speed date the news and cur- than half the Society’s membership. rent affairs gurus Second, the Board of Trustees now has an increased 14 May RTS Legends lunch: ITV controllers at war representation from the Centres thanks to the addition of 24 May RTS AGM an elected Trustee from the nations of England, Scotland, 25 May RTS Student Television Awards 2011 and RTS Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. The Masterclasses Trustees body has been broadened to allow a wider range of 29 May RTS Futures event: Pitching in the Den co-opted members, although the number of co-opted mem- 31 May RTS early-evening event: Do the arts still need TV? bers can never exceed the number of elected Trustees. 18 June RTS early-evening event: If I ran the BBC… Third, there will only be one Chair of the Society – the 19 June RTS Futures event: Speed date the drama gurus Chair of the Board of Trustees. 4 July RTS Futures event: Summer party Fourth, the Board of Trustees will be able to meet either 10 July RTS early-evening event: Election coverage: is it in person or by electronic or other means (including by tele­ too boring? A challenge to broadcasters phone) provided that all participants are able to communi- 18 September RTS early-evening event: Second-screen experi- cate with each other. All participating Trustees will count ences: your new companion? towards the quorum, regardless of whether they are physi- 28 September RTS Digital World Conference 2012: When worlds cally present with other Trustees. collide: beyond the digital looking glass The Board of Trustees met four times in the course of the 28 September RTS Huw Wheldon Memorial Lecture by Lyse year. The Trustees have complied with their Doucet: #Breaking news: can TV journalism sur- obligation to have regard to the Commis- vive the social-media revolution? sion’s guidance on public benefit. The guid- 15 October RTS All Party Parliamentary Group inaugural event: ance is the benchmark against which the Going for Growth Society’s activities are measured. 22 October RTS Futures event: Speed date the comedy gurus Attendance at Trustees’ meetings: Mike 19 November RTS early-evening event: Analogue pennies, digital Darcey (Chair) 3/4; John Hardie 4/4; David pounds Lowen 4/4; Mike Green4/4; Jane Light- 20 November RTS Futures event: Battle of the broadcasters ing 2/4; Caroline Thomson 2/4; Graeme 4 December RTS early-evening event: Crisis! What crisis! Thompson 3/4; Paul Corley 2/2; Emma 10 December RTS dinner: Simon Albury celebration dinner Scott 2/2; Huw Jones 2/2. Recognition Once again we thank our Royal Patron, HRH The Prince of Wales,

 Left: RTS Futures member pitching at ‘The only way is… Zai’.  Opposite: 1 Outgoing chair of the RTS Board of Trustees, Mike Darcey 2 RTS Futures Summer Party with (from left): Jane Lush, Joint MD, Splash Media; Lisa Campbell, editor, Broadcast; Fenia Vardanis, Joint MD, Splash Media; and Patrick Younge, chief creative officer, BBC Vision. 3 RTS Digital World Conference, ‘Dragon’s Voice’ session panellist Jeff Ford, director of programmes, Channel 5; 4 Julian Bellamy, creative director and head of production and development for Discovery Networks International, and 5 Sophie Turner Laing, managing director, entertainment and news, BSkyB. 6 The audience at the RTS Futures event, ‘Pitching in the Den’ and 7 the panellists (from left): Dominic Bird, Channel 4; David Glover, Channel 4; Angela Jain, controller, ITV2; Tom Edwards, BBC; Phil Edgar-Jones, BSkyB; and Theo Paphitis, entrepreneur. RTS Futures Summer Party contributors: 8 Danny Cohen, controller, BBC One; 9 Hartswood producer Sue Vertue; 10 (on the left) Jay Hunt, chief creative officer, Channel 4, and actress Vicky McClure.

22 R oyal T elevision S ociety Report 2012 1 2

3 4 5

7

6 8 9 10

R oyal T elevision S ociety Report 2012 23 RTS National and Regional Centres

told by guests that in all the years they had worked in Bristol Bristol no single event had ever brought them together in quite this way. The Centre is aware of one co-production now being The year started with a very successful gala awards night at worked upon as a direct result of the meeting. Bristol’s Cinema De Lux in February. The event was sold out; The RTS Futures initiative got off to a cracking start in the awards have acquired a local reputation for being the November. “Getting the Perfect Shot – How to Be a Wildlife unmissable night of the television year. The policy of keeping Camera Op”, hosted by Natural History Unit creative director the entry price as low as possible delivered a record number (and Centre Committee member) Mike Gunton, was a huge of entries, and by pegging ticket prices the celebrations could success. be enjoyed by entire production teams, not just highly paid More than 100 young people heard three successful wild- executives. life camera operators discuss their careers and experiences The following few months were uncomfortable ones, with in the field. Each provided video clips of their work, answered a growing feeling that local programme-makers no longer questions, and then joined the audience at the BBC bar. An considered the Centre’s activities relevant to them. This led edited video record of the event was uploaded to the Centre’s to a re-modelling of the Centre Committee in June, when website. increasing work commitments had led to the departure of This “How To...” session was built by contacting journal- several people long associated with the RTS locally. Andy ism and film-making students of both the University of the Batten-Foster was elected Chair, John Durrant Vice Chair, West of England and Bath Spa University. This generated a Rachel Jardine Hon Secretary and Phil Ashby Hon Treasurer. mailing list of more than 200 who have opted to receive a The new Centre Committee’s first act was to invite a group regular newsletter. of younger people to attend Committee meetings and to Andy Batten-Foster, Chair effectively “re-launch” the RTS locally. Since then, internal communications have been improved (including having bet- ter minutes) and externally the Centre is making good use of social media, particularly Facebook and Twitter for publicity, Devon and Cornwall and its own website. In October the Centre invited the creative directors The Centre’s Annual Programme Awards, held in January at and managing directors of both BBC departments Plymouth’s National Marine Aquarium, attracted more than and all independent production companies in the 60 entries across 12 categories. There were special awards, city to meet so that we could present our new on their retirement, for University College Falmouth lectur- ideas, and hear theirs. ers Denis Gartside and Guy Pannell in recognition of their The first outcome was to establish a Bristol RTS work in training multimedia journalists. The awards jury Futures programme of educational (yet still enter- was chaired by Diana Hare, who praised the high standard taining) sessions for younger people who want to get of entries. into and get on in television. In November the Centre held its annual “Breaking into The second was to hold more events where Media” day in conjunction with the Media Innovation Net- programme-makers could speak to fellow prac- work. Aimed at students wanting to get their first step on the titioners. Ideally, these would be organised once career ladder, it was attended by more than 170 young people. every couple of months; the first of these was One of the sessions focused on getting the most out of work scheduled for early 2013. experience. For another, local independent producer Denham The gathering itself was a huge success – Productions organised a workshop on how the ITV daytime Centre Committee members were repeatedly series, The Hungry Sailors, was brought to air. The event also

 Left: Devon & Cornwall Centre’s Student Television Awards winner in the Ani- mation category, for Pasty Child.

24 R oyal T elevision S ociety Report 2012 incorporated the Centre’s Student Television Awards. As in previous years, the standard of entries was very high. This year saw the resignation as Chair of Jeremy Hibbard and the retirement through ill-health of longstanding Treas- urer Denis Gartside. Denis has been a stalwart of the Com- mittee – wise and generous with his time. The Centre Com- mittee would like to thank them both for the hard work they have put in over the years. Simon Willis, Acting Chair 1

London

The Olympics defined London this year and the London Centre engaged with the BBC to provide a members-only opportunity to witness the Olympics in NHK’s Super Hi-Vision format at Broadcasting House. Many of those present spoke of how priv- ileged they felt to have been part of this historic experience. Other Olympics-themed events were also scheduled. “Broadcasting the London Olympics” with Paul Mason, head of Olympic Broadcasting Services, London, explored the host broadcaster operation that supplied 5,600 hours of coverage across three weeks of sporting competition. The London Centre is very grateful to ITV’s London Stu- dios, which hosts the Centre’s regular events and its Student 2 Television Awards. The autumn programme of events typi- cally attracted an audience of 50-70 people (compared with 60-70 in 2011). The programme was wide-ranging. One event had a political slant: “Countdown to Comms” focused on the content of the next Communications Bill. The views of the Government and Opposition were given by, respectively, Damian Collins MP, formerly a member of the Culture, Media and Sport Committee, and shadow minister for Culture, Media and Sport Helen Goodman MP. Their com- ments were followed by a panel discussion and a question- and-answer session. In another event, connected-TV was discussed with rep- resentatives from the DTG, BBC, Broadband TV News and VirginMedia. In November executive producer Paul Sen and writer/ 3 4 5

 Right: 1 Damian Collins MP (standing, left) and (to his right) shadow minister for culture, media and sport Helen Goodman MP addressed a panel discussion on the content of the next Communications Bill ,staged by the London Centre. 2 Several centres organised events that went behind the scenes of broadcasting the Olympics. 3 Four centres – North East and the Border, Republic of Ireland, Scotland and Wales – organised public meetings to take part in the live discussion following BBC director-general Mark Thompson’s valedictory talk to the RTS in London. 4 Devon and Cornwall Centre’s Student Television Awards winner in the Entertainment category, My Adidas Are F***ed. 5 London Centre invited producers Paul Sen and Nic Stacey to talk about the making of science programmes, such as their Law and Disorder, presented by Professor Jim al-Khalili. 6 One of the sessions at the ‘Breaking into Media’ event for students organised jointly by Devon and 6 Cornwall Centre and the Media Innovation Network at Plymouth University.

