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Statements of Programme Policy

Radio 5 Live Programme Policy 2010/2011

Service remit

The remit of Radio 5 Live is to be BBC Radio's home of continuous news and live sports coverage. It should aim to bring its audience major news stories and sports events as they happen, and provide context through wide-ranging analysis and discussion. Programming should be designed to inform, entertain and involve. The service should appeal to news and sports fans of all ages and from all ethnic backgrounds and areas across the UK.

Controller's vision for the service in 2010/2011

Our ambition for 5 Live is to weave the station into the fabric of everyday British life, engaging a broader audience through its distinctive combination of high-quality BBC journalism and accessible tone and style. We aim to stimulate our audience's interest in the world around them by sharing the immediate drama of live news and sports events. Matter-of-fact explanation is also an important part of what we do, providing the audience with the in-depth analysis and commentary that encourages them to debate and explore complex issues.

During the next year, 5 Live will provide the very best of BBC news coverage of the General Election, giving a sense of the issues which matter most and how opinions are changing. 5 Live will encourage listeners to follow, and comment on, the leader debates. We will also offer comprehensive and high-quality coverage of the World Cup in South Africa, with expert opinion and analysis of the drama on and off the pitch. We also aim to reflect the impact of the event on South Africa and on Africa as a whole.

We will continue to involve the audience in our programming, taking advantage of our informal and flexible style to offer the widest range of views and voices. We will also offer more outside broadcasts from diverse locations and in front of a live audience, to produce surprising and inclusive programmes which bring us closer to our audience and help us to represent communities all over the UK.

Our move to Salford will enable us to strengthen relationships with independent producers and new partners, leading to more innovative content ideas. We will continue to experiment with formats for comedy and humour based on news and sport, encouraging new listeners to try the station and building a reputation as a home for inventive and challenging programmes. 5 Live will also continue to work with its sister station, 5 Live Sports Extra, to drive digital listening.

Adrian Van Klaveren, Controller, BBC Radio 5 Live and 5 Live Sports Extra

Key challenges for Radio 5 Live in 2010/2011

Radio 5 Live performed well last year, successfully maintaining reach and share among listeners. The biggest challenges the station faces in 2010/2011 are as follows.

Challenge: We need to broaden our reach among audiences, attracting new listeners to speech radio.

• We will use high-profile, popular presenters in different ways on 5 Live. For example, Danny Baker will be part of 5 Live's line-up for the World Cup coverage from South Africa.
• We will develop editorial themes and programme ideas designed to broaden our appeal by focusing on subjects we know potential listeners care about and broadcasting from as wide a range of places as possible.
• We will work with other parts of the BBC to create high-impact content. For example, we will form a partnership with BBC Drama around the new prime-time series Luther.

Challenge: To provide the very best coverage of the General Election, explaining the issues and reflecting the campaign from the point of view of voters.

• We will provide concise and engaging illustrations of policy reflecting what the parties are saying and made available for on-demand listening throughout the campaign.
• We will chart the campaign and bring topics to life by following specific voters and their families as they develop their views and opinions.
• We will provide live coverage of the leader debates and use new technology to allow listeners to comment on these.

Challenge: To offer distinctive and comprehensive coverage of the World Cup in South Africa.

• We will offer live coverage of every game including in almost all cases full commentary.
• As part of the World Cup football coverage we will feature extensive coverage on our news programmes with some of our best-known presenters in South Africa. We will also work hard to reflect the impact of the event on South Africa and on Africa as a whole.

Challenge: 5 Live has positioned itself as a pioneer in new ways of audience interaction. The station needs to ensure that it continues to try out new ways of sharing views and stories.

• We will step up the promotion of the 5 Live Now service, pulling together listeners' contributions by text, tweet, Facebook and blog. We will increase the hours we use this service during our daytime programmes.
• We will offer listeners new ways of understanding and contributing to content around the General Election, via a new web-based application.

Other programming highlights

Sport

5 Live is committed to evolving its sports coverage, allowing listeners to engage and explore sports events.

• Coverage of Wimbledon will include more online opportunities for listeners to interact with each other and share comments on the tennis.
• We will build on our reputation for innovative cricket coverage by using new commentary techniques and voices to cover the Ashes series in November.
• We will build on the success of 5 Live's Octoberfest, which took place in Hull in 2009, through collections of programmes during the Grand National at Aintree showcasing sport and comedy, and during the Great North Run in Newcastle, covering the UK's biggest sports participation event.

Investigative reporting

5 Live's continuous news coverage is complemented by hard-hitting investigative journalism, tackling a wide range of issues that affect the lives of our listeners.

• We will continue our commitment to original and investigative journalism with the return of the Donal McIntyre weekly strand and regular one-off documentaries looking at news events and stories. We will promote and feature this work across our other daytime schedule.
• We will continue to support original and investigative journalism in sport, placing this content prominently in the schedule in Sportsweek and 5 Live Sport.

Entertainment and comedy

5 Live aims to offer a well-rounded service, balancing the news and sport with engaging entertainment.

• We will encourage the increase in entertainment coverage on the network: both the Richard Bacon show and the Victoria Derbyshire programme have consciously broadened their agendas to respond to listeners' interest in this area.
• We will aim to build a reputation as a place to try out comedy talent and formats based on news and sport.

Conditions: BBC purposes and Radio 5 Live commitments

Unless otherwise stated, all commitments are minimum hours or percentages and include originations, repeats and acquisitions. All conditions are annual unless otherwise stated.

Sustaining citizenship and civil society

• c.75% of output to be news coverage.

Stimulating creativity and cultural excellence

• Contribute to BBC Radio's commitment to commission at least 10% of eligible hours of output from independent producers.

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