FACTUAL Commissioning Brief Spring 2019 - RADIO COMMISSIONING FRAMEWORK - Production of factual programmes - BBC
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RADIO COMMISSIONING FRAMEWORK
Commissioning Brief
Spring 2019
FACTUAL
Production of factual programmes
Commissions mainly for broadcast from April 2020 to March 2021
Proteus 2020-2021 Round 1
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1 of 29CONTENTS
SECTION A: TIMETABLE ................................................................................................... 3
SECTION B: THE COMMISSIONING PROCESS ................................................... 4
STAGE 1: SHORT PROPOSAL .............................................................................. 4
STAGE 2: FULL PROPOSAL .................................................................................. 5
STAGE 3: CONDITIONAL COMMISSION ............................................................ 8
SECTION C: ABOUT RADIO 4 ..................................................................................... 10
SECTION D: EDITORIAL OPPORTUNITIES......................................................... 11
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2 of 29SECTION A: TIMETABLE
The commissioning process has three stages, as set out in the timetable below.
Stage Dates Activities
Commissioning Early January Publish commissioning brief documentation and
briefs published open round in Proteus.
Launch briefings The commissioning team brief programme
makers
Factual & Arts: Tues 12th Feb
Salford
Thurs 14th
Factual & Arts:
Feb
London
1. Short proposal 12:00 Deadline for short proposals submitted in
and shortlisting Proteus
Thurs 7th
March
Week Commissioners shortlist proposals and notify
commencing producers of outcomes. Full proposals requested
1st April from those proceeding to next stage.
2. Full proposal Thurs 4th April Opportunity to discuss re-requested short
– Weds 15th proposals prior to submitting full proposals.
May
12:00 Deadline for full proposals submitted in Proteus.
Thurs 16th
May
3. Commission Mid July Commissioning decision made, subject to
awarded contract. Editorial specifications and price
agreed.
Late submissions cannot be accepted.
If you have any questions about this commissioning round that you need answered
before you submit short proposals, please send them to the relevant commissioning
co-ordinator well before the deadline.
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3 of 29SECTION B: THE COMMISSIONING PROCESS
Everything in this commissioning round is open to competition. Any department or
company with demonstrable suitable expertise may submit ideas for any brief.
There is no formal eligibility questionnaire. If you are registered on the BBC supplier
database it is assumed that you satisfy the basic eligibility requirements. If you are
not registered but would like to be, contact radiocommissioningenquiries@bbc.co.uk.
STAGE 1: SHORT PROPOSAL
Step 1
Complete your short proposal in Proteus.
Observe the cap on numbers where this is applied. If the cap says a maximum 10
proposals per supplier, we will only read your first 10.
Fewer, stronger ideas are more likely to get through. In slots where each
commission is for multiple episodes, the number of commissions will be far fewer
than the number of individual programmes available.
We welcome proposals from suppliers who wish to group together in a partnership,
as long as this is clear in the proposal. Where there is a cap on proposals, the
suppliers joining together may combine their cap allowance (e.g. if the cap is 5 and
two companies offer in partnership, they may submit 10). Each joint proposal should
be entered only once.
All short proposals must be submitted in Proteus by the Stage 1 deadline.
PROPOSALS FOR FACTUAL AND ARTS SHOULD BE SUBMITTED IN
PROTEUS: 2020-2021 ROUND 1
The following must be entered for each short proposal:
Title: (of your proposal, not the slot)
Commissioning Brief number: This number is at the top of each commissioning
brief. Enter each proposal in one schedule slot only. If we consider it suitable for
another slot, we will transfer it.
Delivery date: Enter an estimated delivery date e.g. 01/06/2020.
Price per episode: This will default to the bottom of the guide price range, unless
you stipulate otherwise. If you think the price will be outside the range, you can enter
this in the ‘Price per Episode £’ field.
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4 of 29We will not consider bids above the range unless the editorial proposition clearly
justifies it and Radio 4 is able to find corresponding savings elsewhere. Although
submitting a lower price may help your chances of a commission, the editorial
proposition is always paramount.
Number of episodes: State the number of episodes
Duration: The total allotted airtime per episode, including continuity announcements
and credits, for example 14’ or 28’ (not 15’ or 30’).
Short synopsis: This is where you sell your idea in Stage 1. Maximum 250 words.
If you prepare proposals offline to paste into Proteus, keep the format simple: bold,
underline and italic only. Proteus will remove other formatting, including bulleted and
numbered points, as well as converting your font to the equivalent of Arial size 11.
To prevent corruption issues, use the Proteus “T” icon pasting tool located just above
the text field box to paste into Proteus. Once in the synopsis field you may need to
rearrange your paragraphs and subtitles.
Full synopsis: Do not enter anything in this field at this stage.
Step 2
Short proposals are evaluated by the commissioning team who shortlist those which
they wish to see as full proposals.
