1. Why has the ±«Óãtv decided to invest £12m towards Diversity & Inclusion in Radio?
The ±«Óãtv’s Creative Diversity commitment is the biggest financial investment in on-air/onscreen and off-air/off-screen inclusion in the industry. We have prioritised a portion of existing commissioning budget over three years from 2021/22 to 2023/24 towards diverse and inclusive content.
With this commitment, the ±«Óãtv is throwing open its doors more widely than ever to diverse stories and diverse storytellers. The media industry is not changing fast enough.
The ±«Óãtv has been committed to creative diversity and inclusion for the last 100 years; but we want to go even further. The measures announced today are designed to accelerate the pace of change in increasing diversity and inclusion both on and off-air. And to demonstrate change is being delivered, the ±«Óãtv will report on progress in its Annual Report.
These steps are all part of the ambitious journey we are on to transform the ±«Óãtv inside and out - and make a real difference to the industry and to society at a critical time. The £12m investment will support our commitment to diversity and inclusion in our audio output across all networks and ±«Óãtv Sounds. It will support the ±«Óãtv’s Diversity Code of Practice and commits the ±«Óãtv to creating content that is reflective of our diverse audiences.
2. Where does the investment come from, is this new money?
We are keen to ensure we capitalise on every opportunity to increase diverse representation that better reflects our audiences.
An effective way to achieve this goal is to prioritise the way in which we commission and how we spend our budget. Through our existing commissioning budget, we can ensure we are focusing our efforts appropriately.
It is important that diversity is not seen as a bolt on, outsourced or something that happens outside of normal business practices, but more importantly it is integrated into the way we commission. That is why we have not created a separate fund or pot of diversity money, to ensure we are integrating diversity into everything that we do.
3. What are the criteria for this commitment?
To qualify for the £12m investment we are asking our programme-makers to meet two out of the three criteria listed:
- Diverse Content – diverse stories and on-air portrayal
- Diverse Production Leadership – influential roles off-air involved in shaping and making our programmes diverse
- Diverse Company Leadership – senior roles in the companies that make our programmes diverse
4. What characteristics are included in the definition of diverse?
- Diverse Content – the nine protected characteristics (Age, Disability, Gender reassignment, Marriage/Civil Partnership, Pregnancy & maternity, Race, Religion or belief, Sex, Sexual orientation) plus social class (specifically, working class)
- Diverse Production Leadership – Disability, Race, social class (specifically, working class)
- Diverse Company Leadership – Disability, Race, social class (specifically, working class)
Disability refers to someone who has a physical or mental impairment where that impairment has a substantial / long-term adverse effect on their ability to perform day-to-day activities.
Race refers to someone who is Black, Asian or from a minority ethnic background.
Working class refers to someone who at 14 years old had parents who were in ‘routine or semi-routine manual and service occupations’. This is a criterion set out by the Government/Bridge Group and Social Mobility group who have specified that this a strong baseline question to ask if no other questions around SED are requested.
5. What do we mean by diverse stories and on-air portrayal?
Defining diverse stories and portrayal on-air is important for our audiences.
Audiences want to experience themselves being reflected accurately and authentically when engaging with our content. For this definition we have included the full breadth of protected characteristics as we want to be as diverse and inclusive as we can in our content.
We aim to broaden authentic portrayal of groups typically under and/or mis-represented in mainstream British broadcasting, to include all protected characteristics and low socio-economic diversity.
Protected characteristics: Age, Disability, Gender reassignment, Marriage/Civil Partnership, Pregnancy & maternity, Race, Religion or belief, Sex, Sexual orientation *plus social class (specifically, working class)
6. Why have all nine protected characteristics been added to the scope for diverse stories and portrayals, on top of what was originally announced for ethnicity, disability and socio-economic background? Why does this change not also apply to the other criteria?
We are committed to ensuring our audiences feel fully reflected across our on-air content. Our approach is designed to be flexible and responsive to the latest data intelligence and trends within the media sector to ensure our efforts are effective, relevant and drives change across the diversity and inclusion agenda.
Our previous announcement focused on the lack of representation for key protected characteristics, with the latest Creative Diversity Network’s (CDN), , we identified possible negative impacts to certain under-represented groups when we focus on a particular area over another.
Our consultation with diverse suppliers also highlighted a need to ensure they were not disadvantaged or siloed into only making diverse content based on their own protected characteristic.
With this additional information we expanded our remit to include all protected characteristics including low socio-economic diversity (SED).
This ensures that the progress made on-air continues and reflects all forms of diversity without having a negative impact to the wider diversity and inclusion agenda.
