Radio Five Live is BBC Radio's home of continuous news and live sports coverage. It aims to bring its audience major news stories and sports events as they happen, and provide context through wide-ranging analysis and discussion. Programming is designed to inform, entertain and involve. The primary target audience should be 25-44 year olds (6), but the service should also appeal to news and sports fans of all ages and from all ethnic backgrounds and areas across the UK.

Radio Five Live provides a wide range of news and sport programming, including rolling news whenever a big news story breaks, live commentary on major sporting events (subject to rights), and a range of other programmes that are presented in a dynamic and accessible style. Its news is supported by the BBC's global newsgathering operation. Much of the schedule is broadcast live.

Our key priorities for 2007/2008 are:

Priority	Rationale
Continue to place emphasis across the network on migrating listeners from Medium Wave to digital platforms.	Listening is declining as a result of poor reception in some parts of the UK.
Expand use of user-generated content and feature more original stories from listeners.	To increase the relevance and originality of our content.
Deliver comprehensive coverage of the Rugby World Cup in September/October 2007.	To provide one-stop commentary, analysis and debate around a major sporting tournament, uniting our diverse audience around the event.

Sustaining citizenship and civil society
Radio Five Live offers its listeners accurate and independent coverage of UK and world events in an accessible style. It makes use of its flexible live schedule to offer instant access to the big breaking news stories, and will become a rolling news service when appropriate. Around three-quarters of output across the year is dedicated to news programming, including the weekday peak hours at breakfast and evening drivetime.

We will also cover politics, aiming to make our parliamentary coverage accessible and engaging to a diverse younger audience. We will cover the elections this year for the Scottish Parliament and the Welsh Assembly, and the local elections in England. Younger listeners often do not engage with the political process, and we will encourage their involvement in the issues that matter to them in a series of programmes looking at what it means to be British, driven by their stories and insights.

This year Radio Five Live will:

• Broadcast at least 6,000 hours of regional, national and international news coverage (around 70% of output).

Representing the UK's nations, regions and communities
Radio Five Live provides high-quality, trusted sports broadcasting and sports journalism, whether covering a domestic football match or an international event. We aim to unite people around all types of sporting occasion.

Our nationwide network of reporters and producers reflect events and the diversity of opinion found in the UK, both on location and through our daily news and sport phone-ins. We encourage our listeners to debate and provide opportunities for this on air and online via our website.

We plan to enrich our audience interactivity by offering more points of access to listeners, including our email newsletter The Five Livewire and more opportunities to tell their stories on air.

Bringing the UK to the world to the world to the UK
Radio Five Live's news and sports coverage embraces an international, national and local agenda. We fully utilise the BBC's international news bureaux, and our debates and discussions will continue to involve international experts and newsmakers. Where possible we will include live reportage from the scenes of major breaking international stories.

This year we will provide extensive overseas sport and news coverage - including the Rugby World Cup from France, the Cricket World Cup from the West Indies, and a season of programming looking at the impact of Russia and Russians on British life.

Stimulating creativity and cultural excellence
Radio Five Live's non-sport output will continue to reflect significant developments in the arts, and we will cover theatre, film, music and books at different points in the schedule.

We will launch Creative Calendar - an innovative means of making original content and giving our listeners more of what they say they want.

This year Radio Five Live will:

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

Promoting education and learning
Radio Five Live will offer in-depth analysis, documentaries and specials on a wide range of subjects across the news and sport agendas. We will also take part in pan-BBC social action initiatives which are appropriate to our audience.

We will mount a series of set-piece debates from locations across the UK, covering a range of key issues that have particular resonance for our audience.

This year we will:

• Broadcast around 50 hours of documentaries, plus specially commissioned debates on major news and sport events.
  

Emerging communications
In addition to analogue broadcasting, Radio Five Live is available on DAB and via digital television, and is streamed on the internet. Some programmes are available on demand after broadcast, extending the life of the programmes by making them accessible to listeners for whom a linear schedule is not convenient.

Reach: Radio Five Live should contribute towards the maintenance of combined BBC weekly reach for all services at over 90% by aiming to maintain its own weekly reach.

Quality: Audience approval of Radio Five Live and perceptions of it as high quality and innovative. Also, the proportion of originated programmes across all hours (including repeats).

Impact: Audience perceptions of Radio Five Live as informative, engaging and challenging.

Value for money: Radio Five Live's cost per listener hour.