Elephantoidea

Let me remind potential applicants for the Radio 4 Controllership of the elephant in the interview room. We have just under four years to go in the six-year radio 'Compete and Compare' exercise. By December 31st 2022, 60% of eligible network radio production must have been put out to competitive tender. 'Compete and Compare' was a mantra suggested by James Purnell, who, as Director of Radio, Education, Religion, Arts, Music, Children's, BBC Ideas and BBC Sounds, will have some say in the appointment.

It's interesting that we've had no progress report on how this is going - and usually, that means there's nothing much to crow about. 60% excludes news programming, and protects some long-running BBC productions like The Archers, Woman's Hour and Desert Island Discs, and some core daytime output on Radio 1 and Radio 2.

At the start of the six-year programme, BBC network radio used around 9,000 hours a year of programming from independents; that's expected to triple to 27,000 hours by 2022. Radio 2 has been leading the way, but, for example, it's expected that every programme on Radio 6Music except the news bulletins will be offered to tender during this period.

In television, the 'Content Compete and Compare' strand is being driven by Richard Dawkins (who will be at Anne Bulford's side next week in front of the Public Accounts Committee). I can find no comparable figure in radio.

In Radio 4, a new Controller will have to offer savings to meet the licence fee settlement, to fund re-investment, and to keep BBC Sounds going. A few cheap indie shows might be very appealing. It is the production teams at Broadcasting House, Salford and Bristol who will suffer in this exercise, and it is the Controllers who will have to drive this process, putting people they have worked with for years out of work. 'General Radio' production, for so long the major employer at Broadcasting House, will be a rump activity, with more managers running round creating hopeless bids and pitches, shackled by overheads, rather than people making programmes.

Many fought this proposal, arguing quite rightly that the radio indie market in this country was not as developed as tv, and that there wasn't a proper market anyway, just the BBC offering commissions. You don't hear many indie credits on LBC, Talksport, Classic FM, for example. Speech radio production needs a core continuing public service base in this country, to seed the industry, to lead training and innovation, and drive excellence.  Mr Purnell and his new Controller will preside over its decline.