The BBC AND THE future ofPublic Service Broadcasting

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The BBC is committed to listening to a wide range of opinion as it develops its response to Ofcom's consultation. As part of this process we will draw on new and existing research, including the following, commissioned by the BBC Trust.

• THE BBC'S PURPOSES AND PRIORITIES

  For the first time ever, licence fee payers were invited to get involved in how the BBC should carry out its mission to inform, educate and entertain. As part of this, the Trust undertook a survey of over 4,500 people from across the United Kingdom. This work informed the Trust's decisions on the BBC's six-year investment strategy and the priorities it set for the BBC.
  
  BBC Purpose Remit Consultation - Licence Fee Payer Quantitative Research (pdf)
  BBC Trust Purpose Remits Closed Consultation

• DISTINCTIVENESS

  The Trust's research on purposes and priorities identified that one of the public's main priorities was for the BBC to work harder to provide more distinctive programming, particularly on television. The Trust carried out further analysis to understand better what audiences meant. Below is what the Trust published last December and the request it made of the Director-General and his team of directors as a result.
  
  Television Audience Perceptions of Innovation and Distinctiveness - Research Summary (pdf)
  Letter from BBC Chairman Sir Michael Lyons to BBC Director-General Mark Thompson (pdf)

• IMPARTIALITY

  Last year the BBC Trust published a report on the future of impartiality, which was the result of a major project which also involved senior members of BBC management.
  
  From Seesaw to Wagon Wheel: Safeguarding impartiality in the 21st century