Speech given to the Radio Academy's Radio Festival 2004 - Â鶹ԼÅÄ Radio
in the Second Digital Age
Wednesday 14 July 2004
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Ladies and gentlemen.
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As you all know, the 12 months that have passed since
the last Radio Festival have been amongst the most turbulent in the
Â鶹ԼÅÄ's long history.
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The train of events that started at 6.07am on Radio
4's Today programme last May and culminated on January 28th this year
with the publication of the Hutton Report, plunged the Â鶹ԼÅÄ into a great
and dangerous crisis.
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In the immediate run up to a testing Charter Review,
the Corporation had been suddenly deprived of its leadership - an unprecedented
occurrence.
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I have to confess that this stage brings back many of
those memories. When Greg Dyke addressed the Festival last July he said
of the Gilligan report... "This has now dominated the headlines
for two weeks and it is time for both sides to agree to disagree and
move on."
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Sadly events were to prove otherwise.
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Things feel different now. We have a new Chairman, Michael
Grade. Â鶹ԼÅÄ staff were thrilled to welcome him back - they like his red
socks!
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Michael took up his post on May 17th and on the 21st
appointed Mark Thompson Director-General.
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To quote the newly ennobled papal knight Jim Moir -
"Five days to get the most important job done, even God took seven!"
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That appearance by Greg in Birmingham last year was
his second visit to the Radio Festival as Director-General – doubling
the contributions made by other DGs.
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I am sure Michael Grade and Mark Thompson will also
grace this stage at future Festivals. Because all three - experts in
Television – recognise the extraordinary resilience and potency
of radio in contributing to the public value of the Â鶹ԼÅÄ.
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During all the turbulence of those opening months of
2004, the debate on Charter Review never stopped with the publication
of Ofcom's first Review of Public Service Television and then David
Elstein's Report for the Conservative Party.
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Last month, we published the Â鶹ԼÅÄ's contribution to the
debate with our vision for the future of Public Service Broadcasting
in a document called Building Public Value.
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The changing face of the Charter
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Â鶹ԼÅÄ Charters have always been about radio, of course.
The first Â鶹ԼÅÄ Charter in 1927 ushered in the first age of broadcasting
in the UK.
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The people who shaped that original Charter believed
that public service broadcasting could enrich listeners with knowledge,
culture and information about the world in which they lived, could introduce
individuals to new experiences, could create shared experiences, could,
to quote Lord Reith, "bring the best of everything into the greatest
number of homes".
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The Â鶹ԼÅÄ was to be a creative powerhouse for the UK,
making all kinds of programmes that strived for excellence and gave
voice to communities and individuals.
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During the 80 years of the Â鶹ԼÅÄ's history there have
been only seven Charters. The seventh ushered in the first digital age.
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Since then hundreds of millions of pounds have been
spent on three digital TV platforms and over 200 digital TV channels.
Digital TV now reaches over half of UK homes.
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The internet, which wasn't even mentioned in the Â鶹ԼÅÄ's
contribution to the last debate, is now used by nearly half the population.
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And in this fevered multimedia environment radio has
flourished. Over 24 hours of listening per individual per week and over
90% reach!
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The contribution of commercial
radio
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Commercial radio has been central to this growth with
new stations, new formats and its remarkable support for DAB Digital
Radio.
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Â鶹ԼÅÄ Radio has also been central to the reinvigoration
of radio by its commitment to a broad range of programming, by extending
choice with its new digital stations, with its investment and commitment
to the opportunities of the internet, with the development of significant
off air activity by every local station.
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The co-operation of commercial radio and the Â鶹ԼÅÄ to
get DAB Digital Radio off the ground has shown an industry mature enough
to know when competition could be needlessly destructive.
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We both set aside our basic instincts to achieve something
important for the future of our industry. How much longer will those
instincts be set aside?
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DAB has started to impact, but radio is also listened
to in many other ways that we would be foolish to ignore.
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Radio is consumed by millions through television sets
– something no one predicted five years ago, or even three.
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Radio is consumed by millions through the internet.
Radio is going through its own first digital revolution. Our audiences
are surprising us and expect us to continue to surprise them.
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Role of the Â鶹ԼÅÄ in the second
digital age
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Each Charter has reflected the changing needs of society
and identified the changing role for the Â鶹ԼÅÄ to meet those needs.