Step 3
We release the results in Proteus. Proposals will show as ‘Rejected’ or ‘Re-
requested’. Re-requested means the idea has been shortlisted to go to the full
proposal stage. We regret that we cannot give feedback on rejected short proposals.
STAGE 2: FULL PROPOSAL
Step 1
If you reach the next stage, you will be invited to discuss your shortlisted ideas with a
member of the commissioning team. This may by phone rather than face to face.
We will not discuss ideas that have not been submitted as short proposals.
Step 2
If a proposal is re-requested in Proteus, do not re-create it from scratch; just edit it to
reflect the requirements for the full proposal and re-submit it.
While it is possible to submit fresh offers which have not been discussed, experience
shows that few ideas that were not offered as short proposals get commissioned.
All full proposals must be delivered in Proteus by the Stage 2 deadline.
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5 of 29PROPOSALS FOR FACTUAL AND ARTS SHOULD BE SUBMITTED IN
PROTEUS: 2020-2021 ROUND 1
The following must be entered for each full proposal:
Title: If your idea is commissioned you must not change this title without the written
agreement of the commissioning editor.
Commissioning Brief number: Submit each proposal in one slot only. If we think it
suitable for another slot, we will transfer it.
Delivery Date: (linked to anniversary / event dates where relevant). This information
is important and will be used when scheduling a commissioned programme.
Price per episode: This will default to the bottom of the guide price range, unless
you stipulate otherwise. If you think the price will be outside the range, you can enter
this in the ‘Price per Episode £’ field.
We will not consider bids above the range unless the editorial proposition clearly
justifies it and Radio 4 is able to find corresponding savings elsewhere. Although
submitting a lower price may help your chances of a commission, the editorial
proposition is always paramount.
Producer: Include CV in full synopsis field if the producer is new to Radio 4.
Executive Producer: Include CV in full synopsis if the executive is new to Radio 4.
Number of episodes: State the number of episodes
Duration: The total allotted airtime per episode, including continuity announcements
and credits, for example 14’ or 28’ (not 15’ or 30’).
Short synopsis: For the final proposal this must be under 50 words. Its purpose is
to convey the essence of the idea and enable us to find it quickly in our records.
Think of it as a fledgling Radio Times billing.
Full synopsis: This is where you sell your idea. It must not exceed 2 x A4 pages of
size 11 type.
If you prepare proposals offline to paste into Proteus, keep the format simple: bold,
underline and italic only. Proteus will remove other formatting, including bulleted and
numbered points, as well as converting your font to the equivalent of Arial size 11.
To prevent corruption issues, use the Proteus “T” icon pasting tool located just above
the text field box to paste into Proteus. Once in the synopsis field you may need to
rearrange your paragraphs and subtitles.
Key talent: Any intended writer/abridger/performer/presenter etc. should be shown in
the full synopsis. You do not have to secure talent agreement before submitting an
offer but you should let us know the degree to which named talent has expressed an
interest in the project or has intellectual ownership of it.
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6 of 29Appendices
After setting out your idea, please add the following appendices in the full synopsis
field (these are in addition to your 2 page allowance):
Appendix A – Confirmation of acceptance of the key BBC contract terms:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/25pj6s2n6N9yVjxgbXThbNW/agreements-
contracts
Appendix B – Risk management: identify any specific risks and the processes or
systems that will be put in place to manage these.
If you have any questions that you need answered before you submit your full
proposal please ensure you send them to the relevant commissioning co-ordinator
well before the submissions deadline.
If you make a mistake…
If you submit a proposal in error do not create a duplicate proposal. Please contact
the relevant commissioning co-ordinator before the offers deadline and they can
return it to you for editing.
Digital commissioning
Beyond the standard metadata and possible clip requirements, we do not require any
extra digital deliverables to be offered for these commissions.
The digital commissioning editor will look at the slate of commissions along with the
genre commissioning editors and assess the potential for any additional digital
content, and whether it merits additional funding. The programme maker will have
the first option to offer to supply this if it is required and if they have the capacity and
ability to do so.
We are open to ideas that producers think will work as digital-first or podcast,
followed by broadcast in the linear schedule.
Step 3
We evaluate all full proposals against the editorial brief and commission those which
most successfully fulfil the brief and contribute to the most varied, original and
balanced schedule for the Radio 4 audience.
The following people will evaluate your proposal:
Gwyneth Williams, Controller, Radio 4
The relevant commissioning editor(s)
Other members of Radio 4 management (e.g. station management, finance,
scheduling) may also be consulted.
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7 of 29Step 4
Commissioning decisions will be communicated in Proteus. Brief feedback for
rejected proposals will be given there.
At any stage of the process, we may need to come back to you to seek clarification.
Your answers will be factored into the evaluation process as appropriate.
