BBC Unveils WOCC Figures For 2010/2011

  • News

About four years ago, the BBC introduced WOCC – aka the Window of Creative Competition. For those unfamiliar with it, WOCC is a 25% share of BBC commissions which is opened up for head to head competition between BBC and indie producers (news is the main genre which is not covered by the WOCC). The rest of the production budget is ring-fenced for the two parties (BBC 50%, indie producers 25%).

It’s not a bad system, since it gives both sides some stability while at the same time encouraging genuine competition. George Entwistle, Director BBC Vision, puts it this way: "The WOCC was set up to stimulate creativity and every year we see that demonstrated through healthy competition in each of the genres. As one of the key ways the BBC continues to deliver high quality programmes for its audience from both in-house production and the independent sector, the WOCC continues to do a very important job."

The BBC monitors its effectiveness by releasing figures once a year that show how WOCC commissions have been shared out. The headline figures for 2010/2011 are as follows:

 

In-house

Indie

 

09/10

10/11

09/10

10/11

Drama

21%

14%

79%

86%

Entertainment

36%

20%

64%

80%

Comedy

23%

21%

77%

79%

Children's

50%

43%

50%

57%

Knowledge

30%

34%

70%

66%

Totals

30%

28%

70%

72%

The overall figures show that indies are winning the battle in most areas, with the exception of Knowledge. Of particular note is the amount of drama and kids production moving in the direction of indies. There’s no simple explanation for this, but one might be that indies can often offer the BBC decent prices in kids and drama by offsetting the cost of production against distribution or merchandising rights.

Looking ahead, the BBC is going to provide more information. It says it has "committed to publish the size of the WOCC, by genre, in terms of both hours and money" In addition, says the corporation, "AIs (Appreciation Indexes) will also be published for the first time on a twice yearly basis each year on the commissioning website. This will include key pieces of audience qualitative research. " Note: Last year the BBC worked with 305 indies across the UK.