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So what is the role for the Â鶹ԼÅÄ in the second digital
age?
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Different countries have very different definitions
of public service broadcasting. Our new Chairman referred to his experiences
in the United States when he launched Building Public Value last month.
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In the US, public service broadcasting is quite simply
what the commercial market will not do. That is why Public Radio stations
in America are minority broadcasters broadcasting to the political elite,
while their connection with the vast majority of the American public
is non existent.
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Something tells me such a scenario would prove very
attractive to some of my colleagues in commercial radio.
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I remember some of the internal debates we had in the
Â鶹ԼÅÄ at the time of the last Charter. Some argued that the Â鶹ԼÅÄ's purpose
should be defined (I would say confined) to 'high' culture – affectionately
called the Himalayan Heights.
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That limiting view did not reflect the majority of
both internal and, more importantly, external views of the purpose of
the Â鶹ԼÅÄ.
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For that majority, a public service vision of broadcasting
demands a mix of content across a wide range of genres covering comedy,
entertainment, popular music as well as science, history and classical
music.
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The Â鶹ԼÅÄ has to make the case for the role of the public
service broadcaster in a world of multichannels, of technological innovation,
of increasing mobility and increasing choice.
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It is owned by the people of Britain. They care about
it and feel disappointed when it fails.
Public value
The Â鶹ԼÅÄ can make a difference - to individuals, by giving them unique
access to things they value.
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For almost 80 years both Parliament and the British
people have demanded of public service broadcasting universality, equity
and accountability.
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As Michael Grade has said, unlike the US "Britain
took a different, public service path. It set out... unashamedly, to
build an instrument of public value".
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Does Â鶹ԼÅÄ Radio continue to deliver public value? Will
it continue to bring something special and impactful for its listeners,
citizens, society as a whole?
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I have been hearing some of those old 'Himalayan' arguments
coming forward once again in the debate about this Charter.
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"Let the Â鶹ԼÅÄ be there to
do what the market does not and leave the market to do everything else."
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I have even heard some argue that the Â鶹ԼÅÄ should develop
programmes and services when a market is in its infancy to help it grow
- and then withdraw when that market reaches maturity.
Democratic value
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At the heart of Â鶹ԼÅÄ Radio's editorial proposition is
its provision of news and current affairs.
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By providing trusted, impartial news and information
to foster understanding and help the citizen make informed decisions,
we contribute to the democratic health of the UK.
At this stage of the last Charter debate there was a sense of optimism
in Europe, after the fall of the Iron Curtain and the apparent success
of the first Gulf War.
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New fledgling democracies in Eastern Europe were applying
to join Nato. There was hope of a Middle East settlement, with Arafat
and Rabin shaking hands on the White House lawn.
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Some even talked of a New World Order.
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Since 9/11 and the Afghan and Iraq wars that sense of
optimism is almost forgotten.
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I believe we need the Â鶹ԼÅÄ now more than ever attempting
to make sense of this complex world.
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Our five analogue networks alone devoted more than 11,000
hours to news and current affairs last year.
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I noticed on Monday a number of my commercial colleagues
referred to the Â鶹ԼÅÄ as "The State Broadcaster".
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We are the public service broadcaster, not the State
one. There is a considerable difference – our independence is the
most important thing.
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Radio 4 has a demanding and knowledgeable audience which
seeks great depth and challenge from its journalism – and gets
it, not just from daily news programmes like Today and World at One
offering briefings, commentaries and reportage, but with documentaries
on topics as varied and relevant as the rise of Saddam, the effectiveness
of the UN, and the effects of globalisation.
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Radio 4 did all those last year and many more.
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It was taken for granted that Â鶹ԼÅÄ Radio broadcast the
whole debate from Parliament that led to the vote for war last year.
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Radio Five Live, with its commitment to live coverage
of events, threw out its schedules to give continuous coverage of the
Iraq war.
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It was there to steer you through the fog - be it the
press conferences of Comical Ali or Donald Rumsfeld.
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Its job is always to steer you through the fog, whether
it's the Spending Review or the battle for M&S.
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Just last night it changed its programming to bring
a Jeff Randall hour long special on Marks and Spencer, with exclusive
interviews with both Stuart Rose and Philip Green in advance of today's
AGM.
