BBC Trust Launches Review of BBC TV Services

The BBC Trust has launched a review of BBC One, BBC Two, BBC Four and the Red Button.

This forms part of the Trust’s regular series of reviews and will be the largest and most significant service review the Trust has undertaken. BBC One and BBC Two are the two most popular services that the BBC operates. It will be the first time that the Trust has looked at these services.

Diane Coyle, BBC Trustee, who is leading the review said:

"The Trust is the BBC’s governing body and we need to ensure these services are meeting audiences’ expectations. This is why we have launched this significant piece of work that will help us understand how well the BBC’s most popular services are operating. These services have a key role in helping the BBC deliver its public service mission. We’ll be looking at how they are performing against their service licences and whether they are offering value for money.

"Our research tells us that audiences want and expect more fresh and new ideas on the BBC television. This review will help us understand how best the BBC can provide distinctive programming that audiences love.

"We now want to encourage viewers to get in touch with us to let us know what they think of these BBC services."

Consultation

As part of the review the Trust is now launching a 12 week public consultation to find out the public’s views on all the services under review and what they would like to see done differently.

The consultation will be promoted on-air on BBC One, BBC Two, and BBC Four, on the bbc.co.uk and Trust websites and in a public leaflet being sent to libraries. The consultation will close on December 18th.

Scope

The review will look at all content on the channels including news and nations and regions output. The only content excluded will be children’s programming which was looked at in the Trust’s review of children’s services published in February.

Timeline

24 September 2009 - Review begins; public consultation launched
Autumn/winter 2009 - Trust Unit gathers evidence from BBC Executive, public consultation, audience research and other sources
18 December 2009 - Public consultation closes
Spring 2010 - Data analysis and conclusions
Summer 2010 - Report publication