BBC Trust: WoCC works, but is confusing

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The BBC Trust has heralded the WoCC a success – but says the corporation must still do more to "de-mystify" the commissioning mechanism.

The Trust said programming ideas were being treated equally and that there was no bias among BBC commissioners towards either in-house or indie producers for the guaranteed 25% of commissions that fall into the Window of Creative Competition (WoCC).

The Trust was also happy that there were no genres where in-house or indies were too dominant among WoCC commissions. Broadcast revealed that indies were outperforming in-house producers in a genre-by-genre guide to WoCC performance in March.

But while the Trust was pleased with the introduction of the WoCC, it said the corporation needed to work harder at explaining the concept to producers.

Jon Cowdock from the BBC Trust Unit said there was still an "air of mystery" about the WoCC.

"We need clearer information about how it works and the to look at how the WoCC is presented on websites and in external briefings. The message needs to get through better than it does at present," he said.

He added that the e-commissioning process should also be better explained, to ensure that indies using the system, who often have less experience of dealing with the BBC, did not feel they were being dealt with in a less satisfactory way.

"There can be no substitute for developing a relationship," Cowdock said.

Pact chief executive John McVay also said BBC management deserved credit for the successful implementation of the WoCC, but argued that it could be extended.

"There shouldn't be no-go areas," he said. "Sport and news would both be areas where licence fee payers could benefit from more competition."

The complex nature of sports rights deals means the BBC has not introduced the WoCC in the genre, although the Trust is keen to apply as many of its principles as possible. More in-house/indie partnerships in sports coverage is one option the Trust proposed.

The Trust is also encouraging the various BBC genres and departments to share new best practice findings since the introduction of the WoCC. This could include replicating the factual commissioning structure that sees indies and in-house producer pitch to dedicated commissioners. The commissioners then put forward ideas to compete for WoCC commissions after fulfilling their in-house or independent quotas.

The Trust has also asked for better labelling of WoCC commissions in the future. That would allow it to identify individual shows as being commissioned from the WoCC and draw more conclusions about how well the mechanism is performing.

Director general Mark Thompson will respond to the Trust's analysis of the WoCC in the autumn.