BBC English Regions Management Review 2014/15 Management Review 2014/15 – English Regions Our aim is to provide a high quality, trusted and valued regional television and local radio service for all communities across England, while fully embracing the exciting new ways we have to build a relationship with local audiences in the digital era. If you wish to find out more about the BBC’s year – including full financial statements and performance against other public commitment – then please visit: www.bbc.co.uk/annualreport Contents 01 Introduction 02 Two minute summary 04 Service performance 14 Future Strategy 14 Contacts Front cover 15 Senior management team BBC Look North (Leeds) presenter 16 Heads of regional and local programming Amy Garcia on location at Westminster Management Review 2014/15 – English Regions Management Review 2014/15 – English Regions Controller’s introduction ‘‘ We believe it is a crucial part of our role to help audiences to understand important stories which are likely to affect them, their families and others in their neighbourhood.’’ In village halls, cafes, school canteens and a host of other venues but alongside that many are also choosing to keep up to date and across England, audiences were able to see the white of the to engage with issues close to home in different ways and much of candidates’ eyes as they probed them face-to-face during the our emphasis for the year ahead will be to improve and expand special, often highly charged, election auditorium debates we the content we provide online and on mobile devices. organised and broadcast in every corner of the country in the run For example, our Local Live streams, which have been providing up to the general election. In what was easily our biggest ever frequently updated news, sport and weather information in some editorial project, our thirty nine local radio stations transmitted areas for a while, will be available throughout England by the end more than 170 debates between them, our twelve television of next year. Following successful pilots in West Yorkshire and the regions produced one each in an extremely well watched late North East, I am really pleased to say they will also have a part in night slot on BBC One the week before polling day and our online boosting wider local journalism by incorporating links to the best and social media sites really seemed to touch the right spot with stories provided by local newspapers across the country. people and sparked a vast amount of reaction and spirited discussion. It is important that we use our unique, close relationship with the audience to help to spread the word about the opportunities These debates, which formed just part of the extensive available in the digital world. Over the coming months we will be contribution English Regions made to the BBC’s overall election working with BBC Learning to take the BBC Make it Digital tour coverage, not only served to demonstrate that we have an to 13 locations across the UK where people will be able to find unfaltering determination to reflect and report key events out in a hands on way how things are developing and how they happening on the doorsteps of people from as many different and their families can be part of it all. It somehow seems a little communities as possible, but also that we believe it is a crucial incongruous to think that next year, as part of the BBC’s special part of our role to help audiences to understand important coverage to mark the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death, stories which are likely to affect them, their families and others we will be exploring local connections to the playwright right in their neighbourhood. across England, but broadcasting them and involving audiences by It is extremely pleasing that local and regional output continues using cutting edge digital technology. to have such an enduring place in the lives of audiences. With just Technical advances are undoubtedly providing us with an under half the adult population watching our early evening opportunity to nurture an even closer and more personal bond bulletins each week they remain the most viewed television news with licence payers, but underpinning everything we do will be a programme in the country. But we are not complacent and are determination to provide the very best service of high quality working hard to continue to adapt to ensure we provide what local news, important information and discussion served up people want from us now and in the future. For example, television online, on social media and on television and radio by trusted and bulletins after the News at Ten were doubled in length in the valued presenters who bring something a little bit special to the months before the election as part of a trial based on research lives of people living in different communities across England showing there is a strong audience appetite for more in-depth every day. local coverage at that time of night. Viewing