BBC Aims for 25% Representative Workforce, Reveals Commercial Board

Naman Ramachandran
·3 min read

U.K. broadcaster BBC has revealed ambitions of a more representative workforce as part of its Annual Plan that was published on Wednesday.

“We will introduce a new target for 25% of our staff to come from low socio-economic backgrounds by 2027, to ensure our workforce is more representative of the audiences we serve,” the BBC said in a statement.

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The corporation also noted its disappointment with the license free, its main source of income, being frozen and said that savings have to be found in the long run.

“While we recognize the licence fee is a privilege, this is a disappointing outcome at a time of high inflation and media super-inflation,” the BBC said. “As a result of the settlement, we will need to find £285 million [$375 million] in annual savings by 2027/28, requiring a reduction in the content and services we provide to audiences.”

In the Annual Plan, the BBC projects annual income for the financial year 2022/23 at £5.6 billion for the group, including £3.7 billion from the license fee and the rest from other sources. However, after operating costs, the BBC is projecting a deficit of £271 million.

The corporation’s strategic priorities for the year ahead have been identified as strengthening impartiality; creating distinctive, high-impact content; transforming the BBC’s digital offer and capability; accelerating commercial and global growth; delivering reforms, getting closer to audiences across the U.K., and managing the impact of the first year of the new licence fee settlement.

Richard Sharp, BBC chair, said: “Our plan highlights the challenges and opportunities in the media market. We will continue driving changes to our public service and commercial operations to fulfil our duty.”

Tim Davie, BBC director general, added: “The BBC is performing an indispensable role delivering impartial news around the world, with 456 million people using our services globally every week and growing. This Annual Plan shows significant progress has been made to reform the BBC, but we will continue to transform the organisation to provide value for all audiences in the digital age.”

Meanwhile, financial industry veteran Damon Buffini has been appointed chairman of the BBC Commercial Board, which will oversee BBC Studios, as well as the corporation’s other commercial activity, including BBC Studioworks. Driving commercial growth has been identified as the principal concern of the new board.

Joining the board as non-executive directors are Bhav Singh, who has led and scaled businesses internationally for ViacomCBS and Pearson and is now group CEO of the digital learning group Sandbox & Co. and Gunjan Bhow, who was most recently global chief digital officer for Walgreens Boots Alliance, and has also held senior leadership roles at The Walt Disney Studios and Amazon Prime Video.

Current non-executive directors are academic and media policy expert Elan Closs Stephens, former Sky plc chief commercial officer and chief strategy officer Mai Fyfield and All3Media co-founder and former chair Steve Morrison.

The three executive directors on the BBC Commercial Board will be Leigh Tavaziva, group chief operating Officer of the BBC; Tom Fussell, CEO of BBC Studios; and Lorraine Burgess, chief financial officer of BBC Studios.

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