Statements of Programme Policy
Radio 7 Programme Policy 2010/2011
Service remit
The remit of Radio 7 is to provide speech-based entertainment. Its schedule should include comedy, drama, stories, features and programmes for children. Most output should come from the BBC archive, but the station should commission some original content, particularly of types of output rarely found on BBC Radio.
The station should also broadcast daily speech radio for children.
Controller's vision for the service in 2010/2011
Radio 7 brings the jewels of the BBC archive to a wide audience, supplementing the schedule by commissioning and acquiring new radio output in popular genres such as crime and thrillers, sci-fi and fantasy. We aim to bring a unique freshness to some of the BBC's best-loved programmes by presenting and repackaging archive material, adding value for listeners through interviews with writers, performers and producers.
Comedy entices listeners to the network. We will build on our comedy output by commissioning a returning series of Newsjack (a topical comedy which nurtures new writers), broadcast new comedy acts from the Leicester Comedy Festival and deliver further new editions of the series I Did It My Way, in which established writers and performers present and illustrate retrospectives on their radio careers.
As announced in the BBC Strategy Review, BBC management plan to rename Radio 7 as Radio 4 Extra, and to implement a number of changes to the editorial offer. We expect to develop these during 2010/2011, and will give more details at a later date. However, I want to stress at this time that we will be seeking to build upon, not replace, many of the most successful and distinctive aspects of Radio 7 as we make this transition.
Mark Damazer, Controller, BBC Radio 4 and Radio 7
Key challenges for Radio 7 in 2010/2011
Challenge: Finding innovative and fresh ways of delivering archive material.
- In addition to compilations of programmes introduced by presenters, we should develop new ideas for broadcasting archive programmes. To retain a distinctive sound we will be pursuing new presentation styles. Furthermore, Radio 7 supports new talent, writers and performers, and the challenge is to discover and provide opportunities for talent new to radio.
- We will also build on the successful track record with on-demand listening by enhancing descriptions and details of programmes.
- Encouraging interactivity on a pre-recorded network requires imagination, and we will build on programmes which are developed from listeners' ideas and contributions, such as the interactive drama Chain Gang.
Challenge: As with all the digital stations, we must seek ways to further raise our profile and awareness.
- We will improve awareness of Radio 7 through co-ordination of our schedules with pan-BBC initiatives, for example Black History Month and National Poetry Day. We will also schedule high-impact seasons of programming to tie in with our sister station, Radio 4.
Challenge: Scheduling children's programmes on an adult network.
- CBeebies programming for very young children has been reduced to two hours daily. One hour daily of readings for older children continues, and one hour daily of Young Classics aimed at older children, but with family listening appeal, has also been introduced.
Other programming highlights
Drama
- We plan to develop a new strand, Saturday Late Night Thrillers, which will include commissioned readings of works that are not suitable for daytime listening, such as the Jack Carter novels of Ted Lewis.
- We will continue to work alongside Radio 4, providing complementary scheduling in forthcoming seasons such as the work of JB Priestley and the Sherlock Holmes collection.
- To complement Radio 4's Neglected Classics initiative, we will also broadcast a series of Neglected Children's Classics.
- To commemorate the anniversaries of the birth of JM Barrie and the deaths of Mark Twain and Leo Tolstoy, we are planning special seasons of their work, to include dramatisations, reading and features.
- For our 7th Dimension strand we will be introducing a new series of dramas which will include Blake's 7, Doctor Who, The Man In Black and the Lucifer Box trilogy by Mark Gatiss.
- Whodunnits For Summer Days will include crime and thriller commissions from independent production companies, plus a season of readings and dramatisations of the work of Ian Rankin to coincide with his 50th birthday and a selection of dramatisations of PD James thrillers to celebrate her 90th birthday.
Entertainment
- A celebration of radio quizzes and panel games will include a selection of pilots and programmes from the 1950s to the present day, presented by Russell Davies.
Comedy
- We will introduce up-and-coming talent to co-host the late-night Comedy Club.
- Highlights and interviews from the Edinburgh Fringe Festival will be broadcast in conjunction with Radio Scotland's Festival output.
Conditions: BBC purposes and Radio 7 commitments
Unless otherwise stated, all commitments are minimum hours or percentages and include originations, repeats and acquisitions. All conditions are annual unless otherwise stated.
Stimulating creativity and cultural excellence
- 50 hours of comedy each week.
- 50 hours of drama each week.
- Contribute to BBC Radio's commitment to commission at least 10% of eligible hours of output from independent producers.
Promoting education and learning
- 1,400 hours of children's programming.