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Democratic value and music radio
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And Â鶹ԼÅÄ Radio's support of the democratic life of this
country is not confined to our speech services.
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The provision of news and current affairs on Radios
1 and 2, on 1Xtra and 6 Music is central to their remit.
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The sense of foreboding when faced with the complexities
of today is as present amongst the young as in the rest of society.
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Radio 1 and 1xtra, with their bespoke news services,
can help to foster understanding and so help put anxieties into perspective.
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In the past few months 1Xtra has run documentaries
on Islamic Pride, tracing the growing influence of an anti-western radicalism
amongst young Muslims post 9/11.
It's looked at the success of the abstentionist movement among American
teens and examined how a government-sponsored abstention campaign in
Uganda has led to a huge drop in the HIV and pregnancy rate.
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Public service radio stations must push the boundaries
and tackle difficult issues.
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For Radio 1 that means putting news programmes in the
heart of its daytime schedule with a programme like Newsbeat, and delivering
programmes, like Sunday Surgery, which help the youth of this country
deal with simply being young today.
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It means a music network covering D-Day anniversary
and explaining to today's young people what the young of 60 years ago
had done for their future.
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We live in a diverse, multicultural society and that
means our radio services must reflect all aspects of the various cultures
that make up the United Kingdom.
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And it means that Radios 1 and 2 must tackle the aftermath
of the Iraq War seriously. They would be failing in their remit if they
were not to.
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They have a responsibility to contribute to the democratic
life of this country as well as its musical life.
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The Jeremy Vine Show on Radio 2 has covered the war
and its aftermath as thoroughly as The World At One on Radio 4, but
in a different way – one relevant for its audience, giving that
audience the chance not just to hear the participants but comment on
them, give voice to their concerns.
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Our network of Local Radio stations also make news and
current affairs central to their output.
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They do broadcast music, but in their scrutiny of the
Town Hall and other public institutions, in their reflection of the
social, cultural, sporting and religious life of the towns and cities
where they are located, our local services help to build a sense of
identity in those communities, particularly amongst the older generations
and those who feel underserved and disenfranchised.
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A major project last year, for example, on all the Nations'
and local services, gave a platform to minorities whose voices are rarely
heard on air: travellers in Kent, the Somalis of Leicester and the Portuguese
in the Channel Islands.
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As one contributor put it afterwards: "I've found
my voice, and I like it!"
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I'm not claiming exclusivity here. I know commercial
radio plays a vital role in local communities too – but it's a
different one.
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The Â鶹ԼÅÄ's commitment to all these kinds of journalism
on its radio services is giving licence payers something unique and
something they value.
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Cultural and creative value
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News and Current Affairs are not the only contribution
Â鶹ԼÅÄ Radio can and does make to the UK.
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What a public service broadcaster must do in the 21st
century is grow talent, develop public taste, underpin cultural life.
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The universality of the licence fee demands it.
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By supporting British talent – writers, musicians,
performers - and enabling a rich diverse culture to thrive in the UK,
Â鶹ԼÅÄ Radio creates cultural and creative value.
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I believe all the Â鶹ԼÅÄ's music stations have an obligation
to champion British music, good British music, and that is as important
for Radio 1 as for Radio 2 or Radio 3.
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Commercial radio, understandably, reflects what the
public like, but you need the Â鶹ԼÅÄ supporting music at its roots and
across the board, if public taste is to grow.
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And the music industry needs public taste to grow.
Let me talk about Radio 1. I have said much of this before but it bears
repeating.
Radio 1 has been a part of the nation's growing up for nearly 40 years.
It is the Â鶹ԼÅÄ's youth radio network which, over the years, has constantly
evolved to reflect the changing tastes of new generations.
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Today the station attracts around 50% of the 15 to 24
population. I have talked about its commitment to news, but the first
thing I expect of Radio 1 is that it plays terrific new music.
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In the last month Radio 1 played artists as diverse
as Joss Stone, The Streets, Snow Patrol and Estelle.
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The station is supporting new UK music - Keane, Franz
Ferdinand and Natasha Beddingfield - are all artists who received substantial
early support from Radio 1.
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Now they are being played by many stations, but it's
that early support that is crucial.
And enabling audiences to hear 'live' performances is a central part
of what I expect all the Â鶹ԼÅÄ Radio's music networks to do.