STAGE 3: CONDITIONAL COMMISSION
Confirmation of all commissions is conditional on the issues listed below. Radio 4 is
not responsible for any costs incurred prior to full agreement. There will be important
information included in the feedback field in Proteus which will not be communicated
through other means so it is vital that you take time to read this, make notes and
disseminate to colleagues where necessary.
Price
Each conditional commission will be made with a fixed price offer that has been
judged as value for money by the Commissioning, Finance and Business Affairs
teams. Most will be within the published guide price range but we reserve the right to
negotiate an alternative price if we believe it appropriate. If our price is accepted in
writing by an independent company there will be no need to submit a detailed budget.
Contracts will be issued immediately.
If, however, you wish to challenge the offer made, a detailed budget in Proteus will
be requested and scrutinised by our Finance and Business Affairs teams with the
aim of reaching agreement.
Conditional acceptance may be withdrawn if agreement on price is not reached
within a reasonable period.
Rights
Radio 4 requires an appropriate set of rights dependent on the type of
programme. This will vary only in exceptional circumstances. The guide price range
quoted on the commissioning brief is based on buying the standard set of rights for
that programme. If fewer rights are bought, the price may be reduced.
Radio 4 will welcome proposals with co-production funding.
Schedule and delivery dates
Each proposal should include your ideal delivery date although our conditional
acceptance will not necessarily be able to reflect this date. We are unlikely to issue
precise transmission dates for programmes not pegged to a particular anniversary or
season but will give the calendar quarter in which we intend to place them. If you
cannot deliver to meet the given transmission quarter, notify Amanda Benson
(Schedule Planning Manager) within 14 days of results publication. Precise delivery
dates will be confirmed well before the start of each calendar quarter.
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8 of 29Editorial
A conditional acceptance might have specific editorial conditions attached to it, e.g.
that a particular actor is available. Fulfilment of them must be confirmed before the
commission is finalised and before you start work.
Compliance and BBC Editorial Guidelines
You will be required to deliver programmes that are in line with the BBC’s Editorial
Guidelines and be able to adapt to the BBC’s changing editorial and business needs
during the period of the commission.
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9 of 29SECTION C: ABOUT RADIO 4
Radio 4
Radio 4 is unique in the breadth and quality of its informative, educational and
entertaining programming. Every day, on air and online, Radio 4 has more original
content than any other broadcaster in the world. Its authoritative news and current
affairs journalism is complemented by programmes exploring many areas, including
science, arts, history, religion, ideas, drama and comedy, offered through regular
strands, one-off programmes and special seasons.
While the average age of its 11 million plus audience is 56, Radio 4 is constantly
evolving its schedule and tone to attract the next generation of listeners. All
proposals must bear this in mind. It also seeks to continue to build appeal to
audiences across the UK and among ethnic minorities.
Audience data for the briefs which have prescribed schedule slots will be available
on the commissioning website in January.
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10 of 29SECTION D: EDITORIAL OPPORTUNITIES
Commissioning Editor Mohit Bakaya
Commissioning Co-ordinator Jacqueline Clarke
jacqueline.clarke@bbc.co.uk
Factual Audio – a very modern medium...
“Documentaries - my God, there is so much going on in our country and in
the world today that every time you open the newspaper or turn on the radio
or watch the news on TV there is another documentary subject. We're getting
the headlines for a second, shaped by corporate delivery most of the time,
but what's really the story there?” (Jonathan Demme)
Factual documentary is where we take time to explore, understand and report the
world and the events/ideas that are shaping our lives.
This is the slow, bending river that runs through the landscape of news, opinion,
social media, countless statistics, “churnalism” and misinformation – the chaotic
noise of everyday life – seeking to explain what is actually going on, asking the
questions no one else is asking, challenging groupthink, providing essential history
and context, exposing PR puffery and poor reporting, listening to those that are
spoken about but rarely spoken to, analyzing current trends, anticipating the
implications of new developments, and, generally, shining a light into the murky
corners where no one else will tread.
*************
Reality changes; in order to represent it, modes of representation must
change. (Bertolt Brecht)
As we all know, audio storytelling has been re-energised by podcasting. After years
of being the only speech game in town, we are having to think much harder about the
stories we tell and, crucially, the way we tell them. At the same time, with the digital
market saturated with speech audio of variable quality, we need to uphold the
important and honorable tradition of audio documentary.
Let’s make our audience – however it comes to us – the most informed and
knowledgeable in the world. But let’s also transport them far from the news cycle;
factual documentary must be a place of wonder, surprise and delight – as well as a
place of truth, depth and clarity.
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11 of 29Editorial Guidance for ALL FACTUAL SLOTS
Some of this will be familiar if you have made programmes for Radio 4 before, but, in
the interests of clarity and to avoid wasted effort, here are some, hopefully useful,
Factual “do’s” and “don’ts”:
DO
Tell us compelling factual stories that will challenge the audience’s view of
the world.