R oyal T elevision S ociety Report 2012 25 director Nic Stacey explained how they set about making BBC major events. He said BBC research had shown that the complex science accessible through their two-part BBC Four shared event revealed “a national mood of a new, happy, programme, Order and Disorder, which was presented by classless, multi-ethnic Britain”. Professor Jim al-Khalili. More than 70 guests, including media professionals, stu- In December John Lloyd was interviewed by Anthony dents and academics attended the lecture at the University of Wall in conversational style about his career and experience Birmingham Business School. across the wide range of radio and television titles for which The 2012 Awards Dinner, which was held in late November he is known and admired. at the Holiday Inn in Birmingham city centre, was attended by Kristin Mason, Chair a record number of guests. The evening was hosted by Man- ish Bhasin, host of The Football League Show on BBC One. Actor David Harewood MBE, born and educated in Small Heath in Birmingham, was awarded the Baird Medal for his Midlands outstanding contribution to drama on screen and in the theatre. Awards were made in 14 categories, plus a further four This was a year of consolidation and consultation for the Student Television Awards. Centre. The Centre Committee lost a number of key members Dorothy Hobson, Vice Chair due to re-location and other commitments, but has now re- grouped and welcomed new members to the Committee. As the Centre did not hold an awards ceremony in 2011, a rather belated Student Television Awards evening was held North East and the Border in March so that students from across the region could be presented with their certificates. This was held at the Radis- The year got off to a spectacular start when more than 500 son Blu Hotel in Birmingham and hosted by Central News guests gathered in the Sage, Gateshead for the North East anchor Sameena Ali-Khan. and the Border Annual Awards. Vic Reeves and Bob Mor- At a joint event with the Institute of Educational Technol- timer picked up a special award for comedy at the ceremony ogy in June, Norman Green spoke about the historical signifi- on 18 February. cance of the televising of the 1948 London Olympics. Presenting the award, director of BBC North Peter Salmon In July representatives of the RTS Midlands Centre attended said: “Vic and Bob are true local heroes. They have become an event, “Economies of scale”, organised by one of the bid- one of the most successful comedy double acts in the history ders for the Birmingham local TV licence, City Television of British light entertainment. (which has since won the licence). The Centre’s 25th awards event was hosted by Aled Jones During the event, which brought together television profes- from the BBC’s Songs of Praise and celebrity guests included sionals and bidders from across the country, Centre Vice Chair Kate Adie, BBC Breakfast presenter Stephanie McGovern, Hor- Dorothy Hobson chaired a session on knowledge and content rible Histories creator Terry Deary and ITV agony aunt Denise production. This gave local production companies an oppor- Robertson, alongside stars from Inspector George Gently, Vera, tunity to offer their views on local TV. Geordie Shore and Geordie Finishing School for Girls. The Annual Baird Lecture Agnes Wilkie, the chair of the judges, said: “This was a bril- was delivered in October by liant showcase for television and digital media production Roger Mosey, acting director from this part of the UK.” of BBC Vision and director of Other winners on the night included the team from BBC London 2012. Mosey discussed Look North, who picked up Regional News Programme of the importance of the Olympics the Year, and Tyneside Cinema, which won the Innovation coverage both in the context Award for its work with young people and online archives. of the sum- In May the Centre hosted the Young People’s Media Festi- mer of sport val at the National Glass Centre in Sunderland. and in how it There were two days of events. The first – the senior event would influ- – was hosted by BBC presenter Kirsten O’Brien. There were ence future 33 entries from nine institutions; 87 young people were

 Left: Midland Centre Student Television Awards winners in the Animation category, for Zero-G.

26 R oyal T elevision S ociety Report 2012 involved in the submissions and there were categories for Drama, Factual and Entertainment. (The previous year the senior festival attracted 43 entries from 24 institutions.) The junior event (which was not held in 2011) received eight entries involving 91 young people, whose ages ranged from seven to 13. The entries were varied in their topics, from ecological and health issues through a pit disaster to music. The evening was hosted by BBC Look North presenter Sharon Barbour. More than 50 guests were invited by the RTS to go behind the scenes at Sky’s new Tyne and Wear online news service in Newcastle. The early-summer event was hosted by Sky News associate editor Simon Bucks and featured clips and talks from video journalists, who explained the purpose of the new service. ITV Tyne Tees staged an event to mark the end of digi- tal switchover in the UK in September. The North East was the final piece in the digital jigsaw of Britain, with analogue transmitters being switched off on 26 September. The guest speaker was John Askew, regional manager of 1 Digital UK, who joined the project in 2006 and shared his insights from the beginning of the process in Cumbria to the final lap in the North East. In October more than 150 guests attended an event in Newcastle looking at how the BBC produced its epic cover- age of the London Olympics. Dave Gordon (head of major events, and involved in the past 10 summer Games) and Rachel Wright (production executive, sport major events) provided a fascinating insight into the astonishingly complex Olympics operation, as well as generously sharing their personal highs and lows. 2 3 4 Using a series of fascinating clips, the duo described the meticulous planning process and the decision to embrace new but innovative technologies. The event was produced and hosted by Tony Edwards at Newcastle’s Royal Grammar School Performing Arts Centre. As the year drew to a close, members marked the passing of one of the founding members of the North East Centre. Tony Gaw attended the Centre’s first meeting in 1975 and 5 6 7 became Honorary Treasurer in 1990. He retired as Treasurer two years ago, but remained an active member of the Centre Committee. RTS colleagues joined friends and family at the funeral in Middlesbrough. There were many tributes to Tony’s pas- sion and commitment to the Society, as well as his extensive charity work and his contribution as the former head of tech- nical resources for Teesside University. The year ended on a brighter note as Tony Edwards and

8 9

 Right: 1 The North East and the Border Centre’s Annual Awards were held at the Sage, Gateshead. 2 At the Midland Centre Annual Awards David Harewood (on the right) was awarded the Baird Medal for his outstanding contribution to drama on screen and in the theatre. 3 Midland Centre Student Television Awards winners in the Factual category, for Secret Diary of a Call Girl. 4 Tyne-Tees regional manager of Digital UK John Askew made a presentation to North East and the Border Centre (NETB). 5 The Centre organised a visit to Sky Tyne and Wear’s online news service, where Sky News associate editor Simon Bucks gave a presentation. 6 Tony Gaw, one of NETB Centre’s founding members and for many years its Honorary Treasurer, died in 2012. 7 BBC Sports’ Dave Gordon and Rachel Wright gave a presentation to NETB on the corporation’s Olympics coverage. 8 Benton Park Primary School children were among the winners in the junior competition (ages five-13) at the RTS Young People’s Media Festival, organised by NETB and held at the University of Sunderland. 9 In the senior competition (ages 13-19), the Factual winner was Rising From Disaster. 10 At the NETB Centre’s Annual Awards (from the left) BBC North director Peter Salmon presented Vic Reeves 10 and Bob Mortimer with the Award for Outstanding Comedy Achievement.

R oyal T elevision S ociety Report 2012 27 Graeme Aldous produced a pre-Christmas “RTS Review of quality events than ever before. The NW Student Television the Year” at Live Theatre in Newcastle. Members and guests Awards were held in February on the set of The Jeremy Kyle packed the venue to test their knowledge of television and Show at ITV Studios Manchester, and hosted by broadcaster media and compete for the Alto Trophy. Lucy Meacock. The Awards attracted a wide range of entries Graeme Thompson, Chair in Drama, Factual, Entertainment and Animation; most were of a high standard and each category winner was outstanding. Centre Chair Alex Connock interviewed Joe Godwin, head of BBC Children’s, who showed clips from a range of BBC Chil- Northern Ireland dren’s programmes and took questions from the audience. Many of these concerned future job prospects for students in In 2012 the Northern Ireland Centre made a concerted effort media and particularly at MediaCity UK. The closing speech to re-engage with the creative community and public inter- was given by producer and media consultant Ed Pugh. ested in television in the region. A formal relaunch of the Later in the month, 23 teams from North West television Centre in October focused on two events. companies were invited to compete in the “RTS NW Quiz” at The first, held in partnership with the Belfast Media Fes- the Living Room on Deansgate, Manchester. The highlight tival, was a speed-dating event for young people interested had to be an accordionist playing TV theme tunes. The win- in a career in the industry. Five senior players with back- ning team of BBC Sport and CBBC employees was Deirdre grounds in journalism, craft skills, production and manage- Barlow’s Big Brown Belt Buckle. ment met more than 25 young people throughout the day; a The Centre and BBC Worldwide held a joint event for further 100 applied for slots. Such was its success, the Centre Northern-based independents to discuss the latest trends in Committee plans to make this kind of speed-dating session programme development and the opportunities for content an annual event. across channels, international distribution, licensing, DVD The second event, in November, followed Ofcom’s and digital. It was hosted by BBC Worldwide managing direc- announcement of the winner of the local television licence tor of content and production Helen Jackson and the Q&A for Belfast. Only days after the announcement, Marilyn Hynd- session was chaired by Alex Connock. The speakers were: man from the successful NvTv took part in “Local TV – meet Sarah Doole, Mark Reynolds, Jo Sermon, Tim Mutimer and the winning bidder”. The evening was hosted by Commit- Stuart Snaith. tee member John Rosborough who gave an overview of the In May the Centre hosted “A big year in sport” with BBC services NvTv proposes and gave interested parties the first Sport director Barbara Slater and presenter Jake Humphrey. public chance to question the new licence holder. Around 80 Ahead of the Olympics and the European Championships people attended the event. they explored the future of sport on television. This event was These two sessions showed that in Northern Ireland there extremely well attended, with more than 200 people turning is a keen interest in the work of the RTS, and as a result the up to hear what BBC Sport had in store for viewers in 2012. Centre Committee is planning even more ambitious projects The Inaugural Brian Redhead Lecture was held later in for 2013. May. BBC political editor Nick Robinson gave an entertain- The Centre Committee thanks all those who ing and thought-provoking talk to the 180-strong audience, worked very hard to re-establish the RTS in exploring politics and the challenges for journalism today. Northern Ireland and also BBC NI, UTV, Nigel Hall and Siobhan Greene gave the Anthony H Wil- Creative Skillset and the independent sec- son Memorial Lecture in June at the Hilton Hotel, Deansgate. tor for supporting the Society’s activities. Expertly interviewed by Kieron Collins, Nigel and Shu dis- Michael Wilson, Chair cussed the return of the “shiny floor show”, their journeys to success and their relationship with Simon Cowell. Audi- ence members described the evening as inspirational, funny, insightful and poignant. A huge success. North West The RTS North West Awards in November were attended by 432 of the region’s content producers, TV stars and creatives The Centre had a very busy year, (a slight rise on the previous year’s 415 attendees). Eamonn and produced more high- Holmes was an excellent and very funny host and awards

 Left: At the North West Centre’s Annual Awards, Will Mellor won the Performance in a Comedy Award.

28 R oyal T elevision S ociety Report 2012 went to Fresh Meat, Scott & Bailey, Justin’s House, Chloe Sevi- gny, Coronation Street, Appropriate Adult and The Preston Pas- sion, among others. The prestigious Judges’ Award went to the revolutionary documentary series, 56 Up. The Tony Pil- grim Award was picked up by Helen Bullough and the cer- emony also featured a posthumous celebration of the work of Bill Tarmey. The awards attracted 175 entries across 23 categories. The number of entries held was the same as the previous year, but two categories were added after the 2011 event. Finally, the Centre now has its own dedicated RTS NW Facebook page and twitter feed (@RTSNW). Alex Connock, Chair

Republic of Ireland

The first event of the year was a very well-attended presenta- tion in January by BBC NI engineers Miroslav Culjat and Clive 1 Jones, “Solving the tapeless puzzle”. Later that month producer/director Tom McDermott pre- sented excerpts from his book, A Little Town in Ireland. He provided a fascinating insight into provincial Ireland in the 1930s-1940s, “with its frugality and joys, rough edges and charm”. The Centre’s Student Television Awards were held at RTÉ in February, and were presented by RTÉ director of televi- sion Steve Carson. The awards jury chaired by Marie Penston Graham comprised Sheila Carden, Noel Smyth, Sue Murray and Peter McEvoy. The standard of the entries was very high. The RoI Centre AGM was held in the RTÉ Sports and Social club in March. Also in March, the Centre streamed outgoing BBC director-general Mark Thompson’s lecture from London, again hosted by RTÉ. It was agreed that this method of access for Centres to high-profile RTS events was very worthwhile. In May Graeme Thompson (Chair of the North East and Border Centre) presented “University challenge – media in higher education” to a large and very engaged audience. The question-and-answer session was excellent. A visit to Dublin’s recently opened Isense Odeon Cinema complex included an impressive demonstration of the facili- ties by the digital operations manager, Tony Colton. And in September the complex’s manager, Stephen Miley, provided members and guests with a 4K theatrical exhibition of the powerful documentary, Samsara. Eric Spain, who was involved in setting up the RTÉ televi- 2 3 sion service in the early 1960s, discussed his career in July.

