BBC Executive Submission to the BBC Trust’s Review of Content and Services for Younger Audiences 16th December 2008 1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .............................................................................................................................3 1. UNDERSTANDING THE AUDIENCE ................................................................................................8 1.1 KEY POINTS...............................................................................................................................................8 1.2 THE AUDIENCE ..........................................................................................................................................8 1.3 YOUNGER AUDIENCES’ CONSUMPTION OF MEDIA ....................................................................................10 1.3.1 Television.........................................................................................................................................10 1.3.2 Radio...............................................................................................................................................11 1.3.3 Online..............................................................................................................................................12 2. BBC PROVISION FOR YOUNGER AUDIENCES ..........................................................................13 2.1 KEY POINTS.............................................................................................................................................13 2.2 THE BBC’S STRATEGY FOR YOUNGER AUDIENCES ....................................................................................13 2.3 PERFORMANCE OF THE BBC AMONG YOUNGER AUDIENCES .....................................................................14 2.3.1 Reach, Quality, Impact, Value ...........................................................................................................14 2.3.2 Performance against the BBC public purposes ...................................................................................17 3. PERFORMANCE OF SERVICES TARGETED TO YOUNGER AUDIENCES..........................20 3.1 RADIO 1..................................................................................................................................................20 3.1.1 Introduction and Summary................................................................................................................20 3.1.2 Service Licence Overview ..................................................................................................................21 3.1.3 Reach, Quality, Impact, Value ...........................................................................................................21 3.1.4 Performance Measured against the Public Purposes ...........................................................................23 3.2 1XTRA ....................................................................................................................................................35 3.2.1 Introduction and Summary................................................................................................................35 3.2.2 Service Licence Overview ..................................................................................................................35 3.2.3 Reach, Quality, Impact, Value ...........................................................................................................36 3.2.4 Performance Measured against the Public Purposes ...........................................................................37 3.3 BBC THREE .............................................................................................................................................46 3.3.1 Introduction and Summary................................................................................................................46 3.3.2 Service Licence.................................................................................................................................47 3.3.3 RQIV Analysis...................................................................................................................................47 3.3.4 Performance Measured against the Public Purposes ...........................................................................49 4. OTHER BBC CONTENT TARGETED TO YOUNGER AUDIENCES ......................................62 4.1 FORMAL LEARNING ..................................................................................................................................62 4.1.1 Existing remit...................................................................................................................................62 4.1.2 Strategy ...........................................................................................................................................62 4.1.3 Investment in the BBC formal learning provision for young people ......................................................64 4.1.4 Performance of the BBC’s formal learning output for young people.....................................................64 4.2 BBC SWITCH...........................................................................................................................................67 4.2.1 Existing remit...................................................................................................................................67 4.2.2 Strategy ...........................................................................................................................................67 4.2.3 Investment in BBC Switch .................................................................................................................68 4.2.4 Performance of BBC Switch ..............................................................................................................69 5. THE FUTURE OF THE BBC’S PROVISION TO YOUNGER AUDIENCES ............................71 5.1 FUTURE CHALLENGES ...............................................................................................................................71 5.2 BBC FUTURE STRATEGY ...........................................................................................................................71 5.2.1 Overall BBC strategy for younger audiences.......................................................................................71 5.2.2 Strategy for Radio 1 and 1Xtra.........................................................................................................72 5.2.3 Strategy for BBC Three.....................................................................................................................74 5.3 MANAGEMENT PROPOSALS FOR SERVICE LICENCE AMENDMENTS...............................................................76 2 Executive Summary I. The review The BBC Trust launched its review of the BBC’s provision of content and services to younger audiences aged 13 to 34 in September 2008, as part of its rolling programme of service reviews as required in the Charter and Agreement. This document is the BBC Executive’s submission to the review. September 2008 Review begins; public consultation launched Trust gathers evidence from BBC Executive, public consultation, Autumn/Winter 2008 audience research and other sources Winter 2008/9 Trust analyses data and prepares report Spring 2009 Report finalised and published by the Trust II. The scope of this submission This submission focuses on the BBC’s provision to younger audiences through three youth- targeted services: Radio 1, 1Xtra and BBC Three1. It also considers how the BBC is serving this audience across its portfolio of services, as well as with content targeted to this age group from Formal Learning and BBC Switch. This submission is designed to Provide understanding and insight into the 13-34 age group and their media habits Describe the BBC’s overall strategy for its provision to younger audiences aged 13-34 and evaluate how the BBC is performing amongst this age group (section 2) Outline and evaluate the performance of the BBC youth-targeted services against their Service Licences, delivery of the BBC’s purposes and the reach, quality, impact and value for money (RQIV) framework Describe the BBC’s strategy for its future provision for younger audiences aged 13 to 34 and propose changes to existing Service Licences, where appropriate (section 5) III. The 13 to 34 Audience The years 13 to 34 encompass a very wide range of life stages, from school age children to parents and married couples Younger audiences are extremely media literate, having grown up with new technology as an integral part of their education, work and leisure time All broadcasters, including the BBC, find it challenging to serve this demographic effectively, competing for their time and attention with the likes of games consoles, mobile phones and social networking websites, as well as a wide range of alternative content providers IV. Overall BBC provision for younger audiences The BBC’s relationship with younger audiences has traditionally been one of its biggest challenges. While the BBC has a long history and heritage in providing targeted content to UK children, from the age of 13 onwards their relationship with the BBC weakens in the face of lifestyle changes, greater competition from other broadcasters and media providers and wider access to new media technology. This challenge is not unique to the BBC, but meeting