CBBC runs two commissioning rounds a year. The main commissioning round runs from September to February: this is also the round open to drama ideas for CBBC.
- Round 1 - March to July 2009 (now closed)
- Round 2 - September 2009 to February 2010
On this website you will find information about:
- Current Status
- The CBBC channel and its audience
- The commissioning process and timeline
Please note that CBBC only accepts initial submissions via the e-commissioning system. In order to use this system you need to have registered, which may take a few working days.
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Current status
The current CBBC commissioning round opened on 28 September 2009; e-commissioning will close on 27th November 2009.
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CBBC had a successful re-launch in autumn 2007 which led the channel to win both a BAFTA and Broadcast award this year. We are attracting a consistently larger audience, with many claiming CBBC is their favourite channel.
But as ever, it is the content which ultimately brings the brand to life, and we need to constantly refresh the selection of shows and websites we have on offer to a demanding audience.
As in previous rounds, when submitting ideas to CBBC we would like you to be able to talk about the following editorial points:
- Context - how does your idea fit with the CBBC brand? Is it in tune with our positioning and spirit? How does it embrace our 'pass-it-on' ambition? How does it fit with the latest CBBC content? Is it unique, complementary, stand-out?
- Long runs - we are always looking for low cost, long running series. Low cost ideas need to be ideas in their own right not simply a spin off from a more expensive series. We generally look for at least 13 episodes, maybe more for the right format. How does your idea fit with this strategy?
- Ambition - whatever the cost, does your idea have real ambition? It is increasingly hard for programmes to cut through so we are especially keen on ideas that look and feel ground breaking.
- Clarity - it can be difficult to describe an idea in a single sentence but from experience we find that this helps to sort the strong ideas from the weaker ones. We want you to be able to tell us exactly what is at the heart of your idea.
- Execution - this is as important as the topics you cover. What innovative format ideas do you have? If it is a well worn format, what is the twist? What will it look like - what will I see on screen?
- Story-telling - we need ideas with a strong narrative thread, characters with whom the audience can emotionally engage, whatever the format and genre.
- Pace - how do we keep our audience's attention? Some adult sitcoms have scenes of just 30 seconds. What audience grabbing techniques can you incorporate into your programme? How can you hook them in the pre-title?
- Talent - we are looking to be surprised whether it's new faces with new passions or well known faces in unexpected places. We are keen to see ambitious talent utilised in this round; big names with mass appeal.
- Wider appeal - can you come up with a format or idea which can attract international co-production? We are interested in being able to attract more investment into our projects. Can you invent a global bestseller which is not creatively compromised?
And, in terms of audience, we would like you to be able to talk about the following points:
- Target Audience - Bearing in mind CBBC's target age group is 6-12 year olds, the primary school years, who is your programme targeted at? What sort of child are they? What are they into, what excites them? Why would your programme strike a chord with them?
- Benefits - What benefit will the audience get from watching the programme? Emotionally, how will they feel when watching? What will engage and grip them throughout? What do you want them to take from the programme? What will they talk about with their mates? It's easy to come up with a show which children will enjoy taking part in - how engaging will the visual action be for the viewer?
- Infectiousness - What elements in your idea do you think will genuinely get kids talking? What is the playground currency in this idea? For example - the plot, the characters, the theme tune, the catch phrases, a format point etc
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Round two 2009 briefs
The commissioning round is now open and we are accepting content proposals via e-commissioning until 27th November 2009.
The briefs for this commissioning round are available here [PDF, 63KB].
A reminder of what the channel is all about
CBBC re-launched in September 2007 with a completely new look and feel. To stand out from the ever-growing crowd of children's TV brands, CBBC's aim is to be infectious. We are committed to providing content, on all platforms, that imbue the CBBC brand. The challenge is to build on our successed with more great content so that more and more of our target audience love, value and talk about CBBC.
Overall tone
The tone of voice for CBBC is funny, energetic, unpredictable, upbeat and fun. A great illustration of this is live presentation on weekday afternoons with the interaction and fun between Ian Stirling and Hacker in the CBBC Office.