 Right: 1 North West Centre’s Student Television Awards were held in the set normally used for The Jeremy Kyle Show, and the Centre’s Anthony H Wilson Lecture was given by 2 (on the left) Nigel Hall and (centre) Siobhan Greene. 3 At the North West Centre’s Annual Awards, the Best Scriptwriter Award to Scott & Bailey creator Sally Wainwright was collected on her behalf by the series’s two stars (on the left) Lesley Sharp and Suranne Jones. 4 At the Northern Ireland Centre event, ‘Local TV – meet the winning bidder’, NvTv director Marilyn Hyndman was interviewed by Centre Committee 4 member John Rosborough.

R oyal T elevision S ociety Report 2012 29 And in September another former RTÉ colleague, Jeremy After several years in post, Scotland Centre Chair Henry Swan, gave a very well-received talk about his time in televi- Eagles and Treasurer Allison McGavock have decided to sion and at the Gate Theatre in Dublin. The following month stand down. Henry Eagles will remain on the Centre Com- ITV Studios director of entertainment Siobhan Greene spoke mittee and see through any outstanding commitments, while about her career to a large audience. Allison McGavock will remain in post until a successor has The last two events of the year looked back and to the been elected. future. In the first, Centre Committee member Peter McEvoy Membership in Scotland remained steady in 2012. introduced a documentary about the development and pro- Henry Eagles, Chair duction of The Phantom of the Opera in London 25 years ago. And to round the year off, Michael Wilson, UTV managing director and Chair of the Northern Ireland Centre, presented a very robust analysis of where television is going on the Southern island of Ireland. Charles Byrne, Chair The Centre’s Annual Awards attracted a record number of entries in 17 professional categories and four student cat- egories. Held at Winchester Guildhall in February, the cere- mony was attended by 250 people representing professional Scotland programme makers from across the South. The evening was hosted by the BBC’s Sally Taylor and ITV’s Fred Dinenage. The Centre’s Student Television Awards ceremony was Independent producers did well, displaying a wide range of hosted by BBC Scotland in February. This year the event was talent and originality despite the straitened times. Best Single organised by James Wilson, head of the School of Creative Documentary or Factual was won by Red Bird Productions Industries at City of Glasgow College, and attracted a good for Donor Unknown, an extraordinary story of sperm-donor audience of nominees and members. children seeking out their blood relatives. Awards were made in three categories, and two of the Topical TV won Best Feature or Strand for its contributions winners were nominated for the national RTS Student Tel- to The One Show. Electric Sky scooped Best Factual Enter- evision Awards. One, The Making of Longbird, went on to win tainment with First Love and Talent TV South won Best Post- in the Animation category. The Centre Committee would like Production. Film co-operative Shedlight Productions won Best to thank both BBC Scotland and STV for their assistance in Online with Virtuous Bread. providing facilities for the awards. As for the broadcasters, BBC South East picked up awards Outgoing BBC director-general Mark Thompson’s RTS for Best Camera (Matt Goddard), Best Regional Personality speech and interview with Steve Hewlett on 14 March (Rob Smith) and Best Regional TV Journalist (Colin Camp- was streamed live to BBC Scotland in Glasgow. There bell). BBC Oxford’s Brennan Nicholls won Best News Video were some technical issues Journalist and BBC South’s Richard Townsend won Best and the feed was lost for Location Director. about 15 minutes, but ITV Meridian won the coveted Best News Magazine cate- these were resolved. gory, along with the awards for Best Graphics (Amanda Hall), The Campbell-Swin- Best Newcomer (Nashreen Issa) and Best Technical Achieve- ton Lecture was due ment – which it earned for moving to a new HD facility over to be given in the the space of just one weekend. autumn of 2012, but, The Student Television Awards entries once again showed due to other commit- promise and creativity, and came from the Arts University ments, the speaker, College at Bournemouth, Bournemouth University, South- director of BBC Scot- ampton Solent University and the University for the Crea- land Ken MacQuar- tive Arts in Farnham. It turned out to be a two-horse race. rie, has had to post- Farnham won in the Animation category, with Britain, and in pone the lecture until Fiction, with The Beach House. Bournemouth University won 29 April 2013. Factual, with Teachers, and Entertainment, with Hints.

 Left: Sound re- cordist Chris Watson gave a presentation to the North East and the Border Centre.

30 R oyal T elevision S ociety Report 2012 The Centre Committee is grateful to ITV Meridian and BBC South for the support facilities they provided. The Centre also thanks Arqiva and Southampton Solent University for their sponsorship support. Special thanks are also due to Centre Committee members Jenni Day, Alison Martin, Bob Sparks and Jonathan Marland, who played significant roles in making the evening a success. In May, 13 television professionals took part in the Centre’s “Meet the Professionals” event at Bournemouth University. For the fourth year running, media-based HE and FE students from across the South were invited to meet with a range of media professionals to discuss current TV issues and opportunities. The day started with a panel session involving Steph Har- ris, head of features at Dragonfly, Tom Blakeson, executive producer at Endemol, and Eric Harwood of Western Front Films. The main themes were: the attention being paid to return- able formats; the increasingly important role of brands and brand marketing in TV; and that passion, professionalism 1 and the time-honoured skills of storytelling will be more important than ever for a new generation of media workers. Later, students were able to talk one-to-one with the pan- ellists and other media practitioners. Among these were BBC South’s Inside Out producer, Jane Goddard; ITV Meridian reporter Martin Dowse; Topical TV’s Jane Harbord; and the MD of post-production company Ntegrity, Ian Sutherland. In September members and guests visited Meridian’s stu- dios to see the recently refurbished, state-of-the-art produc- 3 tion facility at Whitley. The tour highlighted the technical and production aspects of a fundamental changeover that had been completed in a single weekend without going off air. In October 25 students from Bournemouth University’s postgraduate course for producers and Solent University’s undergraduate media course attended a tour of Pinewood Studios organised by RTS South’s Jan Beal. The full-day event was hosted by Pinewood Studios’ Ann Runeckles and included inspiring and useful talks. The stu- 4 dents were particularly impressed by the new sound post- production facilities, the variety of sound stages and the potential for filming water-based sequences. Although their own film projects may still be some way off the scale offered by Pinewood, it certainly gave them some- thing to aim for. This year all the short-form entries for the Southern Cen- tre Awards were delivered and judged online using a system developed for archival purposes by Bafta. Overall, the system 2 5 was made to work efficiently thanks to a lot of input from the Centre’s web master, Peter Wright, and awards organiser

 Right: 1 Scotland Centre’s Student Television Awards winners flanked by two of the jurors (on the left) BBC Scotland executive producer Yvonne Jennings and (on the right) drama producer Barbara McKissack. 2 Former RTÉ producer/director Jeremy Swan gave a presentation to the Republic of Ireland Centre, whose 3 Student Television Awards were presented by (on the right) RTÉ director of programmes Steve Carson. 4 ITV Meridian reporter Martin Dowse was one of the professionals meeting and advising students at Southern Centre’s ‘Meet the Professionals’ event at Bournemouth University. 5 Republic of Ireland Centre members and guests were given a conducted tour of Dublin Isense Odeon Cinema’s facilities, followed by a theatrical presentation. 6 Southern Centre’s Annual Awards were presented 6 by ITV Meridian’s Fred Dinenage (left) and the BBC’s Sally Taylor.

R oyal T elevision S ociety Report 2012 31 Jenni Day. It was an instructive experiment and the Centre Dance in November. Building it was hard work this year, par- will not be returning to the physical distribution of DVDs for ticularly in terms of getting sponsorship, due to the economic future awards. climate and the continuing trend of mergers and acquisitions. Gordon Cooper, Chair However, table bookings were up on the previous year – 451 people attended, compared with 435 in 2011 – so it was a big success. There is a lot of enthusiasm and loyalty for this event, but the Centre Committee believes the format needs to Thames Valley change with the times: it needs to reflect why people come and what they want out of it. Also, in its current form, it is a The Centre had one of the best lecture seasons for several huge undertaking. years. The total audience attendance of 455 marked a dra- This was a genuine turn-around year for the Centre. It was matic improvement on 2011’s 331, with many new faces in real danger and it has been fantastic to see the strength of coming regularly. Moreover, the Centre started receiving feeling among members to see it prosper. offers from potential lecturers and requests for follow-up Jennie Evans, Chair lectures. This is a gratifying turnaround from 2011, which was a dif- ficult time for the Centre, when the recession weighed heav- ily on the manufacturing community and the Committee lost Wales many long-standing, active members. The Centre Committee has since gained many new, keen This was another year of partnerships for the Wales Centre. members from different sectors of the television indus- In January members and guests walked through the sets of try, and this has been reflected in the vibrant and dynamic Upstairs Downstairs and Casualty in the BBC’s new Cardiff Bay debates on the Committee. This, in turn, has been reflected drama village and, in a separate event, producer Tom Ware in the success of the lecture programme. took them behind the scenes of daytime drama The Indian Thames Valley is very much a technical Centre; its con- Doctor. stituency includes many manufacturers and the programme In February Welsh sports journalists and others visited the of presentations acknowledges this. Whatever the topic, the London 2012 Olympic facilities, and the Centre joined Skillset favoured format has been a panel discussion as this almost Media Academy Wales in organising a debate on job oppor- always guarantees a good debate/Q&A session. The discus- tunities in the industry. sions in the bar after a lecture can sometimes go on so long In March the Centre held three events: it streamed outgo- that time has to be called. ing BBC director-general Mark Thompson’s lecture, “The BBC This has really boosted the morale of Committee mem- – 2012 and Beyond”, from London; it hosted a session with bers, and there is a real willingness to be part of organising John Geraint, producer of The Story of Wales; and on Easter events. The Committee is a real team, sharing responsibili- Sunday a large crowd gathered in actor Michael Sheen’s ties, and enjoying the achievements. hometown, Port Talbot, to hear him discuss his community To promote lectures the Centre has made good use of its play, The Passion. website, social media and branded HTML emails to drip-feed On a related theme, the Centre’s partnership with National information to entice people to Theatre Wales involved members mentoring two young peo- attend. Moreover, Committee ple for the year. members have actively sought Aberystwyth University was the location for David Rose’s feedback to gauge the film presentation, “My journey together”, an account of his effectiveness of the mar- long career in film and television drama. keting methods, not just The annual Welsh-language event at the Eisteddfod saw the degree of satisfaction Hywel Wiliam examine Glamorgan’s contribution to Welsh- with the events themselves. language broadcasting. One of the Centre’s The future of news media was the topic of a lively debate main events is the in October, held in association with Cardiff University. It Annual Dinner marked the first time Wales Centre had used a live Twitter

 Left: Wales Centre members and guests went behind the scenes of The Indian Doctor in January.