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A 'live' performance is unique – it is illuminating
by its very contrast to the recorded performance. And it's expensive.
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In the last few months, Radio 1 has featured live tracks
from Razorlight, The Ordinary Boys, Faithless and Ash.
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Jo Whiley's Live Lounge is the established place to
hear up-and-coming bands.
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Live performance is woven into the schedule with a year-in,
year-out commitment to Glastonbury, T in the Park, the Reading/Leeds
Festival, and Creamfields.
We want to broaden tastes not narrow them. It is important that Radio
1 also continues to support the widest range of specialist music genres
with presenters like Zane Lowe, Mike Davis and Bobby & Nihal.
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Being funded by the licence fee brings obligations to
serve all audiences young and old, because they all pay their licence
fees. It is not just an obligation to serve the ones commercial radio
don't want.
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Popular music is continuously reinventing itself, often
building on the heritage of the past. Radio 2 should support and underpin
that. It has as important a cultural role as Radio 1 and Radio 3.
Radio 2 nurtures talent, plays the broadest range of
music, more than any other radio station, supports folk, jazz, gospel
as well as operetta and rock 'n' roll.
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It invests in music documentaries that expand your appreciation
of music like UK Black, Courtney Pine's analysis of the black music
scene, and Lost Boy, the story of the cult singer-songwriter Nick Drake
which marked the 30th anniversary of his death.
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(That became the most requested on-demand Radio 2 programme
ever, attracting over 60,000 listen again requests in just one week).
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Radio 2 broadcasts features on the widest possible
range of musicians and artists, everyone from Noel Coward to Kylie Minogue,
via Billie Holiday, Karen Carpenter and Sid Vicious.
Radio 2 has always spoken to a broad audience. I know some of you here
would like that relationship to shrink.
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Well I applaud Radio 2 because, in growing its audience,
it has done so with quality programmes and taken creative risks along
the way.
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As attitudes in society have changed so Radio 2 has
responded to those changes... the 60-year-old of today does not believe
in the same things, live the same life, and listen to the same music
as the 60-year-old of 15 or even 10 years ago.
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Today's 50-year-olds grew up in the age of the Beatles,
the Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton.
The network has introduced its listeners to music they might otherwise
have never tasted.
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Over half the Radio 2 playlist over the last 12 months
has been devoted to British Music.
The Sold on Song initiative the network began last year has seen masterclasses
with such fine songwriters as Chris Difford, Elvis Costello, Brian Kennedy
and Billy Bragg.
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And since last month the Janice Long Show has opened
its airwaves to find the new British songwriters of tomorrow.
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1Xtra has carried nearly 250 hours of live music in
the last 12 months, while 6 Music has recorded 480 new sessions since
its launch.
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Yes, I know it's because we have the privilege of licence
funding, but the key objective for the last licence fee settlement was
to enable the Â鶹ԼÅÄ to help drive digital take up, and investing in quality
programming does just that.
That support for musicians and music-making permeates all that Radio
3 does, be it classical music, jazz or world music.
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It's not just by its funding of five Â鶹ԼÅÄ orchestras
that Radio 3 contributes to the cultural life of this country, it's
the partnerships it has formed with festivals like Womad and the London
Jazz Festival, broadening tastes and experiences.
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It's the work it is doing giving seven to 11-year-olds
across the country the opportunity to experience live orchestral music
for the first time.
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It's supporting young British artists by enabling them
to give public performances, broadcasting those performances and commissioning
new composition.
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Radio 3 on its own commissions more new music than any
institution in the UK and over 50% of Radio 3 is live music or specially
recorded performance from orchestras across the UK and not just the
Â鶹ԼÅÄ.
The creative community
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It's because the Â鶹ԼÅÄ has a portfolio across, what are
now, five music stations, we can cover music in depth, supporting artists
across genres, supporting key talent throughout their careers, expanding
the public's music tastes.
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We can cross-fertilise between stations and musical
trends.
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We can serve all our licence payers, not just a chosen
few.
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We can underpin the cultural life of this country,
Radio 3 does not confine its cultural remit to music
alone.
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It has long supported writers and the long form play.
In the past 12 months it has broadcast David Hare's The Permanent Way
and Kwame Kwei-Armah's Elmina's Kitchen, both successful National Theatre
commissions but rewritten for radio and delivering many times the audience.
