BBC’S REPORT REVEALS HIGHER SPEND ON PROGRAMMES

THE BBC spent more of their income on programmes and services last year, increasing the proportion from 76 per cent to 81 per cent.
The results were revealed on the Corporation’s Annual Report and Accounts for 2000/01, published on July 4.
Savings of £45 million have been made and an extra £165 million spent on programmes, including drama, entertainment and sport. And, despite increased competition, BBC services continued to reach 94 per cent of the population every week and were more valued by audiences, costing licence payers 28.5p a day per household.
Programme highlights included the ‘Olympics’, ‘EastEnders’, ‘History of Britain’, ‘Congo’, ‘Clocking Off’ and ‘Harry Potter on Radio 4’.
In the report, the BBC’s Board of Governors noted that although BBC One’s share fell, the decline has slowed and progress has been made to strengthen the mix of programmes. However, they said that it will be 18 months before audiences feel the full benefit of new investment in the channel.
BBC One’s performance has strengthened significantly in digital homes and in recent weeks it has been the most watched terrestrial channel in all homes.
Launching the report, BBC Chairman Sir Christopher Bland, said: "The year has demonstrated that through their programmes and services, the BBC remains the cornerstone of UK broadcasting. The thrust of the commercial competition over the last 12 months suggests that far from diminishing, our traditional role of providing quality broadcasting for the benefit of all will become increasingly important."
He added that the task of modernising the organisation and finding £1.1 billion in savings, efficiencies and commercial income by 2006, as required by the Government, has been and would continue to be difficult.
The Annual Report is the BBC’s full account to licence payers and Parliament of its activities and services for 2000/01. This year, the BBC has also published a companion Annual Review which, in the interests of constantly improving accountability, gives more informal information about its operations to licence payers. (CD)