The BBC may style itself as a beacon of political correctness. But when it comes to gender balance and diversity, it is lagging far behind other broadcasters.
The Corporation is less likely to employ women than its major TV rivals, and less likely to promote them to senior positions, according to a major report by Ofcom published today.
It also does worse than other broadcasters when it comes to employing people from ethnic minorities, and lags behind Channel 4 on hiring people with disabilities.
The BBC is less likely to employ women than its major TV rivals, and less likely to promote them to senior positions, according to a major report by Ofcom published today
The findings fly in the face of claims by the Corporation that it leads the industry when it comes to diversity and gender equality.
They will also heap fresh pressure on the BBC, at a time when it is still reeling from the gender pay row which exploded over the summer, stoking concerns that the corporation is too ‘male, pale and stale’.
The BBC was plunged into chaos in June after it was forced to reveal pay details of its most senior presenters and staff – exposing a shocking difference between the pay levels for male and female workers.
Many male presenters earned considerably more than the women who sit next to them, even though they appear to do the same job.
Audiences and staff alike were shocked by the absence of names like Newsnight host Emily Maitlis on June’s BBC pay list released
Audiences and staff alike were also shocked by the absence of names like Newsnight host Emily Maitlis, who did not appear on the list because she earned less than £150,000 a year.
Director general Lord Tony Hall told staff at the time that the BBC still outpaced its commercial rivals.
‘On gender and diversity, the BBC is more diverse than the broadcasting industry,’ he said.
However, that claim has now been called into question following the damning findings by Ofcom.
The report – based on 2016 data supplied by the broadcasters – found that just 47 percent of BBC staff are women.
The Corporation lagged behind Channel 4, ITV and Channel 5’s owner, Viacom – not to mention the general population, which is 51 percent female. Only Sky did worse in Ofcom’s survey of Britain’s five biggest TV broadcasters.
It was a similar story when it came to putting women in senior jobs at the BBC.
The Corporation has more women over the age of 40 than any of other Britain’s big TV stations, but they are more likely to languish in relatively junior roles.
Just 39 percent of the BBC’s senior managers are female, putting the Corporation behind ITV – where 42 per cent of senior staff are women – and Viacom, where almost half of the top jobs go to women.
Director general Lord Tony Hall previously told staff that the BBC still outpaced its commercial rivals on gender and diversity
The Ofcom report said: ‘Employees of the BBC are increasingly likely to be male, the more senior their role. The BBC’s Board and senior management employees together are 61 per cent male, and their mid-level management (three-fifths of the organisation overall) are 57 per cent male.’
The BBC’s record on promoting staff from ethnic minorities to senior positions is similarly dismal. Around 13 per cent of the Corporation’s staff are non-white – just behind the general population – but only six percent of top jobs go to people from ethnic minorities.
Ofcom chief executive Sharon White said yesterday the findings should be a ‘wake-up call’
Sharon White, chief executive of the broadcasting watchdog, said yesterday that the findings should be a ‘wake-up call’.
‘We would have expected the BBC to be leading the industry and actually it is in the middle. The BBC is the UK’s national broadcaster, it should be driving the rest of the industry. The public expects the BBC to represent them,’ she said.
In a pointed remark – seen as an attack on Lord Hall – she added that broadcasters will only fix the problem if there is ‘leadership right from the top’.
She also pointed out the stark contrast between the BBC’s efforts to tackle diversity and those at Channel 4, which did far better than the other broadcasters when it came to numbers of women and recruiting people with disabilities.
A BBC spokesman said: ‘Ofcom’s report acknowledges its figures are from 2016 and that the BBC has since published more up to date evidence.
‘We’ve been clear about our commitment to leading the way on diversity and our figures for 2017 show we have increased our representation across the board including in our female, LGBT [lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender]; black and ethnic minority; and disability workforce.
‘This shows the considerable progress we are making towards meeting our challenging targets by 2020, but like the rest of the industry we have more to do.’
Keep pay of stars secret, says new chairman
Sir David Clementi has insisted the BBC should be allowed to use a loophole to keep some star salaries secret
The man in charge of holding the BBC to account has insisted the broadcaster should be allowed to use a loophole to keep some star salaries secret.
Sir David Clementi used his first public speech as BBC chairman to argue that the Corporation should not have to disclose pay details for stars who are paid through its BBC Studios production arm or via independent TV companies.
Instead he claimed that BBC Studios should be allowed to keep private the salaries of stars on shows like Strictly Come Dancing, The One Show, Casualty and Doctor Who in order to put it on a ‘level playing field’ with rivals.
Doing so is an ‘integral part of competition arrangements’ and ‘an important point of principle’, he told the Royal Television Society conference in Cambridge.
The BBC was forced to publish the pay details of its 96 highest-paid actors and presenters in the summer – but the so-called ‘rich list’ only covered stars who received at least £150,000-a-year directly from broadcaster.
It was allowed to hide the pay of Question Time host David Dimbleby and other major stars like former Great British Bake Off Mary Berry because they are paid through third-party firms.
And next year the BBC plans to use this loophole to hide the pay details of even more stars next year, because it has now spun off its production arm, BBC Studios, as a commercial company – subject to the same rules.
Doing so would allow it to conceal the pay of stars like Strictly host Claudia Winkleman, who is the broadcaster’s highest paid female presenter on up to £500,000 a year, and Casualty actor Derek Thompson, who gets up to £400,000-a-year for playing ‘Charlie Fairhead’.
But the BBC is facing mounting pressure to publish more rather than less detail about pay next year.
Conservative Damian Collins, chair of the culture, media and select committee, said last month that he wants to close the ‘unacceptable’ loophole.
Culture Secretary, Karen Bradley, will say today that the BBC must be transparent.
‘The publication of BBC talent pay caused something of a stir, especially in relation to the gender pay gap. It is not for the Government to dictate how much individual stars are paid, but transparency will help ensure pay levels are reasonable and fair,’ she will tell the RTS conference.
Sir David said yesterday: ‘Under the new Charter, Studios is free to compete directly with other production companies, including seeking commissions from other broadcasters,’ he told the Royal Television Society conference in Cambridge.
‘As part of the level playing field, it was agreed that Studios – like other production companies – would not be required to disclose the pay of those who worked for it.
‘So this exemption is not – as some have described it – an inadvertent loophole. It is an integral part of the competition arrangements and, so far as the BBC Board is concerned, is an important point of principle.’
He became BBC chairman in April, heading a new unitary board used to replace the BBC Trust.
The Trust was scrapped amid concerns that it was failing to hold the BBC properly to account. Its duties have been divided between Ofcom, which is now the BBC regulator, and the new board which acts as its governing body.