Find us compelling people that will mesmerise the audience.
Tell us why your idea is best told as a story in sound.
Be the first to explain fascinating new thinking and/or trends to our audience.
Think how you might use the slots to build bridges between people, find
solutions, promote listening and understanding (to counter the fact that
political and social discussion is getting increasingly angry and polarized).
Tell important historical stories which have new contemporary relevance.
Return to and revise history when new perspectives, thinking, or facts come
to light.
Ask questions no one else is asking.
Bring voices that we rarely hear to the audience’s attention.
Hold the powerful to account – taking a broad view of where power lies (not
just politics).
Reveal what others would prefer to hide through investigative journalism.
Take risks with storytelling conceits as well as subject matter.
DON’T
Pitch an idea that it is not, at heart, an audio documentary.
Offer an idea that could, and probably should, be made as an item on one of
the many news and magazine strands on the station.
Offer until you have a clear idea about WHY there needs to be a
documentary or series about the subject you are seeking to explore.
Simply reinforce the majority view of the world.
Simply describe a general area of concern…tell us your angle!
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12 of 29Treatment, Treatment, Treatment
We are as interested in treatment as we are in purpose. In fact, we feel some of our
great documentaries can be let down by being too densely packed, too conventional
and didactic, not told imaginatively enough. Journalism, sound, music, craft and
storytelling can be fine bedfellows. Success comes when you have thought about
how you will tell your story as well as the story you want to tell.
Here are some routes to success:
When your idea is about the “hardy factual perennials”, territory that is
important to understanding the modern world and, as a result, often
pitched – eg refugees, homelessness, death, housing, inequality,
identity politics, Brexit, abuse, social injustice, immigration – a key
factor will be how you cover the story; the clever conceit or treatment
that makes your idea stand out from the pack and engages the audience
in new and interesting ways. Another factor, of course, will be the
person telling us the story or embarking on the project of enquiry.
Please indicate whether they’ve been approached.
Stories that start from a brilliant and surprising place. So: seeing a classified
ad for a missing person; or a jog around a golf course leading to an enquiry
into how golf clubs can afford the rent. Be more curious and let that curiosity
seek out stories and doc ideas NO ONE else will get to.
BBC radio has a fine tradition in creating beautiful sonic portraits. Tell us how
you will use sound to tell factual stories, how you will make multi-layered
works of art that will stand out from an increasingly crowded speech
landscape.
Try to break away from conventional documentary story telling wisdom. Beg,
borrow or steal from film, literature, TV, theatre, wherever... to tell stories in
new ways, to re-engage listeners with familiar subjects. And make that radical
thinking part of your pitch, not an afterthought.
Short proposal paragraphs
A word about your short proposals – the 250 word paragraphs: remember…they are
simply your bid to get a pitch meeting.
However, we get thousands, and up to half the total number of the ideas submitted at
short proposals get knocked out because we only can fit in so many pitch meetings.
So you will need to think carefully about how yours will read amongst all the others.
There are many reasons things get knocked out at the pre-offers stage – don’t let a
badly written, dull paragraph be the reason!
Linear AND digital, working in perfect harmony
We have had some success recently commissioning series to work for audiences
listening on different platforms, Intrigue being the most notable example. These are
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13 of 29commissions that embrace podcast style story telling but also work in the linear
schedule, though sometimes durations differ.
We are keen to build on this by commissioning a new big, bold, brilliant factual series
that would work brilliantly on Radio 4, but also in BBC Sounds.
We think history, investigation or science are probably our best bets here, but you
may have other ideas. So we are inviting really clever, ambitious ideas, probably no
more than one per supplier given the development work that will be required if we
decide to proceed.
We don’t want to prescribe which slot as we want you to focus on the story and we’ll
work out how it fits on both platforms later (assuming we go for it). Please submit
any ideas you have in the MULTI-PART DOCUMENTARY brief (Proteus brief 47194)
and mark it “BIG IDEA”. Only one per supplier.
Drama / Documentary ideas
We would be interested to discuss collaborations between drama makers and
journalists to get at real-life stories with accuracy, authenticity and emotional insight.
We are keen to blend techniques of both documentary and fiction and to consider
suggestions that introduce new formats and ways of blending the genres. If you are
interested in this area, please flag as a short proposal. In order to avoid too much
development at this stage, we are capping proposals in this area to no more than
one per production department or company. Proposals will be co-commissioned by
the Drama and Factual commissioners.
Submit your idea either into a Factual Narrative History or a Drama 15’ slot and we
will compare notes at the short proposals (pre-offers) stage. If we want to explore
further we can help with brokering cross-discipline partnerships if necessary.