32 R oyal T elevision S ociety Report 2012 feed, enabling the audience to have its say. In November Professor Anthony King gave the Annual Lec- ture, in which he reviewed the BBC’s reporting of devolved government. The lecture was held in partnership with the presiding officer of the National Assembly. The Centre rounded the year off with a demonstration of the YouView combined DTT and IPTV platform by the com- pany’s Paul Langworthy. The Centre Committee is extremely grateful to S4C for pro- viding a home for its meetings and to all those who have partnered with the Society in 2012. Tim Hartley, Chair

Yorkshire

The year began with great sadness: Will Venters, who was head of news at ITV Yorkshire and a strong supporter of the RTS Centre, died of cancer. As a mark of the Centre’s appreci- ation and affection, the Yorkshire Student Television Awards now present an award in his name for the best news report. Due to unforeseen difficulties with the venue, the 2011 Student Television Awards had to be postponed until March 1 2012, when they were held for the first time at York Race- course. The event was a huge success, with 400 people attending. As a result, the 2012 Student Television Awards were also held at the same venue in November, when 380 people attended. The second ceremony attracted a record number of entries: more than 60 for the five categories from 11 universi- ties and colleges. This represented a big rise on 2011, when there were just 37 entries. The quantity was matched by the 2 3 4 5 6 quality of entries; judged by these, the future of the television industry is in safe hands. In June the annual Programme Awards were held at the Queens Hotel in Leeds. Despite a significant drop in sponsor- ship income, the event was a great success and once again reflected the high standard of production in the region. In November the Centre held a special Christmas social and TV Quiz evening in the wonderful setting of Headingley Cricket Ground – a fixture that is certain to become an annual event. Finally, one of the Centre’s longest-serving and most respected members, Edward Croot, resigned from the RTS and the Centre Committee pays tribute to the immense con- tribution he has made over the years in many different ways. Mike Best, Chair

 Right: 1 Presentation of the Yorkshire Centre’s Will Venters News Award by Margaret Venters and her daughter, Lauren Mitchell, to University of Sheffield journalism tutor Katie Stewart for Megan Colley’s report, A weekend LARPing. Welsh Centre speakers: 2 John Geraint, one of the producers of The Story of Wales; 3 Professor Anthony King gave the Centre’s Annual Lecture in October; 7 4 Welsh Government deputy minister for skills Jeffrey Cuthbert, who opened the Cult Cymru fair at the University of Wales; and 5 Hywel Wiliam, who revealed rare TV archive material from the past 40 years of Welsh-language television at the National Eisteddfod. 6 The Thames Valley Centre presentation, ‘3DTV on a budget’, was given by Ravensbourne College lecturer Martin Uren. 7 The Wales, Scotland, Republic of Ireland and Devon and Cornwall centres put forward the winners of their own Student Television Awards to the competition at the Celtic Media Festival. 8 One of the winning teams at the Wales Centre Student Television Awards, presented at the Riverfront Theatre in Newport in conjunction with Ffresh, the Student Moving Image Festival of Wales. 9 Actor Michael Sheen took part in an RTS Wales discussion of The Passion, 8 9 the three-day outdoor play he organised in Port Talbot.

R oyal T elevision S ociety Report 2012 33 Council who represent Centres in Scotland, Wales, North- Volunteers ern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland (two-years, renew- able for a second term); The Society is supported by a team of up to 11 full-time staff, ± One person elected by those members of the Centres’ but the success of its activities is dependent on the expertise Council who represent Centres in England (two-years, and dedication of the many volunteers who plan and deliver renewable for a second term); and different aspects of its programme. ± Such number (not exceeding six) of additional persons co- opted by the Board of Trustees as the Board of Trustees may from time to time decide (two-years, renewable for a second term). Fundraising activities Trustees receive a briefing document that includes rules and background on the governance of the Society. The Society The Society’s two wholly owned subsidiaries, RTS Enter- ensures that trustees are fully aware of their duties and respon- prises Ltd, which organises awards events and conferences, sibilities to the charity and these are discussed at the regular and RTS (IBC) Ltd, continued to generate surpluses which meetings of the Board of Trustees and the Centre Officers. have been covenanted back to the charity during the year to fund charitable activities. RTS Enterprises Ltd held a number of awards events and a conference during the year. RTS (IBC) Ltd holds an 18% inter- Patrons and est in the IBC conference and exhibition. Vice Presidents

The Society has appointed a Patron, a President and Vice Presidents, who contribute to the Society but without a func- tional role in its governance. The Society is proud that HRH The Prince of Wales has been its Royal Patron since 1997. 2 Structure, governance The President and Vice Presidents are distinguished figures in the television and wider community, available to add sup- and management port to the Trustees and activities of the Society though not holding the position or responsibilities of a Trustee or engag- ing in the Society’s governance. The range and composition of the Vice Presidents are regularly reviewed by the Honorary Constitution Secretary and Trustees.

Royal Television Society is a company limited by guarantee and a registered charity governed by its Memorandum and Risk management Articles of Association. The major risks to which the Society is exposed as identified by the Board of Trustees are and will continue to be regularly reviewed and systems have been and will be established, Organisational structure and, where appropriate, professional advisors have been or will be appointed to mitigate those risks. The Society is UK-based with its head office in London. It has Centres in Bristol, Devon and Cornwall, London, Midlands, North East and the Border, North West, Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland, Scotland, Southern Counties, Thames Valley, Wales and Yorkshire. The Society has two trading subsidiaries, RTS Enterprises Limited and RTS (IBC) Limited, whose principal activities are 3 Objectives and the organising and staging of courses, exhibitions and other events related to television and broadcasting. activities The Society’s governing body is the Board of Trustees, which comprises: ± The Chair of the Board of Trustees (two-year term, renew- The Society’s objects and its principal activity are the able for a second term); advancement of public education in the science, practice, ± The Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees (two-year term, technology and art of television; and the advancement of the renewable for a second term); arts and culture, in particular by promoting and encouraging ± The Honorary Secretary (three-year term, renewable for the achievement of high standards of creativity in television a further three-year term, and eligible for re-appointment and allied fields. for such number of further terms as the Board of Trustees The Society seeks to maintain and strengthen its posi- shall consider appropriate); tion as the leading impartial platform for delivering these ± The Honorary Treasurer (three-year term, renewable for objects through events organised nationally and through its a further three-year term, and eligible for re-appointment 13 regional Centres. for such number of further terms as the Board of Trustees The wider public can access and contribute to the charity’s shall consider appropriate); activities through its magazine, website and open events. ± One person elected by the Principal Patrons Group (two- The Trustees meet four times a year to consider the strategy year term, renewable for a second term); for delivering public benefit and specialist committees are ± One person elected by those members of the Centres’ established to organise events.

34 R oyal T elevision S ociety Report 2012 The charity’s wholly owned subsidiaries, RTS Enterprises Activities 2012 Ltd and RTS (IBC) Ltd, gifted profits of £8,997 (2011: £71,797) and £1,063,924 (2011: £1,083,506) respectively. The funds In 2012 the Society has produced a large number of events gifted are used by the charity to meet its charitable expendi- to fulfil its strategic and charitable objects. Some of the most ture. The Trustees are satisfied with the current performance significant events are detailed in other parts of this report. of both subsidiaries, which provide sufficient additional funds The Society is fortunate to be able to call on leading special- for the charity to meet its charitable objectives. ists from the television community and allied fields to work Voluntary income remains an invaluable source of income together on planning and delivering its programme. for the charity. During the year income from patrons was £323,630 (2011: £357,530) and membership fees raised were £109,008 (2011: £111,102).

Investment powers, policy 4 Financial review and performance

Under the Memorandum and Articles of Association, the Society has the power to make any investment that the Board Reserves policy of Trustees sees fit. The Board of Trustees’ policy typically favours low-risk In line with Charity Commission guidance, the Board of Trus- investments to ensure that a reasonable return is generated tees has adopted a formal reserves policy. This recognises that whilst securing charity funds. the income of the Society does not arise evenly year on year, or As can be seen from the balance sheet, investments are across each year, and so it is prudent to hold appropriate free held in bank deposits, which also ensures that funds are reserves to enable the Society to properly plan its activities. available as and when required to facilitate the charity’s The policy also recognises that the reserves that represent reserves policy as detailed below. the fixed assets and the restricted and designated funds of As at the year-end the group had cash balances of the Society are not freely available and thus need to be dis- £6,118,314 (2011: £6,014,700) of which £5,914,621 (2011: tinguished from free reserves. £5,858,572) was held on deposit, generating interest income The future structure of television, broadcasting and related of £123,029 (2011: £92,481) over the course of the year. audio-visual enterprises remains uncertain, as the ease of In the consolidated balance sheet an investment of £54,000 digital transport and copying, and the proliferation of new (2011: £54,000) is shown representing an 18% interest in the delivery channels and reception devices continues unabated. International Broadcasting Convention. This investment The organisations which are currently the Society’s main generated a surplus of £1,063,924 (2011: £1,083,506) during funders are being affected in different ways and this may the year, which is included in funding sources above, and the impact on our major sources of revenue. Board of Trustees is happy with the continued return on this As we implement our strategic plan, we intend to increase investment. annual expenditure to enhance our digital media, educa- tional, youth and regional offerings, during a period in which new revenues are yet to emerge. It is therefore the intention of the Board of Trustees to hold free reserves representing no more than four years’ average annual expenditure. The Board have taken account of the subsidiaries’ reserves when determining this figure. 5 Plans for future periods During the year, projects were completed and any remain- ing funds that had previously been designated for them were transferred to general reserves. A new fund of £1m was des- As noted elsewhere in this Report, the Society will be imple- ignated from general reserves for the implementation of the menting its strategic plan over the next three to five years strategy plans (the “Transformation Fund”). and enhancing its range of activities. Based on the results for the two years ended 31 Decem- ber 2012, the Society’s reserves policy would stipulate an amount of free reserves of no more than £6.5m. The level of free reserves as at 31 December 2012 was £5.5m and it is the Board of Trustees’ anticipation that free reserves may reduce in the coming years as our strategic plans bed in. The Board of Trustees reviews the reserves policy and the level of reserves at least once a year in the light of current and anticipated levels of income and of the Society’s planned activities.

Funding sources

The principal funding sources during the year continued to be the profits gifted by the charity’s subsidiaries, patron donations and membership fees.

