Coming Up
Radio 3 - The Radio 3 Documentary, Between the Ears & The Essay
Timetable
- Deadline - full proposals: Tues 07 Jan 12 noon
- Results: Early Feb
Radio 4 - Main Commissioning Round 2025
Briefs published
- w/c 13 January
Commissioning Presentations
- Glasgow: Mon 03 Feb
- Salford: Tues 04 Feb
- Cardiff: Thurs 06 Feb
- London: Fri 07 Feb
All registered suppliers are welcome to attend. Details will be published in the December Speech newsletter. You can find details of how to become a registered supplier .
Timeline A: Factual one offs & Comedy
- Deadline β short proposals: Weds 26 Feb 12 noon
- Short proposal results: w/c 10 March
- Pitching meetings: between w/c 17 March & 01 April
- Deadline - full proposals: Tues 08 April 12 noon
- Results: Mid May
Timeline B: Factual series
- Deadline β short proposals: Weds 26 Feb 12 noon
- Short proposal results: w/c 10 March
- Pitching meetings: between w/c 17 March & 09 April
- Deadline - full proposals: Weds 16 April 12 noon
- Results: Early June
Timeline C: Factual narrative series, Arts & Drama
- Deadline β short proposals: Weds 05 March 12 noon
- Short proposal results: w/c 24 March
- Pitching meetings: between w/c 31 March & 07 May
- Deadline - full proposals: Weds 14 May 12 noon
- Results: Late July
Radio 4 - Current Rounds
There are no rounds currently open for Radio 4. The Main Commissioning Round 2025 will open in January.
Radio 4 - Open Round
The majority of our business is conducted through commissioning rounds and regulated by detailed commissioning briefs (see ). Registered suppliers can pitch to us outside of commissioning rounds if:
- an idea is a reaction to news events or current trends and has a short lead time. Reactivity, generally through non-fiction long form audio, is an important part of what we do. The audience needs us to explore subjects and stories in more depth than news programmes often have time for. This is also where we can examine history, experience and analysis related to news events.
- an idea is topical or talent dependent.
- the short proposal stage of a commissioning round has closed.
If your idea meets the criteria above, please email a paragraph outlining the idea to pitchtospeechaudio@bbc.co.uk. Please mark your email FAO the relevant Commissioning Editor.
What happens once I have pitched my idea?β―
Your idea will be read by a Commissioning Editor, working with the wider commissioning team.β―
If you have pitched through a commissioning round, or through a tender, the timetable for receiving feedback on your idea, and the process for developing your idea, will be published at the start of the round.β―
If you have sent an ad hoc idea through the Open Round:
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You will get an automated email acknowledgement on receipt of your submission to pitchtospeechaudio@bbc.co.uk
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We will aim to contact you about your idea within 2 weeks of submission (and guarantee you will get a response within a maximum of 14 weeks). You willβ―be contacted by the relevant Commissioning Editor or a member of the Commissioning Team, on their behalf, who will either reject your idea, request more information, or ask you to take the idea through to the next stage and enter it into Proteus, our commissioning and scheduling system.
What happens once I have put an idea into Proteus?
All programmes commissioned in the Open Round require proposals in Proteus before commissions can be confirmed. Currently, this can be found in Proteus under Round 8 2024-2025. It may be closed for 24 hours ahead of a large commissioning round. Please do not put any pitches into Proteus until it is requested by a Commissioning Editor.
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From Proteus a Commissioning Editor will commission, reject or shortlist your idea. Commissioning Editors shortlist to give them more time to work with suppliers, or to consider these ideas against other factors.β― Suppliers whose offers have been shortlisted or commissioned will receive additional information via email.
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We will aim to get you a firm βyesβ or βnoβ within 6 weeks, and certainly no more than 20 weeks, of your original submission, or by the relevant commissioning round deadlines. In some cases, your offer may be shortlisted pending further discussions with the relevant commissioning editor.
There will be some rare occasions where a Commissioning Editor will need more time to make a decision about an idea. In this case, the Commissioning Editor will write to you, explaining the delay and setting out a new timetable.
Podcast - Open Round
We're looking for big, bold, bright ambitious ideas - the ones that will help us grow new communities of listeners. We donβt commission a huge number of podcasts but, when we do, we back them 100%, from commission to delivery and promotion. Once commissioned weβll love your idea just as much as you do.
Often, we want ideas that are perfect for returning series.
In addition:
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we like to work with big names who can bring new audiences with them, especially in the entertainment genre;
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we want to work with great new journalists and producers whose ideas and treatments will take us to new listeners;
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we love ambitious formats and approaches that reimagine Radio 4 and 5 Live values and journalism for a different audience;
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We are interested in ideas that reach beyond current ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ audio listeners, to audiences who love podcasts but havenβt found them at the ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ yet;
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Weβre definitely in the market for your take on where the gaps are. What have you spotted that no one else has?
The door is always open for these podcast ideas, via the Open Round. Sometimes ideas commissioned here find their way on to Radio 4 or 5 Live speedily, while some take more time, and others will work best as podcast only.
We are also interested in a limited number of ideas that are not focused on a specific ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ radio network. These are likely to be titles with a broad appeal for audiences who havenβt yet discovered ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ podcasts. They will be podcasts that are talked about and shared. What can we offer this audience to make them fall in love with the medium?
We will also advertise tenders where you can pitch for specific podcast briefs. Details of current tenders can be found on Current Opportunities.
How to Pitch:
Email a paragraph outlining your idea to pitchtospeechaudio@bbc.co.uk, marking it for the attention of the relevant Commissioning Editor. You can find details of Commissioning Editors and their specialisms here. If you are not sure which is the right Editor for your idea, done worry, we will make sure it goes to the person best suited to commission it.
If the Commissioning Editor expresses an interest, enter a proposal in Proteus. The Commissioning Editor will give you more details of how to do this. All podcasts commissioned in this Open Round require proposals in Proteus before conditional commissions can be confirmed.
Check the status of your proposal in Proteus. This will be updated, typically, within a couple of weeks. Your idea will either be rejected, shortlisted or commissioned. Suppliers whose offers have been shortlisted or commissioned will receive additional information via email.
What happens once I have pitched my idea?
Your idea will be read by a Commissioning Editor, working with the wider commissioning team. Ideas will then be Rejected, Accepted or Shortlisted in Proteus. Commissioning Editors sometimes shortlist ideas to give them more time to work with suppliers, or to consider these ideas against other factors.
If you have pitched through the open round, you will get an automated email acknowledgement on receipt of your submission. Within a maximum of 14 weeks you will be contacted by the Commissioning Editor with a no or with a request to put the idea into Proteus. Within a maximum of 20 weeks you will receive a Yes or No via Proteus. These are our maximum guarantees - we expect to respond much more quickly.