The Batch
In 2018 we awarded a number of batches for long form Factual Documentaries (28’
and 37’ slots) for two years, covering 2019/20 & 2020/21. These were to enable us to
work more closely with a smallish number of suppliers so that we could think and
react better to a fast-changing world.
Therefore, we are not inviting any of those batch holders to pitch long form
documentary ideas in at this stage. We will fill their batches through the course of
the year and through the new Monday 20:02 slot. There will, of course, be a lot of
Factual slots still open to pitch into.
However, non-batch suppliers can bid now for the remaining long form documentary
slots in 2020-21.
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14 of 29Eligibility
We invite proposals from BBC departments and independent companies who can
demonstrate considerable experience in radio/audio or TV factual production at both
producer and executive producer level. If you have not produced programmes for
Radio 4, include your track record in the long synopsis of your full proposal.
The following briefs are open in Proteus Round 1 2020-2021:
Brief no. 47209 Brief name: Long Form Documentary – Specific
Proposals
Brief no. 47194 Brief name: Multi-part Documentary Series
Brief no. 47006 Brief name: 14’ Feature
Brief no. 47088 Brief name: Archive on 4
Brief no. 47169 Brief name: Narrative History
Brief no. 47132 Brief name: Special Events & Seasons
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15 of 29Commissioning Brief no. 47209
Brief name: Long Form Documentary – Specific Proposals
Duration 28’ and 37’
(including announcements)
Schedule slot Various days, 16.02, 13.30, 11.02, 20.02
Number of programmes available Approximately 50
Transmission period April 2020 - March 2021
Guide price range per episode £8,200-£8,500 for a 28’ programme and
£10,100 to £10,400 for a 37’ programme
Commissioning Round 2020/2021 Round 1
Only suppliers who do not have a batch are invited to submit proposals here.
CAP: No more than FIVE ideas per supplier, please
Editorial Opportunity
We will primarily take single doc ideas here, though some series may be included.
Most multi-part docs series should be submitted separately under BRIEF 47194.
The genres we expect to cover here are:
CURRENT/SOCIAL AFFAIRS
POLITICS
HISTORY
SCIENCE
RELIGION
NATURAL HISTORY
IMPORTANT: First read the Editorial Guidance for ALL FACTUAL SLOTS, page 12.
Further guidance
The single, brilliant documentary has an honorable tradition on Radio 4. Long
may that continue. We want to commission fantastic one-off stories that stand
out from the schedule and can make waves online.
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16 of 29 So, most importantly, think why this story should be told in long form AUDIO
documentary and would not be best covered as an item or series of items on
a regular Radio 4 strand. Listen to the other single topic strands that sit on the
station like Analysis, In Business, Crossing Continents and File on 4. But also
magazine shows like Woman’s Hour, Week in Westminster and the science
strands.
Think hard about how you want to frame your project of enquiry. Too many
offers sketch out a territory but don’t think enough about what the angle is, or
how they will draw an audience in.
If you are pitching an access doc, consider the editorial challenges proximity
might throw up and address how you will meet them. Also, access needs to
have a strong editorial purpose. And think hard about how you establish
character and engagement when access is to a number of people in an
institution.
We want more women and people from ethnic communities presenting in this
slot. We particularly want to hear more Black British voices.
Where your story is very specifically located please explain how you will
make your documentary of interest to a national audience.
Revisionism is welcomed here - documentaries that uncover new evidence
about the past or feature new arguments challenging received wisdom
regarding a historical event or period.
Where the subject matter is especially complex, proposals should suggest
ways in which actuality and texture will be used to give the audience time to
absorb and reflect.
More polemic and thesis-driven programmes would be welcome.
If pitching a history idea, remember history is almost always fascinating and it
can be hard to distinguish between two proposals unless there are other
reasons given for telling this story now. Simply saying “this is an amazing
history” isn’t always enough; I could fill the schedule three times over with
amazing history stories. Help me choose your idea.
Please indicate whether you are pitching for a 28’ or 37’ slot. However, be
aware there will be very few 37’ slots available and we will use them primarily
to run investigative documentaries and more complex explorations that lend
themselves to a single episode approach.
Beware anniversary pegs. They are rarely sufficient in their own right.
Please indicate whether a named presenter has brought the idea to you.
Radio 4 reserves the right to commission some of the individual ideas and
schedule these along with work from other suppliers.
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17 of 29Digital
We are keen to encourage bold digital ambition. However, remember that we will
only be able to support a certain number of big digital projects in any one year.
Our digital commissioning editor and factual commissioning editor will together
assess the potential for any additional digital content. The supplier of the programme
will have the first option to offer to supply this if it is required and if they have the
capacity and ability.
We are open to ideas that producers think will work as digital first or podcast,
followed by broadcast in the linear schedule.
