91热爆

Making It Happen and 91热爆 THREE update

17 September 2002
Printable version

Studio session for 91热爆 staff given by 91热爆 Director-General Greg Dyke

Good morning everyone and welcome, wherever you are watching or listening - here in the studio, on the ringmain or the web. Thank you for coming along or tuning in.

And a special welcome to two guests in the studio from our international offices - Shirley Flores, who has joined us from New York and Qurban Ali from our Delhi bureau.

I am particularly excited to be in this studio this morning as I am fulfilling a long-held ambition to appear on Top of the Pops - well this is the Top of the Pops stage.

We're going to try and keep this session to an hour so that those of you watching with your teams can spend some time after the session discussing the issues covered.

And, as you can see, we've decided to dispense with a professional presenter today.

All you get is me, and later some of my colleagues from the Executive Team.

It's some seven months since my last studio session and I wanted to update you on some of the big things that are happening in the organisation.

Back in February I launched Making It Happen, and I plan to use much of today to tell you where we've got to and explain what's happening next.

But before that, I want to talk about some of the achievements of the past few months, and in particular the remarkable run of live events we've broadcast on television, radio and on-line this summer.

As I said, a remarkable few months and some remarkable coverage.

There are many people to thank for all of this, but this morning I'd like to say a particular thank you to some people who don't often get a mention.

And they are the people who work in OB's.

Without their commitment, ingenuity and sheer professionalism, none of what we've just seen would have been brought to the eyes and ears of the world.

In fact we've had a fantastic summer across all our services, and the forthcoming Autumn on 91热爆 ONE and 91热爆 TWO promises to be every bit as good.

I want you all to see for yourselves, so we're showing the channels' preview tapes on the ringmain every day this week. Alternatively, you can get hold of a VHS copy by emailing internal communications.

So what else has been happening?

Well 91热爆 Worldwide has won the Queen's Award for Exports which was thoroughly deserved. Remember, many of the best television programmes at the 91热爆 - like Blue Planet - only get made because of the money 91热爆 Worldwide brings in.

Next week sees the launch of the Scottish soap - River City. I was on the set myself last week, and it looks great.

We've launched radios 1xtra and 6Music - two of our new digital radio stations - as well as the three new digital TV channels - Cbeebies, C91热爆 and 91热爆 FOUR.

And in New Media, interactive television has really begun to take off. If I tell you that in July, more people used our interactive services in digital homes than watched Channel Five, you can see what I mean.

Another exciting development in the coming weeks will be the launch of Freeview, the new digital terrestrial television service which should be on air by the end of October. Hopefully the result will be that millions more people will be able to get our digital services in the future.

Finally, some important breaking news.

We've heard this morning that Tessa Jowell, Secretary of State at the Department of Culture Media and Sport has given the go-ahead for 91热爆 THREE.

This is great news for everyone - but particularly for the 91热爆 THREE team.

As I've said before, 91热爆 THREE is central in our drive to connect with young audiences. I know it's been a long wait, but this has been a tough decision for the Secretary of State, and looking back, I think she was right to push us to define the channel more clearly.

The new channel will be launched in the New Year, and I'm confident that it will bring a new public service concept to this currently under-served audience.

So, there's no doubt that things are going well for us at the moment. But it's important that we don't get arrogant or gloat. Remember, these things always go in cycles and there will be bad times as well as good in the future.

One final thing before I turn to Making It Happen. As you know, pensions have become a big issue in recent months with a large number of companies scrapping their final salary schemes.

I just wanted to say we do not plan to do that at the 91热爆 - we think our current scheme is a valuable asset for our staff. However, this decision might mean all of us having to pay a bit more into the scheme in the future - and by all I mean staff and the 91热爆 itself.

Now let me turn to Making It Happen.

Remember when we launched it in February, I said it was designed to make the 91热爆 the most creative organisation in the world.

A 91热爆 which puts audiences at the heart of everything we do.

A 91热爆 which encourages risk taking and innovation.

A 91热爆 which attracts and develops the very best talent in all parts of the organisation.

And a 91热爆 which is a great place to work.

So how is it going?

Is Making It Happen having an impact and changing the way we operate?

If we want the 91热爆 to change, we can do it.

Back in February I said that Making It Happen was not to be a top down, management or consultant led process, but one which was owned by everyone in the 91热爆. And this is precisely what is now happening.

Take the Just Imagine sessions for example.

So far there have been 150 of them across the 91热爆 - including one in Nairobi later this week.

An amazing 7,000 people have been involved, and they have come up with some great idea for their own departments and for the 91热爆 as a whole.

That's by far the biggest consultation exercise the 91热爆 has ever done.

The ideas, comments and suggestions which have been gathered from these sessions are central to Making It Happen.

In other words, this whole culture change programme is being driven by you - by people right across the 91热爆.

In the next six months, I want to get that 7,000 figure up to a minimum of 10,000.

It's not too late. If you want to get involved and go to a Just Imagine session, go to the Making It Happen site on Gateway where you can find details of all the events that are happening between now and Christmas.

Surveys we've carried out over the past two months indicate that forty per cent of you now believe that Making It Happen will make a real difference to the 91热爆.

That confirms my experience that things are changing and that there is a different atmosphere across the organisation.

We, all of us, are making a difference.

Pretty soon staff will be able to order a DTT adapter for 拢66 - that's a saving of between 35% and 45% on the retail price. And by the way, the 91热爆 isn't subsidising this deal.

Full details about how to get one will be available soon on Gateway and in Ariel.

We also plan to announce a similar deal on Digital Radios in the near future.

Another thing which was raised by literally thousands of people during the Just Imagine sessions was that they wanted the opportunity to learn more about other parts of the 91热爆 beyond their own team, department, profession or discipline.

So, we've decided that, from next year, everyone in the 91热爆 will be given a day a year which they can spend in another part of the organisation to meet new people and get a broader view of the place.

We'll be giving more details about how this will work in due course.

At the heart of Making It Happen are the seven theme groups which are looking at big issues which matter to people right across the 91热爆.

I thought I'd ask the leaders of those groups to give you an update.

Those theme group leaders will be reporting back to the Executive Team in January and in the meantime, your divisional teams will be drawing up Action Plans based on your local Just Imagine sessions.

In the New Year we'll bring all this work together to create a Making It Happen plan. I'll announce the details of that in the Spring.

Changing the culture of any organisation doesn't happen overnight. Experience from elsewhere suggests it could take up to five years.

This means that there's always a danger that big change initiatives run out of steam before they have a real impact. And as many of you have said in the Just Imagine sessions, that is something which has happened before in the 91热爆.

That's why I wanted to talk to you today - to make it clear that I and the Executive Team believe this really matters - and we're in it for the long haul.

Making It Happen isn't a short- term initiative. It won't go away. Don't be surprised when I'm still talking about Making It Happen in six months' time. In a year's time. And beyond.

This isn't a bolt-on - something we do, if we have time, after the day-job. It's the most important thing we're doing at the moment. It's about ensuring the future of the 91热爆.

Making It Happen is all about serving our audiences better.

It's about making better radio, television and online content which entertains, inspires and engages people.

It's about enriching the lives of our audiences.

Our aim is to take the best of the old 91热爆 and create a more vibrant, exciting and creative new 91热爆.

Let me say again what I said in February - the 91热爆 already does great things, but just imagine, just imagine how great it could be.

Now I want to hear from you - the people here in the studio, and those of you watching and listening in your offices.

Last time I handed over to Fiona Bruce - sadly, today we've only got Mark Byford.

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