R oyal T elevision S ociety Report 2012 35 6 Administrative details Administrative details

Registered office and principal address 7th Floor Legal details 3 Dorset Rise London EC4Y 8EN

Legal entity Bankers Company limited by guarantee and registered charity National Westminster Bank Plc PO Box 11302 Governing instrument 332 High Holborn Memorandum and Articles of Association London WC1V 7PD

Date of incorporation Solicitors 12 July 1930 Farrer & Co 66 Lincoln’s Inn Fields Company number London WC2A 3LH 00249462 Auditors Charity number Arram Berlyn Gardner 313728 30 City Road London EC1Y 2AB

Patron HRH The Prince of Wales

President Sir Peter Bazalgette

Vice Presidents Dawn Airey Sir David Attenborough OM CH CVO CBE FRS Baroness Benjamin OBE Colette Bowe John Cresswell Mike Darcey Greg Dyke Lorraine Heggessey Ashley Highfield Rt Hon Dame Tessa Jowell MP Jane Lighting David Lynn Sir Trevor McDonald OBE Ken MacQuarrie Trevor Phillips OBE Stewart Purvis CBE John Smith Sir Howard Stringer Mark Thompson

Chair Mike Darcey (May 2009-November 2012) John Hardie (From November 2012)

36 R oyal T elevision S ociety Report 2012 Directors and Trustees Trustees’ responsibilities

The Trustees of the charitable company (“the charity”) are its The Trustees are responsible for preparing the Annual Report Trustees for the purposes of charity law and throughout this and the financial statements in accordance with applicable report are collectively referred to as the Board of Trustees. As law and regulations. set out in the Articles of Association the Chair of the Board Company law requires the Trustees to prepare financial of Trustees is elected by the Board of Trustees for a two-year statements for each financial year. Under that law the Trustees term. The Trustees serving during the period of the report are have elected to prepare the financial statements in accord- as follows: ance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice (United Kingdom Accounting Standards and appli- Chair of the Board of Trustees cable law). The financial statements are required by law to Mike Darcey (May 2009-November 2012) give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the Society John Hardie (From November 2012) at the year end and of its incoming resources and resources expended during that year. In preparing those financial state- Honorary Secretary ments, the Trustees are required: David Lowen ± To select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently; Honorary Treasurer ± To make judgements and estimates that are reasonable Mike Green and prudent; ± To prepare the financial statements on the going concern Paul Corley (Until May 2012) basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the Society Tim Davie (Elected by the Board of Trustees from January will continue in business. 2013) The Trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting Huw Jones (Elected by the Centres that represent Scotland, records which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland) the financial position of the Society and enable them to ensure Jane Lighting (Co-opted by the Board of Trustees) that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act Graham McWilliam (Elected by the Board of Trustees from 2006. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of December 2012) the Society and hence for taking reasonable steps for the pre- Simon Pitts (Elected by the Principal Patrons Group) vention and detection of fraud and other irregularities. Emma Scott (Until May 2012) The Trustees are responsible for the maintenance and Graeme Thompson (Elected by the Centres that represent integrity of the corporate and financial information included regions in England) on the Society’s website. Legislation in the United Kingdom Caroline Thomson (Co-opted by the Board of Trustees) governing the preparation and dissemination of financial statements may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions. Chief Executive Simon Albury (July 2000-October 2012) Statement of disclosure to auditor Theresa Wise (From March 2013) 1 So far as the Trustees are aware, there is no relevant audit information of which the Society’s auditors are unaware, and Deputy Chief Executive 2 They have taken all the steps that they ought to have taken Claire Price as Trustees in order to make themselves aware of any rel- evant audit information and to establish that the Society’s auditors are aware of that information. Standing Committees of Approval This Report was approved by the Board of Trustees on the Board of Trustees 21 March 2013 and signed on its behalf by: John Hardie Audit Committee Chair of the Board of Trustees Jane Lighting (Chair) John Hardie Caroline Thomson

Remuneration Committee John Hardie (Chair) Mike Green David Lowen Emma Scott (Until May 2012) Caroline Thomson (From October 2012)

Executive Management Group John Hardie (Chair) Simon Albury (Until October 2012) Mike Green David Lowen Claire Price

R oyal T elevision S ociety Report 2012 37 Consolidated financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2012

Independent auditors’ report to the Members of the RTS

We have audited the financial statements of Royal Television of resources, including its income and expenditure, for the Society for the year ended 31 December 2012, which comprise year then ended; the Consolidated Statement of Financial Activities/Income ± Have been properly prepared in accordance with United and Expenditure Account, the Group and Charity’s Balance Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice; and Sheet and the related notes. The financial statements frame- ± The financial statements have been properly prepared in work that has been applied in their preparation is applicable accordance with the Companies Act 2006 and the Charities law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United King- Act 2011. dom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice). This report is made solely to the charity’s Members, as a Opinion on other matters prescribed by the Companies body, in accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 16 of The Com- Act 2006 panies Act 2006 and to the charity’s Trustees, as a body, in In our opinion the information given in the Trustees’ Annual accordance with Section 151 of the Charities Act 2011, and Report for the financial year for which the financial state- the regulations made under Section 154 of that Act. Our audit ments are prepared is consistent with the financial state- work has been undertaken so that we might state to the ments. charity’s Members those matters we are required to state to them in an auditor’s report and for no other purpose. To the Matters on which we are required to report by exception fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters responsibility to anyone other than the charity and the char- where the Companies Act 2006 and the Charities Act 2011 ity’s Members as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or requires us to report to you if, in our opinion: for the opinions we have formed. ± The parent charitable company has not kept adequate and sufficient accounting records, or returns adequate for our Respective responsibilities of the Trustees and Auditors audit have not been received from branches not visited by As explained more fully in the Trustees Responsibilities us; or Statement set out on page 37, the Trustees (who are also the ± The parent charitable company financial statements are directors of the charitable company for the purposes of com- not in agreement with the accounting records and returns; or pany law) are responsible for the preparation of the financial ± Certain disclosures of trustees’ remuneration specified by statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and law are not made; or fair view. ± We have not received all the information and explanations We have been appointed auditor under the Companies Act we require for our audit; or 2006 and Section 151 of the Charities Act 2011 and report in ± The Trustees were not entitled to prepare the financial accordance with those Acts. Our responsibility is to audit and statements in accordance with the small companies regime express an opinion on the financial statements in accordance and take advantage of the small companies exemption in with applicable law and International Standards on Auditing preparing the Trustees’ Annual Report. (UK and Ireland). Those standards require us to comply with the Auditing Practices Board’s Ethical Standards for Auditors. Date: 5 April 2013 Scope of the audit of the financial statements An audit involves obtaining evidence about the amounts and Paul Berlyn (Senior Statutory Auditor) disclosures in the financial statements sufficient to give rea- For and on behalf of sonable assurance that the financial statements are free from Arram Berlyn Gardner material misstatement, whether caused by fraud or error. Chartered Accountants This includes an assessment of: whether the accounting Statutory Auditor policies are appropriate to the charitable company’s circum- 30 City Road stances and have consistently been applied and adequately London EC1Y 2AB disclosed; the reasonableness of significant accounting esti- mates made by the trustees; and the overall presentation of the financial statements. Opinion on financial statements In our opinion the financial statements: ± Give a true and fair view of the state of the group’s and the parent charitable company’s affairs as at 31 December 2012 and of the group’s incoming resources and application

38 R oyal T elevision S ociety Report 2012 Consolidated statement of financial activities/ income and expenditure account for the year ended 31 December 2012

Notes 2012 2012 2012 2011 Restricted Unrestricted Total Total £ £ £ £ Incoming resources Incoming resources from generated funds: Voluntary income 3 – 432,638 432,638 468,632 Activities for generating funds 10 – 1,614,051 1,614,051 1,822,241 Investment income 4 1,902 121,127 123,029 92,481

Incoming resources from charitable activities: Events, conferences and awards 5 – 258,158 258,158 246,400 Subscriptions and sponsorship 5 – 24,367 24,367 21,509

Total incoming resources 1,902 2,450,341 2,452,243 2,651,263

Resources expended Costs of generating funds: Fundraising costs of generating voluntary income 6 – 136,741 136,741 131,924 Fundraising trading; cost of goods sold and other costs 6 – 702,437 702,437 800,662

Charitable activities: Events, conferences and awards 6 2,772 1,157,579 1,160,351 1,079,042 Magazine publications 6 – 160,218 160,218 147,058

Governance costs 6 – 135,127 135,127 42,326

Total resources expended 2,772 2,292,102 2,294,874 2,201,012

Net incoming (outgoing) resources before transfers (870) 158,239 157,369 450,251 Gross transfers between funds – – – –

Net movements in funds (870) 158,239 157,369 450,251 Total funds brought forward 99,743 6,314,729 6,414,472 5,964,221

Total Funds carried forward 13,14 98,873 6,472,968 6,571,841 6,414,472

The statement of financial activities includes all gains and losses recognised in the year. All incoming resources and resources expended derive from continuing activities.

The notes on pages 42 to 48 form part of these financial statements.

R oyal T elevision S ociety Report 2012 39 Consolidated balance sheet as at 31 December 2012

Notes 2012 2011

£ £ £ £

Fixed assets Tangible assets 9 136,286 1,755 Investments 10 54,018 54,018

190,304 55,773 Current assets Debtors 11 681,373 633,131 Cash at bank and in hand 6,118,314 6,014,700

6,799,687 6,647,831 Creditors: amounts falling due within one year 12 (418,150) (289,132)

Net current assets 6,381,537 6,358,699

Net assets 6,571,841 6,414,472

Funds Restricted Memorial funds 13 98,873 99,743

Unrestricted General fund 14 5,472,968 6,013,882

Designated Property fund 14 172,444 Other funds 14 128,403 Transformation Fund 14 1,000,000 -

Funds 15 6,571,841 6,414,472

Approved by the Board of Trustees on 21 March 2013 and signed on its behalf by

John Hardie, Chair of the Board of Trustees

Company Registration Number: 00249462

The notes on pages 42 to 48 form part of these financial statements.

40 R oyal T elevision S ociety Report 2012 Society balance sheet as at 31 December 2012

Notes 2012 2011

£ £ £ £

Fixed assets Tangible assets 9 136,286 1,755 Investments 10 4 4

136,290 1,759 Current assets Debtors 11 700,120 675,368 Cash at bank and in hand 6,038,750 5,938,594

6,738,870 6,613,962 Creditors: Amounts falling due within one year 12 (303,319) (201,249)

Net current assets 6,435,551 6,412,713

Net assets 6,571,841 6,414,472

Funds Restricted Memorial funds 13 98,873 99,743

Unrestricted General fund 14 5,472,968 6,013,882

Designated Property fund 14 172,444 Other funds 14 128,403 Transformation fund 14 1,000,000 -

Funds 15 6,571,841 6,414,472

Approved by the Board of Trustees on 21 March 2013 and signed on its behalf by

John Hardie, Chair of the Board of Trustees

Company Registration Number: 00249462

The notes on pages 42 to 48 form part of these financial statements.