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18 of 29Commissioning Brief no. 47194
Brief name: Multi-part Documentary Series
Duration
28’
(including announcements)
Schedule slot 11.02
Number of programmes available Approximately 40
Transmission period April 2020 - March 2021
Guide price range per episode £6,900-7,100
Commissioning Round 2020/2021 Round 1
Cap: No more than FIVE series per supplier, please
Editorial Opportunity
This is the place for big analytical projects of enquiry – big statements, big ideas and
big talent.
Tell us about the forces shaping our world before they reach the news agenda. Tell
us in a manner which is compelling, digestible and definitive.
IMPORTANT: First read the Editorial Guidance for ALL FACTUAL SLOTS, page 12.
Further Guidance:
We are looking for original, but not necessarily investigative, journalism. This is an
opportunity to step back and ask a big question about an important subject. Maybe
about something that pops up in the news every day, but goes unexamined in depth.
Examples of previous or upcoming multi-part documentary commissions include
Englishness, China and science, confidence, the post-war settlement, The Invention
of… (Germany, France, America, Britain etc), the relationship between science and
religion, sleep, and the new world order.
If you are pitching an idea that includes history, be clear why this is best told as a
long form series and not through the 14’ Narrative History brief.
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19 of 29Stories can be local or global, big picture or close-up and forensic. But we will always
want clear and stylish production.
Where the series is big enough we may want to explore the possibility of a book spin-
off. Where a pre-existing book deal is involved, this MUST be flagged up in the
proposal.
Your contributors should probably be leaders in their fields. Your presenter might
have specific expertise, but they must have a talent for simplifying complexity for a
general audience and a broadcast voice which is easy to absorb and hard to ignore.
Linear AND Digital, working in perfect harmony
We have had some success recently commissioning series to work for audiences
listening on different platforms, Intrigue being the most notable example. These are
commissions that embrace podcast style story telling but also work in the linear
schedule, though sometimes durations differ.
We are keen to build on this by commissioning a new big, bold, brilliant factual series
that would work brilliantly on Radio 4, but also in BBC Sounds.
We think history, investigation or science are probably our best bets here, but you
may have other ideas. So we are inviting really clever, ambitious ideas, probably no
more than one per supplier, given the development work that will be required if we
decide to proceed.
Please submit any ideas you have in this brief (Proteus brief number 47194) and
write “BIG IDEA” in the proposal title. Only one per supplier. This is in addition to the
multi-part cap. We’ll work out how it fits best on both platforms (assuming we go for
it).
09.02 Formats
WE ARE ALSO INTERESTED IN BRILLIANT NEW FORMAT IDEAS THAT MIGHT
RUN AT 09.02, OUR HIGHEST PROFILE COMMISSIONED SLOT. Please submit
any ideas you have in this brief (Proteus brief number 47194) and write “FORMATS”
in the proposal title. Two ideas maximum per supplier. This is in addition to the multi-
part cap.
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20 of 29Commissioning Brief no. 47006
Brief Name: 14’ Feature
Duration 14’
(including announcements)
Schedule slot Various days, 09.30, 13:45, 20.45
Number of programmes available Approximately 160
Transmission period April 2020 - March 2021
Guide price range per episode £3,000-£3,200
Commissioning Round 2020/2021 Round 1
Editorial Opportunity
These 14’ programmes will be placed in various slots in the schedule. We will
commission all short form docs under this brief. Subjects can be anything that falls
under ‘Factual’.
IMPORTANT: First read the Editorial Guidance for ALL FACTUAL SLOTS, page 12.
Further guidance
The short features open up opportunities for audiences to engage with
storytelling with a different rhythm and pace. They are a great place to tell
episodic stories, programmes that naturally divide into a series of smaller
explorations or journeys.
We are interested in developing more ideas here that work both as box sets
for digital binge-listening as well as episodic factual stories in the linear
schedule. Think about how your idea will work for both platforms.
Do not submit big multi-part Narrative History ideas here. They are being
commissioned separately.
Examples of successful new types of storytelling here are Intrigue: The
Ratline, Doorstep Daughter, The Untold: Missing, The Boy Who Gave His
Heart Away, Could Do Better.
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21 of 29 How the episodes break down and lend themselves to multi-part treatment is
crucial to this form.
We will normally commission programmes in blocks of five. Very occasionally
we may take a one off 14’ idea.
We are keen to encourage more crafted feature making in these slots and
more imaginative treatments. So please think long and hard about how your
series will break down into single episodes and how they will join up to be
greater than the sum of their parts.
Digital
We are keen to encourage bold digital ambition. However, remember that we will
only be able to support a certain number of big digital projects in any one year.
Our digital commissioning editor and factual commissioning editor will together
assess the potential for any additional digital content. The supplier of the programme
will have the first option to offer to supply this if it is required and if they have the
capacity and ability.
We are open to ideas that producers think will work as digital first or podcast,
followed by broadcast in the linear schedule.
