Above the noise and debate of the last 12 months, I’m convinced that it’s the quality of our programmes and services that people care about most. It’s our creativity and editorial ambition on-screen and on-air that make the case for the BBC.
We’re here for one simple reason and that’s to bring the best to everyone: to showcase great British drama, sport and events that bring us all together; to produce news and analysis people can trust; to deepen our understanding of the world; to broaden our minds and make us laugh too. That’s my starting point for every conversation about this great organisation. And that’s why we can look to the future with confidence.
When I returned to the BBC, I wanted to do something more for our country’s great writers, directors, actors and producers. That’s why we’ve invested in drama as distinctive as War and Peace, Sherlock, The Night Manager, Happy Valley, The Dresser, Line of Duty and Doctor Foster. They’ve given us all many hours of unforgettable storytelling this year.
There have been moments of high political drama too – our Question Time election special; our online General Election coverage, attracting more than 19 million unique browsers globally the day after the election; plus an extraordinary year of international news. Let’s also not forget the essential role our local radio stations played in keeping their listeners and the whole country informed about the floods. And they do so much more besides.
This year BBC Radio has done a lot to be proud of. I applaud the way our stations back new artists and promote British talent the world over. That is why Adele chose to work with us for her comeback. And it’s why world-leading artists like Coldplay return to the BBC time and again. We also produce the biggest and best classical music season you will find anywhere in the world, with every concert, every day on Radio 3. And The Archers deserves special mention for setting the agenda and bringing the issues around domestic violence to the fore in an extraordinary slow burn story that gripped the country.
I’ve talked about the BBC working much more closely with others, and this year’s Shakespeare season has been a revelation. We’ve collaborated like never before, we’ve been open to new ideas and partnered with some of our country’s most creative and playful minds. The Royal Shakespeare Company produced a unique celebration on BBC Two, Sam Mendes and his team produced a stunning series of The Hollow Crown, Russell T Davies brought the magic of A Midsummer Night’s Dream to BBC One. And we shaped an international festival online with the British Council and cultural organisations across the UK, including Shakespeare’s Globe, the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, the Royal Opera House, the British Film Institute and the Glasgow School of Art. For the first time, we opened up iPlayer to some of our country’s finest institutions so everybody could join in their events.
Programmes and events that bring people together will always be at the heart of what we do. From Radio 1’s Big Weekend, to Bake Off, the BBC has helped to entertain families, communities and nations throughout the last year. But alongside these shared moments, audiences are also making use of technology in new and innovative ways, particularly on the internet.
This year we have been responding to these changes. BBC Three is an exemplar of this. The channel launched online in February 2016 and I’m delighted by what the team has been doing. The channel offers short form, long form and new forms of content, not just on the web but as part of the web, woven into the social media conversations of its young audience.
Alongside our creative success this year we now also have certainty over the BBC’s future. The debate about the renewal of the BBC’s Charter has taken place over this year and the result has been a Government White Paper, published in May 2016, that backs a strong, world-class BBC. The Government has agreed to provide the BBC with a new Charter for the next 11 years, which will provide a stable basis upon which we can continue to surprise and delight audiences.
I strongly believe that the BBC’s best days are ahead of us, and that’s what I’ve been fighting for throughout the year.
Of course, now we have a lot more to do – we have to continue to reform the BBC. In the coming year we will be reshaping the organisation to make it simpler, more creative and more open. We need to respond to the new ways audiences find and consume our content, and to make the savings necessary to live within our means.
A more open BBC means a leaner, more transparent organisation – with fewer divisions and simpler structures. This is not just to cut costs and live within the new licence fee settlement, but also to create a place where creativity can flourish.
It will not be easy to create an open BBC. It will mean unpicking structures and ways of working that have built up over generations; in many ways, an open BBC is a new BBC.
We have made good progress on achieving this – and have more to do.
However, our reform agenda is not just about the organisation – it’s also about the content we produce and how we produce it. In the next Charter period we want to become Britain’s creative partner. We want to continue acting as a catalyst for new ideas and collaborations, bringing together partners from universities and museums, to theatres and festivals. We can provide a lot of support: mass audiences from day one, a trusted guide, and deep editorial and technical expertise.
And if we are to be a truly open BBC then we have to be able to expose ourselves to scrutiny and accept responsibility for our failures as well as our successes. This year we saw the publication of Dame Janet Smith’s Review into the cultures and practices of the BBC in the years that Stuart Hall and Jimmy Savile worked here. The events covered by the Review represent some of the worst betrayals of trust in the BBC’s history. I have already said that the BBC failed the survivors of abuse when it should have protected them.
And I want to express again our gratitude to those who came forward to tell their stories to the Review. We must also do all we can to ensure that we learn the lessons of Dame Janet’s Review. We have already committed to take forward the actions it recommends and are publishing, alongside this Annual Report, a progress report, setting out where we are now and what we plan to do in the coming months to ensure those lessons are learned and acted upon. We will take action, and we will be stronger for it.
It’s also been a year where we have lost some icons of the broadcasting world, not least Sir Terry Wogan, who has left an extraordinary legacy which continues to inspire us all.
And we’ve had a chance to celebrate someone who stands for everything that is great about the BBC – Sir David Attenborough. In his 90th birthday year, he is still as curious, as pioneering and engaging as ever – perhaps more so. He’s travelled around the globe and brought the wonder of the world to millions on the BBC.
To him, we all owe a huge debt of gratitude. But I also want to say thank you to everyone who has contributed to a successful year, working for us and with us. It’s been a great team effort – on-screen, on-air, backstage and across a range of crucial supporting roles.
Their contribution makes the BBC what it is.
Tony Hall is Director General, BBC
- This blog post appears in the BBC Annual Report 2015/16 published on Tuesday 12 July 2016
- Read more on the BBC Annual Report website