figures and feedback were encouraging and we are now assessing the next steps. BBC local radio attracts an audience just shy of seven million people each week, however we are aware of a decline in listenership at some stations in recent years. This is something we are currently working to address. We know the audience David Holdsworth continue to treasure the close connection with local presenters Controller, English Regions Management Review 2014/15 – English Regions 01 Management Review 2014/15 – English Regions Two minute summary BBC English Regions, which is part of the BBC News division, delivers a distinctive, high quality service of local and regional news, information and discussion, together with a range of other locally rooted programmes and content which reflect daily life in different communities through regional television, local radio, online and social media outlets. One of the main features of all our services is the high level of websites. We aim to roll out Local Live streams – which have been interaction and participation by local audiences – something we providing frequently updated news, sport, weather and travel are keen to continue and develop in the future. information online in about a dozen local areas for a while – to all parts of England by the end of 2016. All our teams across the We produce daily television news output across 12 English country run successful social media sites which appeal to a much regions, along with weekly current affairs, politics and sports wider demographic than our core audience. programmes. There are 39 local radio stations and 42 local Major centres Regional Television BBC Local radio and websites BBC Local websites BBC Cumbria BBC Newcastle NORTH EAST & CUMBRIA BBC Tees (Middlesbrough) Isle of Man BBC Isle of Man (Douglas) YORKSHIRE BBC York BBC Bradford BBC Leeds BBC Humberside (Hull) BBC Lancashire (Blackburn) YORKSHIRE & BBC Manchester LINCOLNSHIRE BBC Merseyside (Liverpool) NORTH WEST BBC Sheeld BBC Lincolnshire (Lincoln) BBC Stoke EAST MIDLANDS BBC Nottingham BBC Derby BBC Shropshire (Shrewsbury) BBC Norfolk (Norwich) WEST MIDLANDS BBC Leicester BBC WM (Birmingham) BBC Northampton EAST BBC Coventry & Warwickshire BBC Cambridgeshire (Cambridge) BBC Hereford & Worcester (Worcester) BBC Suolk (Ipswich) BBC Three Counties (Luton) BBC Gloucestershire (Gloucester) BBC Essex (Chelmsford) BBC Oxford LONDON BBC Wiltshire (Swindon) BBC London BBC Bristol Lundy Island BBC Berkshire (Reading) BBC Sussex & Surrey (Guildford) WEST SOUTH BBC Somerset (Taunton) BBC Kent (Tunbridge Wells) SOUTH EAST SOUTH WEST BBC Solent (Southampton) BBC Sussex & Surrey (Brighton) BBC Solent for Dorset (Dorchester) Isle of Wight BBC Devon (Plymouth) BBC Cornwall (Truro) Isles of Scilly Channel Islands Alderney BBC Guernsey (St Peter Port) Herm Guernsey Sark Jersey BBC Jersey (St Helier) Management Review 2014/15 – English Regions 02 Management Review 2014/15 – English Regions Two minute summary Television Television Television 47.1% the adult Our 6.30pm programmes 3.1 million adults watched population watched are the most watched news our 10.25pm bulletin in an at least 3 mins of programmes in the UK average week BBC regional news in an average week 47.1% 3.1m Source: BARB/TRP, Source: BARB/TRP, BBC England SD, adults Source: BARB/TRP, adults BBC England SD, adults Television Television Radio The most recent 4.3 million adults watched 1.1 million local radio series of Inside Out the 18:30 regional bulletin listeners listened to no (broadcast Jan-March in an average week other radio output at all 2015) had an average audience of 2.9 million adults 2.9m 4.3m 1.1m Source: RAJAR/TRP, BBC LR in Source: BARB/TRP, BBC England SD, adults Source: BARB/TRP, adults England TSA, 12 month weight, Q1 2015 Online Radio There were 11.9 million 2.3 million local radio average weekly unique listeners listened to no UK browsers to English other BBC radio station Regions online content 11.9m 2.3m Source: istats Source: RAJAR/TRP, BBC LR in England TSA, 12 month weight, Q1 2015 Online Radio An average of 329,000 BBC local radio UK unique browsers is listened to interacted with the by 6.7 million Local Live feeds each people in an week, peaking as high average week as 581,000 329,000 6.7m Source: Comscore DAx data for BBC News Online Source: RAJAR/TRP, BBC LR in England TSA, 12 month weight, Q1 2015 Management Review 2014/15 – English Regions 03 Management Review 2014/15 – English Regions Service performance We place our audiences at the centre of everything we do and use technological advances to enable them to have a real part in the output across all our different platforms. From uncovering and breaking significant local news stories of Regional Sunday Politics programmes on BBC One provided live national relevance on a daily basis to producing high profile, feisty and more in depth discussion of the main local talking points each debates with politicians being held to account face-to-face by week.