Page 25 - ITU Kaleidoscope 2016

IMPORTANT CONSIDERATIONS FOR ENVIRONMENTALLY SUSTAINABLE
BROADCASTING:
THE BRITISH BROADCASTING CORPORATION EXPERIENCE

Simon Tuff

British Broadcasting Corporation, London, United Kingdom, simon.tuff@bbc.co.uk

ABSTRACT CO 2 equivalent per annum [4], whereas a study for Ofcom in the
UK estimated that broadcasting accounted for around 1.8% of
Many people recognise the important role broadcasters have in GHG emissions [5], a significance which surprises many as
providing people with an understanding of environmental issues is broadcasting may be more significant in GHG terms than most
often through programmes and other content but broadcasters people have appreciated. Either way, all three of these industries
themselves also have a significant impact on the environment are growing in size and thus GHG output but both aviation and
through the process of content creation and distribution. ITC industries are making concerted efforts to become more
efficient, whereas steps to reduce the impact of broadcasting are
This touches on the editorial and creative challenges of informing less widespread. This might be because of the distributed nature of
audiences about the environment and focuses on the sustainability the footprint but whatever the cause it is rarely considered a
of programme making and distribution, using the UK and significant issue. In fact, as we will see later, the move from
particularly the BBC as an example. In the first case using traditional transmission platforms to the Internet could be growing
information from Albert, the UK carbon calculator for the the industries footprint at an increasing rate.
television industry, the carbon footprint of different production
workflows will be assessed. Then using research undertaken by For the purposes of this paper we’ll focus on the impact of
BBC R&D and partners the paper will look at the impact of television. This is not because the radio or written output of the
transmission and the energy differences between distribution BBC isn’t important, to the contrary, but because the creation of
platforms. In conclusion some thoughts on the challenges facing video, with the necessary addition of cameras, lights, sets, make
this industry will be shared as well as some suggestions on where up, costumes etc. is a far more resource hungry and complex
efforts might productively be focused. undertaking with a resultant increase in the size of its carbon
footprint. This is illustrated by the fact that the BBC’s flagship
television service, BBC One, consumes nearly a third of the
Keywords— Broadcaster, Programme, Production, BBC’s annual license fee funding [6].
Audiences, Transmission, Distribution, Content. It is in this context that this paper looks at the challenges for
sustainable TV broadcasting and explores how the BBC is
1. INTRODUCTION becoming a more sustainable organization, whilst guarding its
independence and maintaining its impartiality.
The British Broadcasting Company (BBC) was founded in the UK
as a radio broadcaster in 1922 [1]. Largely as a result of the 2. THE BROADCASTING SYSTEM
General Strike of 1926 the benefits and influence of broadcasting
became more apparent to the UK government of the day and the For the purpose of helping us examine the BBC's sustainability we
Company was transformed into the current British Broadcasting start by trying to simplify the TV service provided by this
Corporation by Royal Charter in 1927. Today the BBC is a global complex public service organisation by identifying 3 broad
broadcasting organisation, still firmly routed in its public service categories.
tradition, funded by a license fee and defined by its Royal Charter.
As it approaches the start of a new charter at the end of 2016, the Product manufacture (or programme making), product distribution
(or broadcasting) & consumption (or watching TV).
BBC operates a range of UK television and radio services both via
traditional transmission [both analogue and increasingly digital] as Firstly, like any modern business, the BBC makes things and in
well as comprehensive set of on-line services including text pages, this case its programmes, which are made using a creative, craft
live streaming and on demand [or catch up] TV & Radio. The and storytelling process normally know as production. We will
BBC also operates internationally as a news gathering touch on the nature of those programmes and the editorial choices
organization and as broadcaster via the BBC World Service. and constraints that drive their creation shortly.
As a sensible starting point in trying to know what sustainable Secondly the BBC has to distribute its products, or content as it is
broadcasting might look like it would make sense to understand now frequently called, by broadcasting, although as you might
what proportion of the world’s Green House Gases (GHG) are due imagine with the advent of the Internet broadcasting is becoming
to broadcasting. Based on IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on an increasingly ambiguous term.
Climate Change) data it is widely accepted that about 2% of the Lastly BBC audiences watch or consume content on an increasing
world anthropogenic Carbon Dioxide emissions are the result of number of devices (from large TV screens to handheld Smart
the aviation industry [2] [3]. The ITU estimates that the ICT Phones) and via a range of different distribution mechanisms
(Information, Technology & Communications) sector (comprising (including satellite, terrestrial transmission & the internet) known
of telecommunications, computing and the Internet, but excluding as platforms.
broadcasting transmitters and receivers) contributes around 2 to Like any large business or public sector organisation the BBC
2.5 per cent of GHG emissions, or just under 1 Gigatonne of requires a back office function and in this case it spans the first

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