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Wednesday 13 July 2005
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Good morning everyone and thank you very much for coming.

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I'm looking forward to hearing your questions in a moment and to meeting more of you over drinks this evening.

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But before then, we've got a bit of catching up to do because a huge amount has happened since we held the last of these briefings some 15 months ago.

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There are a few new Â鶹ԼÅÄ faces to introduce you to, and new opportunities to tell you about.

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Key new appointments lining up alongside Stuart Murphy at Â鶹ԼÅÄ THREE are Peter Fincham as Controller of Â鶹ԼÅÄ ONE, Roly Keating at Â鶹ԼÅÄ TWO, Janice Hadlow at Â鶹ԼÅÄ FOUR and Jay Hunt at Â鶹ԼÅÄ Daytime.

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And someone you might just know… has just been announced as the Commissioning Editor for Features and Factual Entertainment… congratulations go to Elaine Bedell on her new role.

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In addition, Alison Sharman has taken over as the new Controller of CÂ鶹ԼÅÄ and one of her first moves was to appoint CÂ鶹ԼÅÄ's first 'indies champion', Anne Gilchrist.

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We've put in place some changes to the commissioning system, with new streamlined teams in drama, entertainment and factual, simplified our commissioning processes and made them fairer, more transparent and more meritocratic.

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We've agreed important changes with Pact over intellectual property rights - the new terms of trade offer tremendous commercial opportunities to the independent sector.

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And the number of independent productions on Â鶹ԼÅÄ Television has reached a new record. In fact we have broken through the 30 per cent level for the first time - the latest figures from Ofcom (announced either today or in the coming days) confirm that we've achieved 30.3 per cent.

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Last year we spent £329 million on TV programming from external producers. We commissioned more than 250 companies to make programmes for our regional, national and network television services, 25 more than the previous year.

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"About time too," some of you may say about these developments, and I'd be the first to admit that we've had some catching up to do to ensure greater and fairer access to indies.

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But I hope you will agree - and I'm sure you'll tell me later if it's not the case! - that the Â鶹ԼÅÄ is already a better place to do business with…

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We have listened and we are making real progress in delivering effective change.

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And I hope you will be as excited as we are about the opportunities for working more closely together right now.

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Because the Â鶹ԼÅÄ depends on a thriving partnership with an indie sector that is growing in strength, ambition and capability. Particularly if we are to meet the challenge of the digital, multichannel, interactive world.

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We need to harness all of your creative energy if we are to accommodate the escalating needs and expectations of viewers in the years to come. We want the best ideas, to deliver these to the widest audience, to build the reach of Â鶹ԼÅÄs ONE and TWO and to continue the growth story of Â鶹ԼÅÄs THREE and FOUR, CÂ鶹ԼÅÄ and CBeebies.

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Although you're going to hear from the channels and genres individually, I thought I'd give you a quick upsum of what we're looking for as a portfolio of channels to meet those needs.

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We're looking for a whole new generation of vibrant contemporary factual programming, particularly for Â鶹ԼÅÄ TWO, to restore our reputation in an area we've traditionally been dominant in.

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Comedy - Â鶹ԼÅÄ THREE has built a strong relationship with its audience through innovative, ground breaking comedy… and we need more of it. Some of it we can migrate across the channels to finally, like Little Britain, end up on Â鶹ԼÅÄ ONE.

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But we also need to grow more mainstream comedy for Â鶹ԼÅÄ TWO and Â鶹ԼÅÄ ONE with a variety of voices, places and talents. Comedy drama is an area we need to grow strength in across the whole family of channels - with different tones and styles fitting the different personalities of our channels.

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We're putting more investment too in all types of drama - from authored pieces to topical, issue-based provocative stories - but family drama is another area for growth. But we need strong contemporary family drama that resonates with today's audience and the way people live their lives.

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And in a world where a lot of the commercial channels are narrowing their range to focus on the most advertiser friendly pieces, we mustn't forget our distinctive core genres.

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So we need big, bold factual series, arts and culture programmes which add real depth and value to the audience.

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The priorities for each of these genres are going to be available to view on the Commissioning website from Friday.

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Africa Lives on the Â鶹ԼÅÄ has been an important season for the family of channels this year and 2007 is also a year without a strong summer of sport, so we're on the look out for some ideas for build more big events that can work across the Â鶹ԼÅÄ's services and cross media.

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The Think Big Fund exists to support big ideas - such as Live 8. And thinking bigger and bolder than a single linear programme or series - thinking how we can create maximum impact in a noisy world by harnessing the full scale and ambition of the Â鶹ԼÅÄ - is also where we're turning our attention.

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Just how quickly the audience has caught up with technology and how they are using content in new ways was graphically evidenced by horrific events of last week with the immediate use of mobile phone photography to capture the appalling scenes.

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We must stop thinking in terms of linear broadcasting and prepare for the world of digital television on demand - television that viewers can download and watch on a range of mobile devices at a time and place that suits them.

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I got a Sony PlayStation Portable a few weeks ago and the digital widescreen quality, designed for games, is fantastic.

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So are the implications - imagine a world in which you routinely download the TV programmes you want to watch and take them with you wherever you go.

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Didn't someone say Apple are now looking at a vision version of the iPod? That world is now upon us.

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We need to start commissioning our content with an eye to that world - thinking up front (through development to commission) how we can use all of the different media outlets now available - from mobile phones to broadband, from interactive to video on demand, to enrich the experience for the audience.

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But while the access to content and the technology may change exponentially, what will remain a constant is the fact that the best creative ideas are going to be the key to success in this new world.

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That's why we've made the Window of Creative Competition the centrepiece of the Â鶹ԼÅÄ's commissioning reforms, which we announced as an outcome of the Content Supply Review.

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The WOCC is a radical approach to getting the best ideas from both in-house and indie talent. Over and above the current 25 per cent indie quota, it opens up another 25 per cent of qualifying commissioning hours to ideas from independent suppliers.

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It's going to be the most exciting creative competition we've ever held and we are determined to ensure it results in selection of the best proposals from whatever source.

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Quite simply, the best will win. The prize adds up to around 1,700 hours of new programming, worth around £260 million, and you will be able to compete for all of this new business.

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We are determined that indies from all the UK's regions and nations should gain their fair share, and we are giving them extra support for development.

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Earlier this year Elaine Bedell announced a new fund worth £500,000 to nurture companies based outside the M25.

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The fund combines cash awards with faster access to commissioners (and we all know how hard they can be to pin down!) plus regular meetings to progress ideas.

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We've had a terrific response, with more than 110 applications, and narrowed the list down to 11 to receive this year's awards.

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I can announce today that the development fund will now be made available again next year for companies outside of London.

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That will give independent production companies from all over the UK a regular opportunity to develop their ideas.

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One of the key aims is to increase network commissioning from Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales and the North of England.

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We will be working with you, with all kinds of creative talent across the UK, to try and build a better industry outside the M25.

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That will benefit the Â鶹ԼÅÄ, it will benefit the independent sector - and above all it will benefit viewers.

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This is the essence of the partnership the Â鶹ԼÅÄ is building with the independent sector - working with you to turn the best ideas into great programmes and great content.

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I hope that today's briefing will encourage all of you to take full advantage of the opportunities now on offer.