CBBC endeavours to talk to kids in their language and on their level, we don't talk down to kids. Ultimately our tone of voice should engage kids and make them laugh with us. We also try hard to reflect the lives and world British kids will recognise.
The audience
The target audience for CBBC is children aged 6-12. At this age their lives are still fairly care-free and innocent. They love to laugh, are very creative and hungry for info that will have playground currency.
That said, they are also at a turning point in their lives; they want a bit more independence yet still need to feel secure, they are carefree but school and parents are giving them more responsibility, they are working out their own opinion but still want to fit in. In short, they are slowly moving from under Mum's wings to be influenced by their peers. But, they are not yet striking out on their own.
If we could distil all we know about our audience into the key points that we feel matter most to our channel they would be:
- They are full of contradiction that both excites and daunts them
- Friends are becoming the centre of their world
- They are at home with technology and the speed at which it changes
- They are huge multi-taskers especially at 9 yrs plus
- They are creative dynamos who are not yet hardwired
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Damian Kavanagh |
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Steven Andrew, Head of CBBC Drama, Animation and Acquisitions
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Rebecca Shallcross |
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• Round two 2009 commissioning is now open. You can view the Round 2 (2009) timeline (PDF, 26KB).
• Individual members of the public wanting to submit ideas to programmes should click here.
Roles
• CBBC is a self-commissioning department and as such has a different structure to the rest of the BBC.
• Independent suppliers should send in proposals to Damian Kavanagh, Controller, CBBC (via ecommissioning).
• All submissions must be made via ecommissioning.
- All enquiries regarding acquisitions should be made to Steven Andrew.
• For any other queries contact us via email.
Timeline
• All proposals are registered on a confidential database and independent suppliers will automatically receive acknowledgement of their proposal via the ecommissioning system.
• The Independents team will either reject or progress proposals within three weeks of the submission deadline (note: not from receipt).
• Proposals may be provided with funded development, in which case the timetable to commission will be subject to negotiation between the external supplier and the BBC and determined by the development contract.
• The final decision will be no later than 20 weeks after submission deadline; current plans aim to deliver a decision after 14 weeks. A successful proposal will be given approval by the Controller.
• Projects may be held over in exceptional circumstances but only with the formal agreement of the supplier.
• The same timetable and process applies to in-house and independent proposals.
• Independent suppliers who are successful should expect to be assigned a CBBC Executive with whom they will liaise throughout pre-production and production.
Queries
At any point during this maximum 20 week period, an external supplier may write to the Controller asking for a progress report and be guaranteed a response within 10 working days of receipt.
Ecommissioning
For more information on ecommissioning, please click here. Please note that you need to register before you can submit ideas via this system and this will take a few working days.
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Book Options
We are open to suggestions and offers of books for adaptation all year round. Do not wait for the Commissioning Round. However, if we do option a book, further development will have to wait until the next Commissioning Round (in which we would submit a one-page pitch of the book).
Obviously independent companies are free to option books if they choose. But if an individual writer does not own the option to a book, and we are interested in the book, the BBC will option it. We are not expecting individual writers to option books themselves, however if you wish to bring a book to our attention you must obtain the agreement of the writer's agent to offer us the material. If you have brought the book to us we will give you the first chance to develop it with us. However, since the BBC will then own the option it must be accepted that if that development is unsuccessful, the option defaults to the BBC and we are free to place the development elsewhere.
Writing for CBBC Drama
Obviously we're not only looking for writers to originate series. We still need to place writers on existing or new series.
If you are an experienced writer with television credits, interested in writing on new or existing series, please email us.
If you are a new writer, without television credits, interested in writing on a new or existing series, please contact BBC Writersroom. The BBC Writersroom now co-ordinates reading and assessing all unsolicited writing samples submitted to the BBC across all the drama and comedy creative departments. Its remit is also to help new or unrepresented writers.
Page last updated 9 November 2009
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