BBC Makes Promises To Audience

The BBC published its first annual statement of promises yesterday, laying what it believes is “the foundations of a stronger relationship with licence payers.”

The “BBC Statement of Promises to Viewers and Listeners” spells out a series of specific promises covering the full range of the BBC’s output. Statements regarding taste and decency include observance of the nine o’clock watershed on television; monitoring listeners’ views and concerns about the portrayal of sex, violence and the use of strong language; and reviewing and revising BBC guidelines to keep in touch with public sentiment.

Other promises include providing a full, accurate and impartial news and information service; to ensure that at least eight out of ten hours of programming are made in the UK; to make at least one third of the programmes for its national services outside London and the South East by 1998; and to provide more factual programming during peak time on television than other broadcasters.

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