We recognise the significant progress that has been made on-air but off-air requires a more targeted and focused approached to see accelerated change across the diversity and inclusion agenda.
7. What are the criteria for on-air portrayal?
Diversity and inclusion are creative imperatives for the ±«Óãtv; it’s important that our audiences experience themselves being truly reflected in a fair and authentic way.
To ensure that we continue to build on our current successes we have looked at how best to reflect greater representation within our content and how we can increase diversity across our output. The key areas are:
- Landmark portrayal
- Incidental/integrated portrayal
- On-air talent
A production must comply with at least two of the on-air criteria.
1a: Consider proportion of lead
Explicit and majority coverage of a story, character(s) and/or topic(s) related specifically to one or more mis- or under-represented group – i.e. front and centre of the core proposition and narrative. The portrayal should be both fair and authentic.
Examples: 1800 Seconds on Autism (±«Óãtv Sounds); Black Spartacus by Sudhir Hazareesingh (±«Óãtv Radio 4); Bartholomew Abominations (±«Óãtv Radio 4)
1b: Incidental & Integrated portrayal
The programme should include diverse representation that is not necessarily referred to or mentioned relatively in passing and only where relevant to that particular story or character/ contributor. The portrayal should still be both fair and authentic.
Roles may include: secondary/supporting/minor (scripted), contestants, contributors, guest speaker, panel experts (unscripted)
Examples: The YUNGBLUD Podcast (±«Óãtv Sounds); Tricky (±«Óãtv Radio 4/±«Óãtv Sounds); The Secret Life of Teachers (±«Óãtv Radio 4/±«Óãtv Sounds); Faith on the Move (±«Óãtv Sounds)
1c: On-air talent
Scripted: two or more of the main regular talent featured in and most associated with the programme are from one or more mis- or under-represented group.
Unscripted: one or more of the regular talent featured in and most associated with the programme are from one or more mis- or under-represented group.
NB: consider proportion of lead on-air roles rather than numbers.
Examples: 1Xtra Talks (±«Óãtv Radio 1Xtra); Amy Lamé (±«Óãtv 6 Music); You and Yours (±«Óãtv Radio 4); Phil Wang: Wangsplaining (±«Óãtv Radio 4); Brown Girls Do it Too (±«Óãtv Asian Network)
8. What do you mean by authentic portrayal?
Portraying different identities and communities in a genuine, knowledgeable way to enabling audiences to truly connect with the ±«Óãtv’s content.
Authentic portrayal extends to both on and off-air/screen; and by having a diverse range of writers, directors and producers it ensures our on-air and on-screen representation is truly inclusive and representative of our audiences.
The process for casting ±«Óãtv productions should always be accessible to all, to ensure that we are able to make the most of the very best diverse talent. In turn, this contributes to the ±«Óãtv’s ability to deliver output that is representative of the UK and portrays diverse communities in a genuine, authentic way.
9. Who determines whether the content is authentic and diverse?
We are keen to ensure our content is fully reflective of our diverse audience, the communities they live in and their experiences.
To achieve this, our content need to be fair and authentic in its portrayal, relying less on formulated stereotypes to inform the narrative and/or character depiction, but highlighting a broader spectrum of diversity and intersectionality within a character or storyline.
There have been great examples of this achieved already including Rosie Jones Box Ticker, The Secret Life of Teachers, Amy Lamé and 1Xtra Talks.
Working with our commissioners, programme-makers can determine if their content is authentic.
10. How will the ±«Óãtv track and report diverse on-air representation?
We are committed to monitoring and measuring the diversity of on-air representation across our audio output. We are currently investigating how we can link with to track and measure success in this area. We will provide updates on our progress.
11. What do we mean by Diverse Production Leadership?
To count towards the £12m investment, these roles need to be senior and have to be key creative decision/programme-making roles within the production - as well as those that either contribute/influence key decision-makers and/or are a pipeline to senior level positions. The key roles we consider as leadership roles for Radio are listed below:
- Executive Editor
- Editor
- Writer
- Technical Producer
- Producer
- Assistant Producer
- Production Manager
- Content Assistant
- Production Co-Ordinator
- Production Management Assistant
20% of those in these roles in a production should be from a diverse background. Diverse referring to race, disability and socio-economic background.
This list isn’t exhaustive and we are aware there are other leadership roles that may not appear here, and in those cases please indicate in your submission the additional roles that you are including. Additionally, for companies that may not have the specific roles listed, it is up to the discretion of the commissioner to agree corresponding roles that carry out a similar function.
