Service Review of BBC Local Radio Analysis of Public Consultation Final Report 14th May 2012 By Clare Luke and Helen Mather Public Knowledge Table of Contents 1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 3 2. INTRODUCTION 6 3. SUMMARY OF KEY THEMES 9 4. RESPONSES TO CONSULTATION QUESTIONS 14 4.1: Which local radio station do you listen to? 14 4.2: What do you think about the proposed changes to BBC Local Radio? 17 4.3: BBC Local Radio has commitments with regards to news. How well do you think it does these things? 22 4.4: BBC Local Radio has commitments about encouraging participation. How well do you think BBC Local Radio does these things? 25 4.5: BBC Local Radio has commitments with regard to serving the needs of and reflecting the local area. How well do you think BBC Local Radio does these things? 28 4.6: Each local radio station should report on local sports, including minority sports? How well do you think it does these things? 31 4.7: BBC Local Radio has commitments with regards to music and arts. How well do you think BBC Local Radio does these things? 34 4.8: Is there anything else you want to say about BBC Local Radio? 37 5. PROFILE OF RESPONDENTS 38 Appendix A 40 2 BBC Trust Review of BBC Local Radio May 2012 © Public Knowledge 1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1.1 Background The Trust is the governing body of the BBC. Its role is to get the best out of the BBC for licence fee payers. One of the key ways in which it ensures that the BBC is delivering its public purposes is by carrying out a rolling programme of reviews of BBC services. As part of these reviews the Trust conducts a public consultation in order to understand the views of licence fee payers. The Trust’s latest service licence review looked at BBC Local Radio. 1.2 Consultation The consultation ran from 6th October to 21st December 2011. Licence fee payers were able to take part in the consultation via an online form or a hard copy leaflet. 8,904 people responded to the consultation – 8,115 online and 789 by hard copy. These responses were analysed by Public Knowledge, an independent research company, on behalf of the BBC Trust. 1.3 Key Themes from the consultation Note: These are the views of those who took part in the consultation and should not be considered necessarily representative of all licence fee payers. It is evident from the comments on the current performance that the majority of respondents value their BBC Local Radio station and feel the service licence commitments are being delivered successfully. However there are concerns that the planned changes will diminish the unique, distinctive content provided by BBC Local Radio and affect its ability to meet these commitments in the future. 3 BBC Trust Review of BBC Local Radio May 2012 © Public Knowledge Delivery of service licence commitments – Key Themes News coverage The vast majority of respondents comment that BBC Local Radio provides an excellent service in respect of its commitments to news, in particular local news and information. Impact of DQF – Concerns are raised that the proposed changes outlined in DQF will result in fewer local stories being covered due to the expanded regions and stations will be less able to react quickly to local emergencies during periods of shared programming. Encouraging Participation The majority of respondents feel that BBC Local Radio is very successful at encouraging participation, offering opportunities for direct listener engagement. This is a valued element of the programming as respondents suggest that it facilitates a stronger connection with the community. Impact of DQF – Respondents are concerned that the planned changes to BBC Local Radio will lead to fewer opportunities for listeners to contribute to local output and there will be less relevance if contributions are from people living in widespread areas or on topics about other areas. Reflecting the local area A key strength of BBC Local Radio referred to by respondents is felt to be its ability to reflect the local area, in particular its ability to reflect the diversity of the different types of people and communities as well as being able to champion the local area because of the knowledge and passion of the presenters. Impact of DQF – Concerns are raised that any reduction in resources and sharing of programming across wider areas are likely to diminish the station’s ability to properly reflect the local area. 4 BBC Trust Review of BBC Local Radio May 2012 © Public Knowledge Sport BBC Local Radio is praised for its sport programming with respondents commenting that it plays a key role in uniting the local community in their interest and support of local teams. It is also commended for its coverage of minority sports in addition to football. Impact of DQF – Respondents are concerned that sharing programming will lead to a reduction in quantity and quality of local sports programming, including coverage of minority sports. Concerns were also raised about the potential negative impact the closure of the medium wave frequency will have on the provision of football commentaries. Music The majority of respondents feel that BBC Local Radio fulfils its commitments to music and the arts very well, in particular the range of music provided and the support of local artists and events. Impact of DQF – Respondents are concerned that fewer local emerging artists will be showcased if the local focus vanishes. Concerns are also raised about the specific plan to share programming across weekday evening schedules which are praised for their provision of specialist music relevant to the local area. 5 BBC Trust Review of BBC Local Radio May 2012 © Public Knowledge 2. INTRODUCTION 2.1 About the review The BBC Trust is the independent governing body of the BBC representing the interests of licence fee payers. The Trust’s role is to get the best out of the BBC for licence fee payers and to secure effective promotion of its public purposes. The Trust is required to represent the interests of licence fee payers, assess their views carefully and appropriately, and have regard to the competitive impact of the BBC’s activities on the wider market. It must also ensure that the BBC observes high standards of openness and transparency. Each of the BBC services has a ‘service licence’ which details the remit for that service, outlining the overall format and particular characteristics the output of the service should embrace. The licence also indicates how the specific service should contribute to the overall delivery of the BBC’s public purposes. The BBC Trust is committed to reviewing each BBC service at least once during a five year cycle. This report will be considered as part of the review of BBC Local Radio. The Trust has issued a service licence for BBC Local Radio which sets out what the radio stations are expected to achieve. BBC Local Radio should deliver up- to-the minute, accurate, impartial and independent news, analysis and insight. It should provide fast and comprehensive coverage of local, UK and international events as they unfold and specialist analysis to put the news in context. In 2010 the funding for the BBC until 2017 was agreed, with the licence fee 6 BBC Trust Review of BBC Local Radio May 2012 © Public Knowledge being fixed at the current level of £145.50 for the next five years, and the BBC assuming additional funding responsibilities. This means that the BBC will have to make significant savings, some of which will come from internal efficiencies, but others through changes to BBC services. BBC management has developed a set of proposals in order to deliver these necessary savings. These proposals are set out in a document called Delivering Quality First and the BBC Trust has consulted on these proposals. Some of the proposals made by BBC management concern the future strategy of BBC Local Radio and respondents to this consultation were also able to comment on these specific proposals. The Trust will use responses from both consultations when considering the proposals regarding Local Radio. 2.2 About the Public Consultation As part of any service review, the Trust considers a range of different types of evidence including asking licence fee payers to respond to a number of specific questions about the services through an open public consultation which ran from 6th October to the 21st December 2011. 8,904 people responded to the consultation – 8,115 using the online consultation form and 789 via a hard copy leaflet. The BBC Trust has considered a range of evidence, including the views summarised in this report, and will publish its conclusions on the Trust website (www.bbc.co.uk/bbctrust). The responses to the public consultation were analysed by Public Knowledge, an independent research company, on behalf of the BBC Trust. 7 BBC Trust Review of BBC Local Radio May 2012 © Public Knowledge This report summarises both the key themes expressed by the public and responses to the 8 consultation questions, one relating to the future strategy proposals and the remainder relating to the service review. In addition to completing the consultation questionnaire, respondents were also able to submit comments via e-mail or letter. These responses are summarised in Appendix A. This report covers replies from individuals only - responses from stakeholders and organisations can be found separately on the BBC Trust website. 8 BBC Trust Review of BBC Local Radio May 2012 © Public Knowledge 3. SUMMARY OF KEY THEMES Note: These are the views of those who took part in the consultation and should not be considered necessarily representative of all licence fee payers.