50:50 is a toolkit designed to help production teams improve the range of their on-screen contributors in terms of gender, disability and ethnicity.
It enables content makers to set their own targets for on-screen representation in their programme, and then monitor the diversity of their content in real time to support ongoing decisions about the talent they feature on-screen.
Independent production companies who sign up to 50:50 monitoring are given access to the 50:50 New Voices database of contributors, which aids them in finding new and diverse contributors for their content. The database is of particular use for factual and unscripted programmes that feature expert contributors, as well as panel shows and quizzes.
50:50 is intended to help content-makers at a granular programme level, and therefore compliments the use of Diamond diversity monitoring for their shows.
How does 50:50 work?
Production teams who sign up to 50:50 monitoring start by working with the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ 50:50 team to set their own on-screen targets and decide what period of time they aspire to achieve these within. For instance, a returning series may look to reach 50% women on-screen across a season.
However, there is no 'one size fits all' model and no specific quota to fulfil. 50:50 is about teams setting their own benchmarks for success, and making sustainable improvements to their on-screen representation.
The tool is so simple to use that once the targets have been set the 50:50 team will produce monitoring sheets which productions then use to track the number of contributors in their content. Teams can then use this data to monitor their performance in real time which will inform the talent they chose to feature on-screen.
50:50 New Voices database
Production teams who sign up to 50:50 monitoring are given access to the 50:50 database of contributors, which enables content-makers to find the right voices for their content.
The searchable database lists thousands of diverse contributors with expertise ranging from agriculture to international security, from fashion to quantum physics. It is therefore most useful for factual and topical programmes, panel shows and for programmes seeking expert contributors on specific factual subject matters. Some quiz show productions have successfully used it to find contestants.
How we use 50:50 data
When independent productions sign up to 50:50 monitoring they agree to share their data and progress with the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ 50:50 team so we can help and support content makers to drive change. This data is confidential, and it is not shared elsewhere.
Once a year, aggregated 50:50 data is published in the annual . Additionally, independent production companies will be asked if they would like the standalone data from their programmes shared within the report, but there is no obligation to do so.
How to join 50:50
If you would like to find out more about The 50:50 Equality Project, please visit:
To sign up or speak to one of the team please email: 5050Project@bbc.co.uk
Know of any potential contributors or could be one yourself?
Contributors can submit their details to be included on the database via the .
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