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22 of 29Commissioning Brief no. 47088
Brief name: Archive on 4
Duration 57’
(including announcements)
Schedule slot Sat 20.02
Number of programmes available Approximately 40
Transmission period April 2020- March 2021
Guide price range per episode £7,900-£8,100
Commissioning Round 2020/2021 Round 1
CAP: No more than FIVE ideas per supplier, please
Editorial Opportunity
“…the Archive on 4 strand which, for reasons I've yet to fathom, rarely puts a foot
wrong. I've tried to find fault, because no series can be this perfect, but so far to no
avail…. These hour-long, socio-political programmes are rigorously researched,
beautifully produced and mesmerising in their detail”
(Fiona Sturges, The Independent)
Story is key here. The best Archive on 4s deploy analysis, argument, wit, revisionism,
new interviews and authorship along with compelling archive material.
IMPORTANT: First read the Editorial Guidance for ALL FACTUAL SLOTS, page 12.
Further guidance
The authority, charisma and energy of the presenter are all vital to the
success of programmes in this slot. The presenter needs to actively engage
with the archive and do more than simply link clip A to clip B.
One of the challenges for those making programmes in the Archive on 4 slot
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23 of 29is to tell stories that can sustain for an hour. Proposals should set out how
the idea justifies a 57’ origination, with enough twists and turns to keep the
listener engaged.
Don’t forget this goes out on Saturday night. Programmes should seek to
entertain and engage, as well as inform and educate.
Programmes can include new interviews, where appropriate, but the slot is
not funded or designed to feature a large amount of new material. You are
also allowed out of the studio on occasion!
Too many offers come in where the bulk of archive available is written,
rather than broadcast archive.
New archive coming to light is rarely, in itself, sufficient reason to make
a programme. Offers should demonstrate both the story you want to tell,
and why that story is best told through audio archive.
Archive sources beyond the BBC’s have worked well. Indeed, some of these
are better suited to providing longer inserts than much of the BBC News
material.
There will always be a place for simpler programmes that just make use of
fantastic archive without much else besides, but the archive needs to be just
that – fantastic!
In the past, we have had too many anniversary pegged programmes that
move gently, but rather predictably, through their story, offering few new
insights. If you are submitting an anniversary pegged proposal, do say how
you might introduce surprise and challenge expectations.
When choosing the presenter, do think carefully about how his/her voice
would contrast with the type of archive that will dominate the hour.
Be mindful of the cumulative effect of an hour of very old archive. It can
make listening hard work!
We could do with more women presenters in this slot. And more ethnic
diversity too. We particularly want to hear Black and Asian Britain better
represented.
Please indicate whether the presenter has been involved in the development
of the proposal.
NB: Where the programme is comprised of clips of archive recordings or pre-
recorded material, details of ownership and availability of rights should (if possible)
be provided. If no preliminary enquiries have been made, this should be stated. As
far as entire or complete programmes are concerned (i.e. where we would normally
expect to take a licence to broadcast), details of availability of broadcast rights,
ownership and price per broadcast must be provided.
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24 of 29Digital
We are keen to encourage bold digital ambition. However, remember that we will
only be able to support a certain number of big digital projects in any one year.
Our digital commissioning editor and factual commissioning editor will together
assess the potential for any additional digital content. The supplier of the programme
will have the first option to offer to supply this if it is required and if they have the
capacity and ability.
We are open to ideas that producers think will work as digital first or podcast,
followed by broadcast in the linear schedule.
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25 of 29Commissioning Brief no. 47169
Brief name: Narrative History
Duration 14’
(including announcements)
Schedule slot Mon – Fri 13.45
Number of programmes Approximately 90
Transmission period April 2020 - March 2021
Guide price range per episode £3,000-£3,200
Commissioning Round 2020/2021 Round 1
Editorial Opportunity
Narrative History has established itself as a high impact slot on Radio 4. It is where
we explore some of our most ambitious history ideas, from Living with the Gods to
Our Man in the Middle East, from Incarnations to Chinese Characters.
For 2019/20, we have big historical takes on science and art, Queen Victoria,
education and freedom planned.
We are only inviting BIG Narrative History ideas here. Other shorter bursts of 14’
programmes will be considered under the SHORT FORM SERIES.
IMPORTANT: First read the Editorial Guidance for ALL FACTUAL SLOTS, page 12.
Further guidance
First and foremost, voice is the thing that matters here. This year we really
want you to think about who are the best storytellers, the most interesting
minds who have compelling ways to make their expertise come alive. Too
many people who are pitched here are very knowledgeable, but make for
slightly dull narrators. Who is the next Neil MacGregor? They have to be
jump-out-of-the-radio compelling, engaging voices!
Narrative History ideas will be at least 10 episodes long and tackle big
subjects demanding that level of exploration and exposition. It is the
opportunity to construct chronological, thematic or other narratives from these
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26 of 29brilliant building blocks that makes this slot both challenging and exciting.