R oyal T elevision S ociety Report 2012 41 Notes to the financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2012

apportionment of general overheads. 1 Accounting Policies ± Governance costs include those incurred in the govern- ance of the charity and its assets and are primarily associated with constitutional and statutory requirements. 1.1 Accounting convention ± Support costs, which include central office functions, have The financial statements are prepared under the historical been allocated across the categories of charitable expendi- cost convention and in accordance with applicable account- ture, governance costs and the costs of generating funds. The ing standards. The financial statements have been prepared basis of the cost allocation has been explained in the notes in accordance with the Statement of Recommended Practice, to the accounts. Accounting and Reporting by Charities (SORP 2005) issued in March 2005, applicable UK Accounting Standards and the 1.5 Tangible fixed assets and depreciation Companies Act 2006. Tangible fixed assets are stated at cost less depreciation. The Society has taken advantage of the exemption in Depreciation is provided at rates calculated to write off the Financial Reporting Standard No. 1 from the requirement to cost less estimated residual value of each asset over its produce a cash flow statement on the grounds that it is a expected useful life, as follows: small group. Leasehold improvements Straight line over the life of 1.2 Group financial statements the lease These financial statements consolidate the results of the Computer equipment Three years straight line Society, its centres and its wholly-owned trading subsidiar- Fixtures, fittings and equipment Five years straight line ies, RTS Enterprises Limited and RTS (IBC) Limited, on a line- by-line basis. 1.6 Investments A separate Statement of Financial Activities and Income Fixed asset investments are stated at cost in accordance with and Expenditure account are not presented for the charity paragraph 297(b) of the SORP 2005. itself following the exemptions permitted by section 408 of the Companies Act 2006 and paragraph 397 of the SORP. The 1.7 Centres total incoming resources for the charity for the year ended Centres’ income and expenditure is recognised in the period 31 December 2012 were £2,026,494 (2011: £2,131,682) with in which the group is entitled to receipt and the amount can the positive net movements in funds being £157,369 (2011: be measured with reasonable certainty. Income is deferred £450,251). only when the Society has to fulfil conditions before becom- ing entitled to it. 1.3 Incoming resources Voluntary income is recognised upon receipt and is deferred 1.8 Funds accounting only when the Society has to fulfil conditions before becom- Funds held by the Society are: ing entitled to it or when the donor has specified that the Unrestricted general funds – these are funds that can be income is to be expended in a future period. No amounts are used in accordance with the charitable objects at the discre- included in the financial statements for services donated by tion of the Board of Trustees. volunteers. Designated funds – these are funds set aside by the Board of Income from trading activities is recognised as earned (as Trustees out of unrestricted general funds for specific future the related goods and services are provided). purposes or projects. Investment income is recognised on a receivable basis. Restricted funds – these are funds that can only be used for particular restricted purposes within the objects of the Soci- 1.4 Resources expended ety. Restrictions arise when specified by the donor or when Expenditure is recognised in the period in which it is incurred. funds are raised for particular restricted purposes. A designated fund is established for expenditure which has Further explanations of the nature and purpose of each been committed to projects but remains unspent at the year- fund is included in the notes to the accounts. end. ± Costs of generating funds are those costs incurred in attract- 1.9 Foreign currency translation ing voluntary income, and those incurred in trading activities Monetary assets and liabilities denominated in foreign cur- that raise funds. rencies are translated into sterling at the rates of exchange ± Costs of charitable activities comprise all expenditure ruling at the balance sheet date. Transactions in foreign cur- identified as wholly or mainly attributable to achieving the rencies are recorded at the rate ruling at the date of the trans- charitable objectives of the charity. These costs include staff action. All differences are taken to the income and expendi- costs, wholly or mainly attributable support costs and an ture account.

42 R oyal T elevision S ociety Report 2012 2 Surplus for the year 4 Investment income

Surplus for the year is stated and interest after charging: 2012 2011 2012 2011 £ £ £ £ Group Bank interest receivable 123,029 92,481 Depreciation of tangible assets 29,131 3,191 Auditors’ remuneration Audit 19,700 18,430 Non audit 4,400 4,000 5 Incoming resources Society from charitable activities Depreciation of tangible assets 29,131 3,191 Auditors’ remuneration Audit 12,050 12,850 The income was primarily from the Royal Television Society’s Non audit 4,050 3,650 charitable activities 2012 2011 £ £ Events, conferences and awards 258,158 246,400 3 Voluntary income Magazine sales and other 24,367 21,509 282,525 267,909

2012 2011 £ £ Patrons 323,630 357,530 Members 109,008 111,102

432,638 468,632

6 Total resources expended

Direct Support 2012 2011 costs costs total total £ £ £ £ Costs of generating funds: Fundraising costs of generating voluntary income – 136,741 136,741 131,924 Fundraising trading; cost of goods sold and other costs 412,053 290,384 702,437 800,662

412,053 427,125 839,178 932,586

Charitable activites: Events, conferences and awards 337,095 823,256 1,160,351 1,079,042 Magazine publications 160,218 - 160,218 147,058

497,313 823,256 1,320,569 1,226,100

Governance costs 13,790 121,337 135,127 42,326

Total resources expended 923,156 1,371,718 2,294,874 2,201,012

R oyal T elevision S ociety Report 2012 43 7 Allocation of support costs

The charity allocates its support costs as shown in the table below.

Cost of Charitable Governance generating funds activities costs Total £ £ £ £ Support costs Management and other costs 44,206 156,451 5,488 206,145 Premises costs 102,462 153,694 256,156 Employee costs 229,632 410,254 639,886 Finance, legal and professional and IT costs 50,825 102,857 115,849 269,531

427,125 823,256 121,337 1,371,718

Support costs included within expenditure in the SOFA have been allocated on the basis of salary percentage or on the proportion of floor area occupied by the activity. The cost allocation includes an area of judgement and the charity has had to consider the cost benefit of detailed workings and record keeping. The governance costs of £121,337 include the cost of the strategic review undertaken in the year.

8 Taxation

The company is a registered charity and no provision is considered necessary for taxation. In the accounts of RTS Enterprises Limited there was no tax charge (2011: £nil) and for RTS (IBC) Limited there was a tax charge of £5,653 (2011: £3,862).

9 Tangible assets

Land and buildings Fixtures, leasehold fittings and (short) equipment Total £ £ £ Group and Society Cost At 1 January 2012 143,370 163,873 307,243 Additions 104,435 59,227 163,662 Disposals (143,370) (50,592) (193,962)

At 31 December 2012 104,435 172,508 276,943

Depreciation At 1 January 2012 143,370 162,118 305,488 Charge for year 10,443 18,688 29,131 Disposals (143,370) (50,592) (193,962)

At 31 December 2012 10,443 130,214 140,657

Net Book Values At 31 December 2012 93,992 42,294 136,286

At 31 December 2011 – 1,755 1,755

44 R oyal T elevision S ociety Report 2012 10 Fixed Asset Investments

Group Society

2012 2011 2012 2011 £ £ £ £ Shares in subsidiary undertakings – – 4 4 Other unlisted investments (at cost) 18 18 – – Other investments 54,000 54,000 – –

54,018 54,018 4 4

All the fixed asset investments are held in the UK. The Board of Trustees considers it appropriate to state the fixed asset investments at cost. At 31 December 2012, the Society owned all of the ordinary share capital of RTS Enterprises Limited and RTS (IBC) Limited, which organise and stage courses, exhibitions and other events related to the television industry. At 31 December 2012, the aggregate amount of these companies’ assets, liabilities, share capital and reserves was:

RTS Enterprises Limited RTS (IBC) Limited

2012 2011 2012 2011 £ £ £ £ Total Assets 223,230 197,957 471,579 474,269 Creditors: amounts falling due within one year (223,228) (197,955) (471,577) (474,267) 2 2 2 2 Represented by: Share capital and reserves 2 2 2 2

As at the year-end £86,995 (2011: £61,170) of incoming resources had been deferred in the accounts of RTS Enterprises Limited, with £61,170 (2011: £68,575) being released to the profit and loss account. RTS Enterprises Limited and RTS (IBC) Limited pay their profits to the charity by a deed of covenant. A summary of the trading results of each subsidiary is shown below:

RTS Enterprises RTS Limited (IBC) Limited Total 2012 2012 2012 2011 £ £ £ £

Turnover 532,648 1,081,403 1,614,051 1,822,241 Cost of sales (410,509) - (410,509) (508,091)

Gross profit 122,139 1,081,403 1,203,542 1,314,150 Administration expenses (115,421) (10,260) (125,681) (156,351)

Operating profit 6,718 1,071,143 1,077,861 1,157,799 Other interest receivable and similar income 2,279 324 2,603 3,256 Interest payable – (1,890) (1,890) (1,890) Taxation – (5,653) (5,653) (3,862)

Profit on ordinary activities after taxation 8,997 1,063,924 1,072,921 1,155,303 Payment under deed of covenant (8,997) (1,063,924) (1,072,921) (1,155,303)

Retained profit for the year – – – –

R oyal T elevision S ociety Report 2012 45 11 Debtors

Group Society

2012 2011 2012 2011 £ £ £ £ Trade debtors 90,745 57,537 20,742 21,141 Amounts due from subsidiary undertakings – – 108,053 45,036 Other debtors 590,628 575,594 571,325 609,191

681,373 633,131 700,120 675,368

12 Creditors: Amounts falling due within one year

Group Society

2012 2011 2012 2011 £ £ £ £ Trade creditors 128,244 58,288 117,504 46,254 Taxes and social security costs 25,525 35,182 19,872 31,321 Other creditors 242,952 172,500 144,514 100,512 Deferred income 21,429 23,162 21,429 23,162

418,150 289,132 303,319 201,249

13 Restricted Funds

London Awards Shiers Memorial Beresford-Cooke Fund Fund Fund Total Group and Society £ £ £ £ At 1 January 2012 3,373 65,581 30,789 99,743 Interest received – 1,294 608 1,902 Expenditure – (1,650) (1,122) (2,772)

At 31 December 2012 3,373 65,225 30,275 98,873

The Society received a bequest from the estate of the late Mrs F Shiers to establish the George and May F Shiers Memorial Fund. The income of the fund that is under the control of the Society’s Board of Trustees is to be devoted to the study, collection and presentation of material concerning the history of television.

The Society received a bequest from the estate of the late Mrs Beresford-Cooke to establish the RTS Young Television Engineer Award. The income of the fund is under the control of the Society’s Board of Trustees and is to be used to assist the recipient of the Award to attend the IBC Conference in Amsterdam.

The London Awards Fund has been set up so as to recognise excellence in a young technologist.

46 R oyal T elevision S ociety Report 2012 14 Unrestricted funds

General Transformation Property Other Fund Fund Fund Funds Total Group and Society £ £ £ £ £ At 1 January 2012 6,013,882 - 172,444 128,403 6,314,729 Expenditure 118,790 - (31,965) (86,825) – Transfer of funds (817,943) 1,000,000 (140,479) (41,578) - Surplus for the year 158,239 - - - 158,239

At 31 December 2012 5,472,968 1,000,000 - - 6,472,968

The Transformation Fund represents the amount committed by the Board of Trustees to implement various initiatives arising from the strategic review undertaken in the year. The designated Property Fund represents the amount committed by the Board of Trustees to the cost of relocation. Following the completion of the office move, the balance of this fund has been transferred to the General Fund. Other funds comprise £60,000 representing a New Project Fund, committed by the Board of Trustees to specific charitable projects at the year-end and £68,403 representing an IT Fund, which is designated to the furtherance of the Society’s objectives through the use of new technologies. Following the strategic review, the balance of the funds have been transferred to the General Fund.