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Over the last four years Radio 3 has produced 17 plays
of Shakespeare.
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Â鶹ԼÅÄ Radio invests millions in supporting writers and
performers.
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Just two months ago, the Asian Network launched Silver
Street, a daily soap about Asians living in the West Midlands which
is offering a whole new outlet for young Asian writers and actors.
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Radio 4 alone commissioned 350 new plays and 300 hours
of original comedy last year, and employed 1,500 actors.
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At a time when these genres have almost disappeared
from the radio schedules of other European public broadcasters, Â鶹ԼÅÄ
Radio continues to offer significant opportunities to new writers and
performers and to nurture talent, for the benefit of the whole broadcasting
industry.
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Nowhere is that more overt than in Radio 4's investment
in comedy which, in recent years, has produced a substantial dividend
for Â鶹ԼÅÄ Television with programmes like Little Britain, League of Gentlemen,
Dead Ringers and The Mighty Boosh!
Educational value
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I think Â鶹ԼÅÄ Radio must offer learning opportunities,
not in overtly 'educational' programmes of the sort you might remember
at school, but informal opportunities to learn, through programmes that
allow listeners of every age to find the unexpected and the unfamiliar
and to extend their experience and knowledge.
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A former Controller of Radio 4, Michael Green, described
it as "a listeners' library".
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Whether it is a series on Islam, a weekly date with
Gardeners' Question Time, Melvyn Bragg's In Our Time, Stuart Maconie's
Critical List, Composer of the Week or Hugh Masekela's series exploring
the development of South African music – all these extend our horizons
and knowledge.
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To me that is absolutely the role for the Â鶹ԼÅÄ.
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The digital world
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Helping our listeners understand the fast-changing digital
world is a responsibility for all of us, not just the Â鶹ԼÅÄ.
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I applaud commercial radio's commitment and innovation.
Credit where credit is due.
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But the Â鶹ԼÅÄ with its public funding has an extra responsibility
and must invest in moving radio and its listeners forward, using and
consuming new technology.
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Radio 1 tried to do just that two months ago with Digital
Week - all Radio 1 programmes, both mainstream and specialist, talked
about "3 New Ways to Listen" - via DTV, DAB and the internet.
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The message was unmissable and generated an amazing
reaction from listeners, 500,000 responses about digital in one week!
Radio 2 will run a digital awareness campaign in September.
Online statistics published
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I said the eighth Charter will take us into the second
digital age. For all of us in radio that means we have to address and
interact with our audiences on many platforms, through many different
technologies.
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I have said before when talking about our radio networks
we should look at all their performance, not just their RAJAR figures.
I believe our online performance should be as public as our analogue
performance. From the autumn, I am therefore going to publish the monthly
online, streaming and 'on demand' performance of all the Â鶹ԼÅÄ's national
radio stations.
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We will make these statistics available on the web.
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In June Five Live's coverage of Euro 2004 eclipsed all
previous traffic and listening records for the station – 840,000
listeners online generated 13.3 million page impressions and 1.4 million
listening hours. Over a quarter of a million 'on
demand' requests.
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I think that is a critical part of the Five Live story
and in future it will be available for all to see.
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Technology is ever changing. The Radio Player has shown
how audio on demand can enhance the licence payers' experience.
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Downloading offers further opportunities. On Radio
4, the decision to make this year's Reith Lectures available as an experimental
download was warmly welcomed by internet listeners, many of them living
beyond the reach of the station's transmitters.
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This is an extremely encouraging pointer to the way
in which Â鶹ԼÅÄ Radio's programme portfolio can become increasingly available
in ways our listeners will demand.
At the start of this speech I said the Â鶹ԼÅÄ has been living through turbulent
times.
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I think the next year is likely to continue to be turbulent
in different ways.
DG's reviews
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In launching Building Public Value Mark Thompson announced
four reviews of the Â鶹ԼÅÄ. On value for money, on
our commercial activities, on our production and commissioning and out
of London.
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All four of these reviews will impact on Â鶹ԼÅÄ Radio.
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Some of you will be aware that a couple of months ago
we instigated a review of our business dealings with independent producers
with a view to streamlining the processes and
also looking again at the rights we acquire.