Narrative History is one of the key ways the station defines its ambition
for the year. So ideas need to be big, bold, imaginative and agenda-setting.
Drama-documentary would work well here and we will be keen to
discuss collaborations between drama makers and journalists to get at
real-life stories with accuracy, authenticity and emotional insight. We
are keen to blend techniques of documentary and fiction here and to consider
suggestions that introduce new formats and ways of blending the genres. If
you are interested, please flag in your short proposal (we can then help with
brokering cross-discipline partnerships if necessary). In order to avoid over-
development at this stage, we are capping proposals to one per supplier.
Proposals will be co-commissioned by the drama and factual commissioners.
The combination of expertise and original authorship with dynamic and
imaginative use of audio offers huge potential for creative and intellectual
ambition. These are also programmes that work well as digital downloads,
with short episodes building over a number of weeks.
We would expect to know who will write and present the series – this is key to
understanding how the editorial authority of the project will be guaranteed and
how it will sound on air. Let us know if you are using an adviser or consultant.
We would expect an indicative outline of how the series might work across a
number of weeks. Please also state digital ambitions, where appropriate.
With long lead-ins, ideas must stand the test of time and not date too quickly.
Where the series is big enough we may want to explore the possibility of a
book spin-off. Where a pre-existing book deal is involved, this MUST be
flagged up in the proposal.
Please indicate whether the presenter has been approached. If they are high
profile it might be worth waiting until we express interest in them and the idea.
We are keen to commission a few big ideas that achieve economies of scale
and are offered at lower than guide price.
Digital
We are keen to encourage bold digital ambition. However, remember that we will
only be able to support a certain number of big digital projects in any one year.
Our digital commissioning editor and factual commissioning editor will together
assess the potential for any additional digital content. The supplier of the programme
will have the first option to offer to supply this if it is required and if they have the
capacity and ability.
We are open to ideas that producers think will work as digital first or podcast,
followed by broadcast in the linear schedule.
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27 of 29Commissioning Brief no. 47132
Brief name: Special Events & Seasons
Transmission period April 2020 - March 2021
Commissioning Round 2020/2021 Round 1
Proposals for special events and seasons are assessed by the whole
commissioning team, working together.
Editorial Opportunity
A Special Event or Season is a proposal on a single theme which crosses strands or
day parts. The impact will be different and distinctive from the rest of the station’s
schedule. A sense of occasion or celebration may be created.
Proposals may span a variety of commissioning briefs and their coherence becomes
obvious only when the various parts are assembled.
Sometimes, small, carefully constructed clusters of programmes might be
commissioned in their entirety from one supplier. More often, Radio 4 will scope out
the scale and scheduling of a season.
Ideas that help evolve the perception of Radio 4 and challenge lazy assumptions are
welcome here.
Therefore, ideas for Special Events that get past the short proposal stage should be
discussed with commissioning editors before you do any work on the detail.
An anniversary might be marked on several stations. Your proposal for Radio 4 must
be utterly distinctive and clearly shaped for our audience. We can be over-reliant on
anniversaries. The Mars season in 2017 did not mark an anniversary. It was just a
wonderfully evocative and multi-faceted theme which found expression in
documentaries, features, drama and readings across the schedule and in special
digital moments online.
We particularly welcome suggestions of events or a focus on a subject that will
surprise the audience and be distinctive. Innovative treatments of more predictable
events are also welcome. A big event on Radio 4 may also enable us to design a
schedule of complementary archive programming on Radio 4 Extra.
With such events, the core programmes and the idea might come from one group of
producers, but other programmes might subsequently be commissioned from
elsewhere.
We have found that event ideas which have been created between different teams
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28 of 29with varied expertise can be particularly striking. So, a seasonal event or idea might
come from one source, but the station reserves the right to commission a portfolio of
programmes from diverse sources to provide the listener with the best possible
schedule.
Some of our Special Events are contained within one day such as Brexit Day.
Others are spread widely, in terms of genre, format and schedule, as with the
programming to mark the anniversary of India’s independence and partition.
So, we are looking for:
programming which merits schedule-busting and/or collaboration with existing
News sequences and factual strands;
special days, nights or weekends;
seasons spread over a given period or building up to a big landmark or event.
Digital
We are keen to encourage bold digital ambition. However, remember that we will
only be able to support a certain number of big digital projects in any one year.
Our digital commissioning editor and genre commissioning editors will together
assess the potential for any additional digital content. The supplier of the programme
will have the first option to offer to supply this if it is required and if they have the
capacity and ability.
We are open to ideas that producers think will work as digital first or podcast,
followed by broadcast in the linear schedule.
Do not enter a budget estimate for any purely digital element of your proposal. This
will be considered once we decide to take an idea forward.
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