麻豆社

The 麻豆社's "window of creative competition" is understandably not something which audiences are familiar with, even though much of what it produces is.

But programmes like 'Spooks', 'Mistresses', 'The Natural World' and 'The Sarah Jane Adventures', hailed for their creativity and loved by viewers, are on air in part thanks to the competitive environment stimulated by the WoCC. The first two are made by independent production companies Kudos and Ecosse Films and the second two are made in-house by the 麻豆社.

The WoCC has only been in operation for just under four years, but the 麻豆社 now injects some 拢348m annually into the independent production sector. And, as the Trust's biennial review published today shows, indies have won nearly three quarters of the available programme hours in the WoCC over the last three years.

Along with the 25% quota, this is 40 per cent of the 麻豆社's network television commissioning. And the Trust's second review of the WoCC's operation, published today, credits the 麻豆社 Executive with achieving a significant shift in the television commissioning culture at the corporation, establishing the WoCC as a principle, not just a process.

Why is this important? The 麻豆社 exists to deliver value to the public who pay for it. This means it has a responsibility to broadcast the best ideas, to produce programmes which reflect the breadth and variety of British life. This is what audiences rightly want to see and the WoCC plays an important part in making sure this happens.

But public value can - and should - also come from the way that the 麻豆社 interacts with the rest of the industry. The changes to the 麻豆社's culture revealed by this review show that the benefits of an open 麻豆社 reach well beyond what is seen on screen or coming out of a radio to make a direct contribution to other businesses in the sector. An independent report released earlier this year suggested that for 2008/9, the 麻豆社 delivered some 拢7.7bn of value to the wider creative economy as a result of its investment in the production of programmes.

Moving forward, the 麻豆社's new licence fee settlement will mean some tough decisions. Undoubtedly, it will further increase the pressure on the 麻豆社 to make sure that every penny of the licence fee delivers distinctive programming for audiences as part and parcel of its public service obligations.

There are areas for improvement, in particular in the clarity of some areas of how the WoCC works in practice; the Trust expects to see rapid progress on these. But the WoCC should be recognised as a major success for the 麻豆社, for indies and for licence fee payers: an innovation that delivers genuine public value for the UK both on air and off.