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At the start of the last Charter Â鶹ԼÅÄ Radio committed,
voluntarily, to commission 10% of its qualifying output from independents,
to kick-start an independent radio production industry.
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Since 1997 we have never commissioned less than 10%
and for the last three years substantially more - this year 13%.
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We said it was a floor not a ceiling and our actions
have confirmed that.
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We greatly value our relationship with the independent
sector.
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Michael Grade has described Â鶹ԼÅÄ Television's failure
in the past to meet its statutory independent quota as a "self-inflicted
wound".
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That statutory TV Independent quota of 25% applies equally
to ITV as well as Â鶹ԼÅÄ. I am sorry that my commercial colleagues have
not followed the Â鶹ԼÅÄ and supported an independent radio sector on INR.
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Despite this we are planning to extend our commitment
from our five national analogue networks to include Radios Scotland,
Wales and Ulster over the next few years.
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I had hoped to be able to announce changes in our terms
of trade with independents at this festival, but the result of the overall
Â鶹ԼÅÄ Review of Production and Commissioning will need to be included
in our proposals, so this process will take somewhat longer than we
had hoped.
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However, I am confident it will be finished by the
end of the summer.
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I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the
independent producers who have already participated in our consultation.
It has been extremely useful.
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Changes to the way the Â鶹ԼÅÄ operates will not be confined
to the results of Mark's four reviews.
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The Â鶹ԼÅÄ has to change. Our new Chairman has made it
absolutely clear "the status quo is not an option".
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And in doing so he announced significant changes to
Governance at the Â鶹ԼÅÄ.
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In future the Governors will issue a service licence
for each and every Â鶹ԼÅÄ network in addition to publishing our annual
Statements of Programme Policy.
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Each service licence will set out in some detail the
remit, conditions, objectives and budgets for all Â鶹ԼÅÄ Radio services,
local as well as national.
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I saw some of my commercial colleagues smile when they
heard this. I know you have all long alleged controllers of Â鶹ԼÅÄ Radio
stations can change their services at will, are unaccountable.
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It has never been true. Our constraints may be different
from yours but they are specific and challenging.
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I welcome the Governors' initiative. The Â鶹ԼÅÄ must become
more open, transparent and accountable. Our funding demands we do.
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I have talked a lot about how I think the Â鶹ԼÅÄ can offer
value in a second digital age.
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But the argument is not about what the Â鶹ԼÅÄ wants, or,
dare I say it, what commercial radio wants. What matters is what the
listeners, our licence fee payers, want.
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David Elstein said on Monday and I quote: "One
of the things about the Â鶹ԼÅÄ is, its ability to address audiences, creatively
and inventively, has kept it going. Â鶹ԼÅÄ Radio has deeper roots than
television has... as long as we all appreciate the point of Â鶹ԼÅÄ Radio,
and the value over and above, Â鶹ԼÅÄ Radio will still be a significant
player. Amen to that."
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Thank you David.
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I was going to talk about the surveys we conduct every
year to find out what our listeners want but you have said it all for
me. You said "...the Â鶹ԼÅÄ is so important
to our society".
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I believe that too and what our listeners want are
programmes for all ages and interests.
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The range and breadth of the offering on a single Â鶹ԼÅÄ
station allows listeners to find the unexpected and the unfamiliar,
to extend their experience and knowledge, present a formidable array
of broadcast riches that stimulate intellectual curiosity, satisfy a
great diversity of musical tastes and feed the imagination.
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The debate leading towards a new Charter will be tough
and uncompromising. It will range across many issues.
I know that some, like David, believe the Â鶹ԼÅÄ should be funded by means
other than the licence fee, but I believe that that unique form of funding
is the driver for a unique vision.
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Owned by the British people, independent of political
and commercial interests, the Â鶹ԼÅÄ is a unique institution that exists
to serve everyone, regardless of age, income, sex, race or religion.
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Its independence from all interests, commercial or political,
other than the public interest, is its greatest asset.
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That is as true in its approach to music, in its approach
to writing, to comedy, to news and current affairs, to communities.
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Public service broadcasting puts the viewers' and listeners'
interests first.
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The Â鶹ԼÅÄ can make a massive social, cultural and economic
difference. It can bring unique value to the UK citizen.
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It has done so for 80 plus years and I believe it is
even more important for it to play that role in future.