15 Reconciliation of 17 Liability of members movement in funds The Society is limited by guarantee without any share capital. In the event of the Society being wound up, each member is liable to con- £ tribute for the payment of the debts and liabilities of the Society such Group and Society amount as may be required, but not exceeding £1. Surplus for the year 157,369 Funds at 1 January 2012 6,414,472

Funds at 31 December 2012 6,571,841

16 Analysis of net assets between funds

Fund balances at 31 December 2012 are represented by:

Unrestricted Restricted Total Funds Funds Funds £ £ £ Tangible fixed assets 136,286 - 136,286 Investments 54,018 - 54,018 Net current assets 6,282,664 98,873 6,381,537

Total net assets 6,472,968 98,873 6,571,841

R oyal T elevision S ociety Report 2012 47 18 Employees 19 Financial commitments

The average number of employees of the Group during the As at 31 December 2012, the Society had annual commit- year was as follows: ments under non-cancellable operating leases which expire as follows: 2012 2011 2012 2011 Management and other 2 2 £ £ Membership 1 1 Expiry date: Events and conferences 6 6 Finance and IT 2 2 Within one year – 30,119

11 11 After five years 138,338 –

2012 2011 £ £ Employment Costs Wages and salaries 488,962 504,152 Social security costs 50,643 52,625 20 Capital commitments Other pension costs 28,918 30,283

568,523 587,060 As at 31 December 2012, the Society had capital commitments that had been contracted for totalling £10,993 (2011: £119,973).

The number of employees who received emoluments in excess of £60,000 was as follows:

2012 2011

£60,001–£70,000 – – £70,001–£80,000 – – £80,001–£90,000 – – £90,001–£100,000 – – £100,001–£110,000 – 1 £110,001–£120,000 2 1

The total contributions in the year to money purchase pension schemes for higher paid employees were £20,416 (2011: £20,689). The number of higher paid employees to whom retirement benefits are accruing under such schemes is two (2011: two). No members of the Board of Trustees received any remuneration in the year. Certain members of the Board of Trustees are reimbursed for reasonable expenses incurred by them in carrying out their duties for the Society. The total expenses incurred by the trustees during the year was £949 (2011: £375)

48 R oyal T elevision S ociety Report 2012 Royal Television Society

Annual General Meeting 2013

23 May 2013, 6:00pm

R oyal T elevision S ociety Report 2012 49 Notice of AGM: 23 May 2013 AGM

The 84th Annual General Meeting of the Royal Television Agenda Society will be held on Thursday 23 May 2013 at: 1 To approve the Minutes of the previous Annual General 3 Dorset Rise Meeting held on 24 May 2012. London EC4Y 8EN 2 To approve the 2012 Annual Report. at 6:00pm. 3 To receive the Financial Report, Balance Sheet and Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2012. Voting by proxy 4 To appoint Arram Berlyn Gardner as auditors for Under Article 24, members of the Society are empowered 2013/2014 and to authorise the Board of Trustees to fix to appoint a proxy to attend and vote at the AGM. The their remuneration. completed proxy form, on page 51, should reach Head Office 5 Any other business. no less than 48 hours before the meeting.

50 R oyal T elevision S ociety Report 2012 Form of proxy

If you wish to I, ...... appoint another member please of ...... insert the name of your proxy here. being a member of the above named Society and entitled to vote hereby appoint You may delete reference to the ...... , ­Honorary Treasurer and Chair. Initial or, failing him, the Honorary Treasurer, or, failing him, the Chair of the meeting, as my proxy to vote for the alteration me and on my behalf at the AGM of the Society to be held on 23 May 2013 at 6:00pm and at any adjourn- ment thereof. In respect of the resolutions referred to in the Notice of the Meeting, I desire my proxy to vote as indicated: For Against Abstain

Please insert ‘x’ 1.0 Approve minutes of the previous meeting held on in the appropriate 24 May 2012: box if you wish to instruct your proxy AGM on how to vote 2.0 Approve the 2012 Annual Report:

3.0 To receive and adopt Financial Report, Balance Sheet and Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2012:

4.0 To appoint Arram Berlyn Gardner as auditors for 2013/14 and to ­authorise the Board of Trustees to fix their remuneration:

(If this form is signed without any indication as to how the proxy shall vote, the proxy will exercise his or her discretion both as to how he or she votes or abstains from voting)

Signature ...... Date ......

Form of proxy 1 Under Article 24, members of the Society are empowered to vote at the AGM by proxy. To be valid, notes this form of proxy must be deposited at the Royal Television Society, 3 Dorset Rise, London EC4Y 8EN not less than 48 hours before the meeting. 2 The proxy, who must be a member of the Society, must attend the meeting in person to ­represent you. 3 Unless otherwise directed, the proxy will vote or abstain as he or she sees fit.

R oyal T elevision S ociety Report 2012 51 Minutes of AGM 2012 AGM

Minutes of the 83rd Annual General Meeting of the Royal Tel- gurus would have their turn in June. These events attracted evision Society, held on Thursday 24 May 2012 at the Royal a diverse audience from the nursery slopes of the television Television Society, 3 Dorset Rise, London EC4Y 8EN. community and were also enjoyed by the gurus. John Gau asked how many people attended RTS Futures Present: events. Simon Albury said the speed-dating events had Mike Darcey, Chair, Board of Trustees (in the chair); John attracted about 60 participants. Hardie, Vice Chair; David Lowen, Honorary Secretary; Mike Mike Darcey added that RTS Futures’ workshops had Green, Honorary Treasurer; Simon Albury, Chief Executive; included a session on “The Million Pound Pitch” with David Claire Price, Deputy Chief Executive; David Bancroft; Charles Flynn, one with Zai Bennett and one that focused on online Byrne; John Gau; Leslie Hill; Jane Lighting; Denis Lomax; Bill comedy. They were very important to the future of the Soci- McMahon; Arthur Pigott; Graeme Thompson; Paul Ridout, ety. Farrer & Co, Lawyers; Paul Berlyn, Arram Berlyn Gardner, He also wanted to record his thanks to everyone who had Auditors. given their time freely to the RTS over the year. To Krishnan Apologies: Paul Corley; Peter Williams; Keith Clement. Guru-Murthy, Dara O’Briain, Seann Walsh and Myleene Klass for hosting the national awards, to Centre Chairs, officers and Mike Darcey welcomed everyone to the 83rd Annual General committee members, to the members of Advisory Council, Meeting of the Royal Television Society. to Carolyn Fairbairn and Wayne Garvie (who retired as Trus- . tees) and especially to Grant Murray, who stepped down as 1.0 Approval of Minutes of previous meeting, held on 25 Honorary Treasurer. He also thanked the RTS Patrons and his May 2011 fellow Trustees for their support. John Gau asked why there had only been one dinner. Matters Arising: Simon Albury said there had been a problem with attendance Arthur Pigott noted that, yet again, IBC had provided the bulk at dinners since the recession started and also a difficulty in of the money earned by the Society. Simon Albury suggested finding speakers. Dinners were in abeyance. The market had that the matter should be raised under Item 3 – Financial changed, but they might return in the future. Report Leslie Hill said that recently he had received nothing in the The Minutes of the Annual Report 2011 were approved 14 mail except details of an RTS Legends’ event with Greg Dyke votes in favour and two abstentions. Sixty-three proxy votes and Steve Morrison. Simon Albury said this was probably were cast – 62 in favour, one abstention. because he hadn’t ticked the correct boxes on the member- Proposed by: David Lowen ship form – he would seek to get him on every mailing list. Seconded by: Charles Byrne Arthur Pigott asked how many members the RTS currently had. Claire Price replied just over 1,800 – a big drop. Simon Albury said this matter would receive serious attention. 2.0 Approval of the 2011 Annual Report Arthur Pigott dubbed the RTS an “Adoration Society” – not Mike Darcey said that throughout the year the Annual Report the one he knew. It was tracking a different kind of member- had given a sense of the range, volume and quality of the ship. Simon Albury agreed that the balance had shifted away Society’s events, which have covered a huge range of topics, from engineers. However, Thames Valley and London Cen- from “Technical planning for switchover” to “Happy bedfel- tres still provided useful technical and engineering events. lows – the relationship between television and pornography”. John Gau asked why membership numbers had dropped. Apart from the national awards ceremonies and the events Simon Albury said it was hard to attract members if they organised by Head Office, unpaid volunteers do the rest. He could see no benefit to membership other than Television thanked all those involved. magazine. Currently there were no member-only events, Adam Crozier’s RTS Cambridge Convention had been the although London Centre was planning one. highlight of the year, with: Jeremy Hunt delivering a bravura The 2011 Annual Report was approved unanimously. performance, speaking without notes; David Zaslav talking Sixty-three proxy votes were cast, all in favour. about Discovery’s $1.6bn spend on content; Sir Martin Sor- Proposed by: Graeme Thompson rell arriving direct from China to tell us that new technolo- Seconded by: Denis Lomax gies are a greater threat to broadcasters than to advertisers; and the general view in the room being ‘No’ to a new Com- 3.0 Financial Report, Balance Sheet and Accounts for the munications Bill. Attendees also heard from Lord Patten and year ended 31 December 2010 Lord Burns and an array of other speakers. Again, Cambridge Mike Green reported that 2011 had been a good year for the had proved itself to be the single most important event in the Society, with a net movement in funds of £450,251, com- broadcast calendar. pared with £243,074 in 2010. Income had increased partly RTS Veterans had re-branded itself as RTS Legends, shar- due to Cambridge, although this had been slightly down on ing a profound understanding of the past; the Early Even- the 2009 Convention. The income from IBC had been over ing Events Committee understood the present; and the RTS £1m for the second year in succession. Membership income Futures committee, chaired by Camilla Lewis, was the future. had fallen, but Patron income had increased – although these RTS Futures had perfected the speed-dating format that figures were slightly skewed because money promised in gives young people three minutes each with a range of gurus, 2010 had not been received until 2011. and over the past year had featured children’s television, He was investigating moving some of the reserves to fixed- specialist factual and news and current affairs – the drama term deposits in order to attract a higher rate of interest.

