World

● A report by David Graham Associates highlightingthe insularity of the British Television Industry andits focus on the domestic programme market ratherthan the international export market● A Campaign for Quality Television report on thedecline of the serious-issue documentary on ITV● Debate about the public service obligations ofChannel 4In addition it was an exceptional period for televisionnews. The Nato offensive on Kosovo put the newsroomson a ‘wartime’ footing, absorbing foreign programmeresources and unusually eclipsing domestic output. Thiscoincided with both the BBC and ITN overhauling theirdaily news programmes, as ITN lost News at Ten, and theBBC launched new viewer-friendly studio sets, titles andnewsreaders in response to extensive audience research.Shortly after, the untimely death of Jill Dando was apersonal shock and loss to a number of interviewees, anddrew news bulletins away from Kosovo to a storyexceptionally close to home.A further influence on interviewee responses can bethe research process itself. Some participants referred tothe fact that this was not an area they normally focusedon, and some of the questions were not ones they hadever addressed. This is not to suggest that theircontributions are any less valid, but it is a reminder of thewell-acknowledged fact that the process of research canin itself influence the outcome.G.I.4. Note on Audience ResearchInterviewees made extensive reference to audienceresearch, but two points should be noted in thisconnection.1) In the majority of cases these are general references.People were unwilling or unable to quote particularresearch. Where specific ratings or research werequoted, these are given.2) Audience research, though much-quoted, seems tocause some confusion.While Barb ratings are undoubtedly the major gaugeused in assessing the popularity of programmes,interviewees repeatedly expressed their scepticism aboutaudience research in general as a reliable means ofassessment. A senior executive at ITV admits to being“completely cynical about audience research”.It is widely considered that, while viewers can betrusted to accurately say which programmes they arewatching for Barb ratings, they are not to be trusted inother areas of audience research. It is thought that peopleare more likely to say they watch news and seriousdocumentaries than they are to put BLIND DATE at thetop of their list of favourites. It has apparently beendocumented that on one factual series, more people toldresearchers they watched than were recorded by Barb asactually watching.However the experience of Discovery Channel’saudience research has been that people do not go for‘aspirational’ answers, and freely admit to findingdocumentaries too dull and gloomy. As a result thechannel has re-positioned itself as a ‘factualentertainment’, as opposed to a documentary, channel.Several interviewees express concern that so muchweight is given by policy-makers to such an imprecisescience.G.I.5. AcknowledgementsThis report was made possible by the generous supportand assistance of television executives, producers andnews correspondents who agreed to be interviewed in spiteof their demanding schedules. The ready co-operation ofall levels of decision-maker, from producers andreporters to directors of programmes and controllers,greatly facilitated the research process and meant that aparticularly comprehensive range of experience could bedrawn upon.Particular thanks should also go to the InformationDepartment of the Department for InternationalDevelopment for launching the project, and to theirSteering Group of senior broadcasters from the BBC,ITN, Channel 4, Channel 5, and Discovery Channel, withthe ITC, for their support and advice.G.1.6. ParticipantsG.1.6.1. Policy-Makers/Commissioners (25)ALL PROGRAMMESAlan Yentob, Director of Television, BBCPeter Salmon, Controller, BBC-1Jane Root, Controller, BBC-2Adam MacDonald, Head of Scheduling, BBC TV.Bill Hilary, Head of Independent Commissioning Group,BBC TVDavid Liddiment, Director of Programmes, ITV NetworkDavid Bergg, Director of Planning and Strategy, ITVNetworkPeter McHugh, Director of Programmes, GMTVTim Gardam, Director of Programmes, Channel 4Rosemary Newell, Head of Programme Planning andStrategy, Channel 4DFID – July 2000 149