12. TV Channels are working towards new commissions meeting a 20% entire production team diversity target. Does this apply to Radio as well?
In Radio, where production teams are typically much smaller and with less market movement, we hope to achieve 20% diverse representation for all suppliers with 10 or more staff, to be reviewed in April 2024.
13. TV does not include roles that are a pipeline to, or influence senior decision-makers. Is there a danger of radio spreading itself too thin?
Recognising the historical challenges of radio, we are broadening the criteria to include pipeline roles to help support change. But over time, and as the industry invests in future leaders, we hope to narrow the criteria and focus only on true leadership roles.
14. Is there any flexibility within the roles stipulated?
We’re keen to ensure that strategic and creative decision-making roles have greater diverse representation. The roles defined have been based on the data from sources such as the Creative Diversity Network and our own internal analysis.
We recognise the need to be flexible in our approach to consider the geographical representation across the UK and the subject matter of the programme. Our aim is to ensure our suppliers can have constructive and honest dialogue with our commissioners regarding greater representation within their productions and teams.
Therefore, in certain cases, it is up to the discretion of the commissioner to agree specific roles for the production to help drive greater inclusion.
15. Why are Production Accountants/Lawyers and Business Affairs teams not included in the diversity criteria for Diverse Production Leadership?
Our approach seeks to increase diverse representation across key leadership roles to help drive greater inclusion throughout the creative decision-making process.
Whilst we acknowledge the importance of these roles within companies, we have identified an under-representation of roles reflecting diverse talent within production and editorial.
16. What additional measures can be implemented to meet the criteria?
We’re committed to supporting our programme-makers and content creatives to meet our requirements and increase representation both on and off-air.
We recognised that many programme-makers and organisations have implemented various initiatives, schemes and interventions to increase representation within their production. We have provided advice and guidance on our Radio Commissioning website and listed a few suggestions to help meet our requirements:
- Broaden your pool of talent, contacts and networks
- Where possible advertise your roles for greater attraction - promoting them on multiple diverse platforms
- Speak to our commissioners/controllers about the support they can provide
17. What is Diverse Company Leadership?
We work with some of the world's greatest creatives and programme-makers to create bold British content that entertains, informs and educates our diverse audiences.
We’re committed to ensuring our programmes reflect the diverse communities, stories and lived experiences of our audiences. By broadening the diverse portfolio of programme-makers/companies that we work with, we can continue to achieve that goal.
In order for a company to count towards the 12m investment, we have identified the roles below:
- Managing Director
- Creative Director
- Director of Production
- Executive Producer
- Head of Development
18. What are the requirements for Diverse Company Leadership?
The criteria for Diverse Company Leadership reflects those who have creative and strategic decision-making responsibilities within the organisation.
To ensure we support our programme-makers to understand the qualifying criteria that underpins Diverse Company Leadership, we require the following to be achieved:
- At least two individuals in leadership roles in the company are BAME, disabled and/or working class
- For smaller companies who have fewer than four of the listed roles, a target of 50% will apply. E.g. for a company with three of the listed roles, two will have to meet the criteria
- For companies with only one of the listed roles, a target of 100% will apply
- For companies that may not have the specific roles listed, it is up to the discretion of the commissioner to agree corresponding roles
- Individuals will need to be established in role for a minimum of six months or more
19. Based on the criteria for Diverse Company Leadership, can companies without diverse leadership qualify?
The qualifying criteria for the £12m investment states that production companies need to meet two of the three criteria:
- Diverse Content – diverse stories and on-screen/on-air portrayal
- Diverse Production Leadership – influential roles off-air involved in shaping and making our programmes are diverse
- Diverse Company Leadership – senior roles in the companies that make our programmes are diverse
These criteria are designed to ensure we have increased diverse representation on-air, with the companies we work with and those who are making our programmes.
Companies that are unable to qualify as having Diverse Company Leadership can still meet the criteria by having Diverse Content and Diverse Production Leadership.
20. How can Indies capture diversity data for Diverse Company Leadership and/or Diverse Production Leadership?
To support Indies to capture as much information as possible at the beginning of the commissioning progress relating to Diverse Company Leadership and Diverse Production Leadership, we have made changes to our commissioning editorial specifications to reflect our new diversity and inclusion commitments. We will capture details surrounding Diverse Company Leadership as part of the process to register as a programme supplier and Diverse Production Leadership as part of the process to submit a proposal. We are also planning to include questions about this in our next Annual survey of radio suppliers.