52 R oyal T elevision S ociety Report 2012 Minutes of AGM 2012

Costs were higher, including Cambridge. The head-count elected and co-opted members, should no longer be legally had been reduced by one. The Balance Sheet was strong – responsible. This gave rise to the creation of a smaller Board £6.4m reserves of which £6m was in cash. of Trustees and Advisory Council. Leslie Hill pointed out that although investment income This had been done with the best of intentions, but it had had increased, the rate was still less than 1%. Were people not really worked. The elected members on the Advisory investigating other options? He asked again this year why the Council thought there was too much discussion about Cen- Society didn’t buy its own building rather than continuing to tres – and Centres thought there was insufficient time spent pay £103,000 in rent. on Centre issues. Mike Green said he was investigating what other charities In addition, there were two Chairs – the Chair of the Trus- were doing and also talking to the Charities Aid Foundation. tees and the Chair of the Society, which did not really work He was checking the risks to capital value involved in mov- either, and the Companies Act 2006 had not been properly ing away from cash. He would also benchmark against other taken into consideration. So for a variety of reasons they had similar learned societies. decided to take another look at the Articles of Association to John Gau suggested that the Society could spend some of try to make them reflect the needs of a modern Society and to the reserves. What had happened to the RTS Dinners? He bring it closer to the membership. They had taken substantial also asked about the Strategic Review. legal advice and had come up with the new document. John Hardie said the Trustees had decided on the Strategic The proposals were given in brief on pages 6-7: AGM Review because various questions were being asked: what ± To focus the leadership of the Society; would happen if the IBC contribution decreased dramati- ± To bring more people from outside onto the Trustee body; cally, what should we do about decreasing membership; how ± To create the Centres’ Council; could we improve the relationship between the Centres and ± To make sure the RTS was legally compliant; Head Office; where should the RTS be heading in the future? ± To achieve a more focused use of specialist groups. A small working group was heading up the Strategic Review, He confirmed to Arthur Pigott that the new Articles which would put a proposal to the Trustees in the early sum- replaced those in the document dated 2007. mer. We would expect to draw on our reserves to implement Arthur Pigott said that the previous document had given the strategy. One of the questions they would tackle was value members a chance to express their views at the AGM. to members and how it could affect charitable status. David Lowen said members should express their views at John Gau warned against owning a building. Bafta had Centre AGMs or speak to the CEO direct. They could vote at purchased its building and spent all its time thereafter try- Centre AGMs and at this one. ing to find ways to keep it filled – there had been enormous John Gau agreed that there had been enormous faults in problems right from the start. the old Council, but it did hold the Society and those who did Charles Byrne thought 2% interest was not at all bad. Mike the work to account. Who held these people to account now? Green said he was not suggesting change – just investigat- He had an uncomfortable feeling that a Society that was, at ing what other people were doing. Some charities did move one time, quasi-democratic, was becoming less so. In theory, some reserves out of cash into managed portfolios. the Centres could hold the executive to account, but that role Charles Byrne thought that purchase of a building should was only advisory. be looked at, but there were dangers. David Lowen said the Trustees held the Executive to Bill McMahon said if the RTS bought a seven-storey build- account and they were held to account at the AGM. Centre ing, six floors should already be occupied. Leslie Hill said for Chairs would not be slow in making their voices heard at a one-off price the Society would own it and there would be the Centres’ Council; the Management Committee sat on the no annual rent. He thought the financial situation a little over- shoulders of the Executive, and the Chair of the Society and cautious, but there was no way the RTS should buy shares. the Trustees were held to account at the AGM. Simon Albury said the Strategic Review was looking into Simon Albury said that when he had been appointed 12 all these matters and the Society would be able to move for- years ago there had been 47 Trustees. The Charity Commis- ward in six to nine months. sion did not consider this an effective way of running a char- The Financial Report was accepted unanimously. Sixty- ity. The new model was much closer to the Charity Commis- three proxy votes were cast, all in favour. sion model. The Trustees met four times a year, the Manage- Proposed by: Leslie Hill ment Committee met more or less monthly. Seconded by: John Gau John Gau asked how often the Centres’ Council met. Simon Albury said twice a year, but more often if needed. The idea 4.0 Consideration of a special resolution to adopt the was that fewer meetings might encourage better attendance. revised Articles of Association set out in the booklet David Lowen said there was “a little wriggle room” in the entitled ‘RTS Needs Your Vote’ Articles in case changes were needed. The idea was not to Mike Darcey drew the meeting’s attention to the booklet, The be over-prescriptive. RTS Needs Your Vote, dated 24 May 2012. Leslie Hill asked if the Charity Commission was happy with David Lowen said that a booklet with the same name had new arrangements. Paul Ridout confirmed that the Articles been presented to the AGM on 23 May 2007 by Jane Light- were in line with Charity Commission guidelines. Leslie Hill ing as chair. Following the Charity Commission review, the asked if they had considered the benefits in changing the Trustees, chaired by Sir Robert Phillis, had decided that some Board of Trustees to a Board of Directors. Paul Ridout said things needed changing. The Society should be restruc- the new Articles established the Society as a company lim- tured so that Council, which had consisted of Centre Chairs, ited by guarantee. Trustees are also company directors.8

R oyal T elevision S ociety Report 2012 53 Minutes of AGM 2012 AGM

8Bill McMahon asked how the Board of Trustees was Arthur Pigott felt that the Society didn’t need the sponsor- elected. Paul Ridout said there were different terms of office, ship of the Murdochs. Simon Albury said BSkyB, which was mostly two years with an option of extending for a further 39% owned by News International, was an important force in term. television and a strong supporter of the RTS. Bill McMahon asked if the elections would be taking place As there was no other business, Mike Darcey thanked eve- in 2013. Paul Ridout said that the Trustees who were in post ryone for attending and closed the meeting. at this AGM were named on page 11 of the Governance doc- ument. Trustees would continue to serve in order to achieve a smooth transition, then the cycle would kick in. Graeme Thompson said he was a Trustee and a Centre Chair and would like to reassure colleagues that there were many forums for members to report through to the Executive. Members could talk to Centre Chairs who were members of Centres’ Council, which could feed through their representa- tions to the Board of Trustees. It felt to him like an open and democratic forum. Bill McMahon referred to page 10, item 1.2 – the registered office is to be in England and Wales. Paul Ridout said this was standard wording referring to legal jurisdiction. The Special Resolution was adopted unanimously. Sixty- three proxy votes were cast – 62 in favour, one abstention. Proposed by: Jane Lighting Seconded by: David Bancroft 5.0 Appointment of Auditors Arram Berlyn Gardner were appointed unanimously as audi- tors for 20012/13 and the Board of Trustees authorised to fix their remuneration. There were 63 proxy votes cast – 62 in favour, one abstention. Proposed by: Mike Green Seconded by: David Lowen 6.0 Any other business John Hardie said members would be aware of the day’s announcement that Simon Albury would stand down as Chief Executive of the RTS later in the year. The Board of Trustees recognised his enormous contribution and dedica- tion over such a long period of time and hoped that he would continue to support the Society. He thanked Simon for all his work over the past 12 years. Simon Albury said it had been a privilege and pleasure to serve. It was always good to stand down rather than be asked to leave. The RTS did not depend solely on its Chief Executive. Leslie Hill said that 12 years ago Simon had made a pitch to him. He had been very impressed and supported Simon’s application. He had done a fantastic job – anyone who could do this job for 12 years was amazing. Charles Byrne wished Simon well and said he wouldn’t be surprised if he wasn’t snapped up by the Charity Commis- sion. He would always be remembered for his work at that time. John Gau thought that the appointment of certain Vice Presidents of the Society was curious. David Lowen said that the subject was on the agenda. Arthur Pigott raised two minor items. He had been assured by Tony Pilgrim that there were no copyright problems con- nected with his History of the Royal Television Society. He looked forward to its publication and if there were further problems, offered to act as a go-between. Simon Albury took note and said it would be discussed with the Archive Committee.

54 R oyal T elevision S ociety Report 2012 Picture credits

Page 1: 1 BBC; 2 Channel 4; 3-5 Paul Hampartsoumian Page 4: FameFlynet Pictures Page 5: All except Paralympics (Channel 4): Paul Hampartsoumian Page 6: Paul Hampartsoumian Page 7: All: Paul Hampartsoumian Page 8: BBC/ITV Page 9: All: Paul Hampartsoumian Page 10: Paul Hampartsoumian Page 11: All except 9 (BBC): Paul Hampartsoumian Page 12: Simon Albury Page 13: 1-4 Paul Hampartsoumian; 5 Getty; 6-10 Paul Hampartsoumian; 11-12 Simon Albury Page 14: Paul Hampartsoumian Page 15: 1-4; 5 Gordon Jamieson; 6-8 Paul Hampartsoumian; 9 Gordon Jamieson Page 16: BBC Page 17: 1-2 Simon Albury; 3 iStockPhoto; 4 AP; 5-6 Simon Albury; 7 Paul Hampartsoumian; 8 ITV; 9 Shazam Page 18: Richard Kendal Page 19: 1 ITV; 2 BSkyB; 3 Richard Kendal; 4-5 BBC; 6 BSkyB; 7-10 Paul Hampartsoumian Page 20: BBC Page 21: 2 Chris Watson; 4 Steve Brock; 5, 7 IBC Page 22: Paul Hampartsoumian Page 23: All except 1 (BSkyB): Paul Hampartsoumian Page 24: Paul Hampartsoumian Page 25: 1 David Thomas; 2 Channel 4/BBC/Locog; 3 Paul Hampartsoumian; 5 BBC Page 27: 1 Steve Brock; 5-7, 10 Graeme Aldous Page 29: 1-2 Alex Connock Page 30: Chris Watson Page 31: 1 Bartosz Madejski; 2 Charles Byrne; 4 ITV

R oyal T elevision S ociety Report 2012 55 Who’s who at the RTS

PATRON BOARD OF TRUSTEES

HRH The Prince of Wales John Hardie (Chair) Mike Green PRESIDENT David Lowen Tim Davie Sir Peter Bazalgette Huw Jones Jane Lighting VICE PRESIDENTS Graham McWilliam Simon Pitts Dawn Airey Graeme Thompson Sir David Attenborough OM CH CVO CBE FRS Caroline Thomson Baroness Benjamin OBE Colette Bowe John Cresswell CENTRES’ COUNCIL Mike Darcey Greg Dyke Andy Batten-Foster – Chair, Bristol Centre Lorraine Heggessey Mike Best – Chair, Yorkshire Centre Ashley Highfield Charles Byrne – Chair, Republic of Ireland Centre Rt Hon Dame Tessa Jowell MP Isabel Clarke – Chair, Midlands Centre David Lynn Alex Connock – Chair, North West Centre Sir Trevor McDonald OBE Gordon Cooper – Chair, Southern Centre Ken MacQuarrie James Wilson – Chair, Scotland Centre Trevor Phillips OBE Jennie Evans – Chair, Thames Valley Centre Stewart Purvis CBE Tim Hartley – Chair, Wales Centre John Smith Kristin Mason – Chair, London Centre Sir Howard Stringer Graeme Thompson – Chair, North East & Borders Centre Mark Thompson Simon Willis – Vice Chair, Devon & Cornwall Centre Michael Wilson – Chair, Northern Ireland Centre OFFICERS Chair John Hardie Honorary Secretary David Lowen Honorary Treasurer Mike Green

56 R oyal T elevision S ociety Report 2012 COMMITTEE CHAIRS HEAD OFFICE Awards Policy and Fellowship Chief executive Theresa Wise David Lowen Deputy chief executive Claire Price Craft & Design Awards Personal Assistant/office managerElaine Berg Nigel Pickard Accountant Breda O’Donoghue Assistant accountant Angela Sacre Diversity Receptionist Lucy Evans Marcus Ryder Archivist Clare Colvin (part-time) Early Evening Events Centre liaison Maggie Greenhalgh (part-time) Dan Brooke History and Archives Events John Trenouth Events manager Lindsey Cran IBC Conference Liaison Events manager Jo Mitchell Terry Marsh Assistant events organiser Jamie O’Neill RTS Futures Events assistant Callum Stott Camilla Lewis Television Journalism Awards Membership Richard Sambrook Membership administrator Yessra Nawaz Programme Awards Publications David Liddiment Student Television Awards Television Editor Steve Clarke (freelance) Television, production and design Gordon Jamieson Patrick Younge (freelance) RTS Legends Paul Jackson

A company limited by guarantee. Registered in London 249462 Registered charity 313728 Founded 1927

R oyal T elevision S ociety Report 2012 57 R oyal T elevision S ociety

3 Dorset Rise, London EC4Y 8EN Tel: 020 7822 2810 www.rts.org.uk