RADIO COMMISSIONING FRAMEWORK Commissioning Brief Commissioning Brief No: 107001 Production of BBC Radio 5 Live’s new ‘Sport Entertainment’ podcast for BBC Sounds CONTENTS SECTION A: EDITORIAL OPPORTUNITY........................................................................... 3 SECTION B: THE COMMISSIONING PROCESS ................................................................. 8 1. TIMETABLE .......................................................................................................... 8 2. THE FIVE STAGES ................................................................................................. 9 3. ASSESSMENT CRITERIA ..................................................................................... 11 SECTION C: FULL PROPOSALS ...................................................................................... 12 1. WHAT WE NEED FROM YOU ............................................................................. 12 2. WHAT TO EXPECT FROM US ............................................................................. 13 3. IMPORTANT POINTS TO NOTE .......................................................................... 14 SECTION D: KEY CONTRACT TERMS…………………………………………………………………………15 2 of 15 SECTION A: EDITORIAL OPPORTUNITY Commissioning Brief 107001 Sports Entertainment Podcast Commission contact Richard Maddock Duration Average 30-60 minutes per episode Number of programmes available Minimum initial run of 15 eps with option to extend. Transmission period Starting early 2020 Guide price per episode £2k - £5k per Commissioning Year 2019/2020 Commissioning Round Sports Entertainment Podcast All proposals must be submitted via Proteus. Please make your short proposal is no more than 250 words. Important Notes: Short Proposals must be submitted via Proteus before the deadline at noon on Tuesday Dec 31st. The answer to Part 1 should be no longer than 250 words per question. All answers should be entered into the ‘Add/Edit Notes Here’ section in Proteus. Note - the question in this brief may differ from those used in other 5 Live commissioning briefs. The suppliers that perform best in the short proposal stage (by best demonstrating their experience in podcast production and revealing their creative plan) will then have their Full Proposal assessed. This should be no longer than 3 sides of A4. It should be entered into the ‘full synopsis’ section of the Proteus submission form. We strongly advise you to submit your Proposals in good time to avoid the possibility of difficulties caused by unforeseen network or transmission problems. No late submissions will be accepted. 3 of 15 BBC Sounds BBC Sounds is the new digital platform from the BBC that has something for everyone: brand new music mixes – curated by some of the biggest names in the industry – new and exclusive podcasts, live and on-demand radio, plus endless hours from the archive. The BBC Sounds app makes recommendations based on your listening habits, so the more you listen the more you’ll discover. You’ll find collections of funny things, suspenseful stories, and curiosities, alongside music mixes to soundtrack your day. You can subscribe to shows to build your own feed in My Sounds, and you can download your favourites to listen offline and on the go. BBC Sounds is available for free from Apple, Google Play, Amazon and online at bbc.co.uk/sounds. BBC Radio 5 Live BBC Radio 5 Live is the home of news, conversation and the best live sport. On 5 Live we deliver informed, topical national debate to around 5 and a half million listeners every week. The station aims to set the national agenda on big news stories through the ownership of key issues and we put the audience at the heart of everything we do. Broadcasting from our base outside London, we take our commitment to reflect how the whole of the UK really thinks and feels very seriously. Almost every week we are on location telling more stories from more places than any other broadcaster, capturing the widest range of voices and views. We also travel the world to give our listeners insight into life beyond our borders. A truly interactive station, we aim to pioneer innovative new ways of bringing our content to audiences, particularly those under the age of 45, in both linear and digital ways. Sister station 5 Live Sports Extra is the BBC’s home of live sport. The station transmits on digital platforms only and broadcasts live sport commentary on an ad hoc basis. The station is well-known for its coverage of cricket (Test Match Special); Rugby League; Women’s Football and Formula 1, amongst many other sports. Across both stations, our world-class sports coverage and commentary brings nation-uniting moments to life across many different sports. We can cover up to 50 different sports during the year but our priority is football. We broadcast over 100 commentaries from the Premier League each season in addition to commentaries from The Champions League and international games. Podcast Strategy 5 Live has become one of the country’s leading production houses in the last few years. Our podcast strategy has seen download figures treble from around 30 million downloads a couple of years ago, to almost 100 million downloads of 5 Live titles in the last 12 months. Our production slate stretches across several genres, from successful news titles like the award winning Brexitcast; smash hit sports titles like ‘That Peter Crouch 4 of 15 Podcast’, ‘Tailenders’ and ‘5 Live Football Daily’ and entertainment titles like ‘Elis James and John Robins’ and ‘Kermode & Mayo’s Film Review’. We have also seen success in the fields of investigation journalism and dramatic story telling. Our podcast strategy is focussed on attracting under 35 year olds to become daily visitors to BBC Sounds, and is built around fulfilling 3 core needs: Unwind: Young people are feeling the stress and pressure of the world and their lives and want content that will help them let off steam, pick them up or provide them with good company. Stimulation & inspiration: Audiences are turning to on-demand speech to feel inspired, go deeper into their passions and understand themselves, their world and their place in it Feel lost in a story: An escapist need to be engrossed in something: shutting off from the world and being lost in the drama of a story 5 Live podcasts offer an opportunity to attract new audiences to BBC Sounds or deepen the connection with existing listeners. Most titles are broadcast on linear 5 Live but are commissioned as ‘podcast first’ projects. Tonally they should be raw, honest and personal and create a one-to-one connection with the listener. They should be authentic and relatable and designed to spark a conversation. Podcasts are a platform to introduce new talent to the BBC but can also reveal previously unseen sides of big name celebrities. They offer the chance for presenters to delve into areas of personal interest and create new communities around shared passions. The central pillars of all great podcasts are a great story, and a great storyteller. The Opportunity Around 7 million people listen to podcasts each week with 3 million of them saying they listen to the ‘Sport’ based titles. To these listeners Sport is more than just a game. It has broader cultural relevance for younger audiences in particular. Sport is celebrity, fashion, social capital. Sport is empowering and can be a force for good and identity forming. But Sport is not just for the die-hard season ticket holder. It plays a role in everyone’s life from fair-weather fans to early morning joggers. It is much more than a game. Sport teaches us about how the world does and doesn’t work; it makes us laugh, cry, sit on the edge of our seat or relax and it defines who we are or provides a distraction from everyday life. We are looking to commission a new podcast series that fits within our ‘Sports Entertainment’ genre. Previous 5 Live titles within this field that have been very successfully include the likes of Flintoff, Savage & The Ping Pong Guy; Tailenders and That Peter Crouch Podcast (that currently does around 500k downloads per episode). 5 of 15 Sport Entertainment podcasts offer more than just sporting debate and discussion. They take the listener behind the scenes, into the dressing room, on to the team bus etc. These podcasts are generally talent-led and reflect the ‘Unwind’ need state mentioned above. They are entertaining in their nature with a large degree of humour, but can also be brutally honest and emotional. We are looking for next smash hit series to add to BBC’s Sounds’ already impressive slate in this genre. The commission will initially be for a shorter series (approx. 15 episodes) but maybe extended to more episodes depending on early signs of success. We’re particularly interested in hearing ideas led by recognisable talent who maybe aren’t currently visible within the existing podcast market. It might be a big name sports personality at the heart of it, or alternatively a big name from the world of entertainment. We’re looking for a format or approach that will be entertaining, edgy and create a real habit-forming relationship with the listener. The proposal should provide an element of escapism for the audience, make them feel like they are being invited behind the scenes and involved in conversations that feel very personal and authentic. The range in guide price (£2k - £5k per ep) reflects the variation in number of hosts, level of talent, production requirement and the scale and ambition of the idea. This is a guide