21. How do suppliers flag whether or not they meet the criteria?
We are asking companies to flag in their submissions via Proteus how they believe they meet any of the criteria. There is more about this in the Commissioning Brief that is sent out by commissioning teams. If companies don’t initially meet any criteria, but do at a later stage, they can inform the commissioning team at that time. For clarity: proposals will not be turned down on the basis of not meeting any of the criteria.
22. How can new Indies get greater access to ±«Óãtv commissioners?
We’re excited to be working with great creative talent, who have creative and interesting ideas as well as great formats that appeal to our diverse audiences both in the UK and across the globe.
To ensure we can tap into the wealth of creative talent within our industry we will be hosting our New Indie days for those production companies that don’t have a current relationship with the ±«Óãtv.
For those with exciting ideas that meet our strategy, we will arrange pitching sessions with commissioners, and where we think a company is of particular interest, we will give them a commissioning mentor.
23. What resources are available for Indies?
We are keen to support our programme-makers to meet our diversity requirements and have updated our information for suppliers on our Radio Commissioning and Creative Diversity websites. These provide advice, guidance and resource material on best practice, access to diverse talent and how to create an inclusive production. The 50:50 Equality project has developed a talent database that will be a resource for programme-makers.
24. What are the requirements for Co-Productions?
We understand the importance of co-productions and the opportunities this partnership can present for increase diverse representation within our sector.
We have specified the qualifying criteria for the £12m investment in relation to co-production partnerships. This pertains to the production company who own the intellectual property (IP), who will need to meet the Diverse Company Leadership criterion.
Our definition of co-production in this instance is between two or more Indies, not a co-production between various finance partners.
25. What support is available to access off-air talent?
The ±«Óãtv has several established relationships with organisations that develop, support and cultivate diverse talent for the wider creative industry.
In the appendix section of this FAQ, we have listed some of the trusted organisations that can support with your hiring needs, information can also be found on the Creative Diversity website.
The Creative Diversity Unit are expanding their offering to include networking events.
26. What support is available for programme-makers?
We launched ±«Óãtv Sounds Lab in the autumn, our new initiative giving budding audio creators the support they need to turn a great idea of theirs into a podcast outside of the existing commissioning structure. Over the course of a year, each of the 16 creators will be aided by an experienced Executive Producer, and will have access to studios and equipment at the ±«Óãtv - as well as technical support so their podcast can be made available to listeners. Some of the podcasts will also be made available as commissions on ±«Óãtv Sounds.
27. How much of the £12m investment is already pre commissioned?
We are keen to stretch ourselves to achieve our long-term strategic diversity objectives, by looking at the way in which we commission and how we spend our budget. Through our existing commissioning budget, we can ensure we are focusing our efforts appropriately.
We have looked at our slate over the three-year commitment and the programmes that will be counted towards this investment. Across our slate we have several opportunities to meet the requirements. We suggest that our programme-makers work with our commissioners at time of pitch to discuss the requirements and how your ideas can contribute towards this investment.
28. How and when will titles be counted towards the £12m target?
All competed programmes that transmit for the first time after 1 April 2021 will be considered against the criteria for the £12m target - including those commissioned prior to this date.
29. Teams aren’t usually in place at pitch. What if the criteria aren’t met at this stage?
We would still consider the commission through the usual channels. We aren’t accepting or declining pitches because they do/do not meet the criteria. There will be further opportunities for suppliers to flag that they meet the criteria, e.g. when production begins and teams are in place, and right up to the point of transmission.
30. What if a supplier meets the criteria at pitch but doesn’t later on?
There will be an opportunity before production begins to confirm whether or not suppliers meet the criteria and we would expect any teams who no longer do so to keep us informed. This will not change whether or not your commission is accepted, but we would expect commissioners to speak with suppliers along the way to offer support or advice as to how to continue to meet the criteria.
31. How will the success/ impact of the commitment be measured? Will this happen each year?
In conjunction with the aggregated data from Proteus and the number of commissions that qualify against the criteria, we will be able to monitor success on a rolling basis across three years. Working with ±«Óãtv Audiences we can capture information on audience ratings and new audiences to help measure impact.
32. Will there be a requirement for companies to be participants in the 50:50 Project and signatories to the Equality in Audio Pact?
The 50:50 Equality Project and the Equality in Audio Pact are voluntary.
50:50 is gathering momentum as radio productions see the benefits of measuring their representation. There are 170 teams monitoring across Radio & Music. 51 of those teams are also monitoring disability and ethnicity. There is also a new 50:50 diverse contributors database tool in place to support productions.
±«Óãtv R&M supports the five principles set out in the Equality in Audio Pact. There are now over 60 signatories.