ITV plcCorporate responsibility report 2007

Transcription

12175 ITV CR Cover.qxp
9/4/08
10:14
ITV plc Corporate responsibility report 2007
ITV plc
200 Gray’s Inn Road
London WC1X 8HF
www.itv.com
Investors: www.itvplc.com
Page 1
Message from Executive Chairman Michael Grade
ITV’s mission is to be
the UK’s favourite source
of free entertainment.
To me this involves being
a responsible source of
free entertainment.
Corporate responsibility report 2007 ITV plc 01
In a fast changing and highly competitive industry such as ours,
there is a constant risk that unforeseen issues will arise. New types
of content and ways of engaging with the viewer require new
safeguards. New media such as the internet are outside the scope
of traditional regulators and require content providers to establish
their own standards. Never before has the notion of “corporate
responsibility” been so important to our industry.
ITV News continues to set the highest standards for editorial
judgment and objectivity. Its three main bulletins serve
UK society by informing millions of viewers about a vast
range of national and international issues. Both in news and
entertainment we are challenging ourselves to reflect the ethnic
and cultural diversity of the UK, making our programmes more
relevant and appealing to the widest potential audience.
We learned this lesson to our cost during 2007 when failures
in our systems for premium rate services and administering
competitions resulted in us letting down our viewers and also
ourselves. I believe we have dealt effectively with those problems.
The actions we have taken are described more fully in this report.
Our new online and mobile businesses present fresh corporate
responsibility challenges. These businesses are mainly outside
the regulatory scope of Ofcom and the provisions of its
Broadcasting Code. We have decided voluntarily to apply the
same standards for the content we provide across new media
that we do to broadcast television. There will be some differences
in implementation so we have created control and protection
mechanisms that suit the medium.
Viewers will only watch programmes and use services that they
trust. Building trust in our Company takes years of consistent
performance but it can be damaged by just a single misjudgment.
That is why it is so vital that everyone at ITV recognises that the
Our £1 billion production budget supports the UK creative
trust of viewers is one of our most valuable assets and why this
economy of artists, presenters, producers and technical people
report is such an important document.
involved in programme making in ITV and at the independent
production companies that supply us. Without ITV, Britain’s
Great work was done in 2007. Our current affairs and regional
indigenous television industry would be much smaller.
news programmes regularly covered issues of social and
environmental concern, both to inform viewers and in the case of Our corporate responsibility extends to the way we recruit and
“Climate Change – Make a Difference” and “The Big Ban”, to enrol treat employees, ensure their health and safety and manage
them in positive actions. Some may be surprised that our serial
our environmental impacts. All of our material corporate
dramas also provide valuable education. Emmerdale for example, responsibility issues are covered in this report. I hope that you
through its carefully researched storyline raised awareness of the find it informative and welcome feedback.
early symptoms of meningitis.
Michael Grade
Executive Chairman
Contents
Message from Executive Chairman
About ITV
Corporate responsibility at ITV
01
02
04
On air
Responsible programming
Independent reporting
Reflecting society
Supporting communities
Responsible advertising
Digital switchover
08
13
17
20
23
25
Online
Content on demand
28
Behind the scenes
Creative economy
Our people
Health and safety
Protecting the environment
32
35
42
43
Performance indicators
CR objectives
Assurance statement 2008
GRI indicators
Contacts
47
48
50
51
52
About this report
This report covers the CR performance of ITV plc for 2007. The report covers
all wholly owned companies and jointly owned businesses in which ITV has a
majority shareholding. All information relates to the calendar year 2007 except
where a different period is stated. The report has been assured by Enviros Ltd
whose statement is on page 50.
Further information
Further information on ITV’s non-financial KPIs and related data is available in
the Business Review section of our 2007 Annual Report, available to download
on the Company’s website at www.itvplc.com.
To find out more about the topics contained in this report, please visit:
www.itvplc.com/itv/responsibility.
Cover image
Rageh Omaar: The Iraq War by Numbers, aired in March 2008. Rageh Omaar
returned to Iraq to explore the human stories behind the vast number of statistics
generated in the five years of the war.
02 ITV plc Corporate responsibility report 2007
About ITV
ITV plc is the leading UK media
company, owning all of the regional
Channel 3 licences in England and
Wales. ITV also owns free-to-air digital
channels ITV2, ITV2+1, ITV3, ITV3+1,
ITV4, Citv and Men & Motors. ITV is
available on every major platform
including broadcast TV, online and
on mobile.
ITV employs 5,634 people worldwide.
The majority work in production
centres around the UK, with large
centres in London, Manchester and
Leeds. Outside the UK we have offices
in America, Australia and Germany.
We also employ a large body of
freelance writers, performers and
technical staff who contribute to our
programme production.
Entertaining the UK through...
...Broadcasting
Our Broadcasting business is responsible for commissioning
and scheduling programmes on all the ITV channels.
The broadcasting business also covers ITV regions and News
and ITV Sports production. It manages ITV’s broadcasting
interests on different platforms including UK terrestrial
television, free-to-air digital channels, and digital terrestrial
television on Freeview.
The Broadcasting business comprises:
ITV1, ITV2, ITV2+1, ITV3, ITV3+ 1, ITV4, Citv, Men & Motors,
GMTV (75% owned), Freesat (joint venture with BBC)
Key statistics
2007
Turnover
Operating profit
Profit before tax
Earnings per share
Investment in ITV programming
Number of employees
£2,082m
£311m
£188m
5.0p We regularly review our material issues to identify any
£1,087m changes from external sources or due to new types of
5,634 business within ITV. Our materiality assessment takes
into account the opinions of a wide range of internal and
external stakeholders with whom we are in regular contact
(see stakeholder engagement on page 4).
Our strategic objective is to be the UK’s favourite
source of free entertainment, by meeting the
following targets:
– Double content revenues by 2012
– Maintain our share of adverts watched on UK TV
at 38.5% across our family of channels by 2012
– Deliver £150 million in online revenues by 2010
The Company is based around three major
businesses: Broadcasting, Global Content
and Online.
Other businesses
We also own Carlton Screen Advertising, a cinema advertising business;
Commercial Breaks, a production company; and 3sixtymedia, a studio facilities
company. We have a 50% interest in Screenvision Europe and Screenvision US,
joint ventures with Thomson S.A., which operate leading cinema screen
advertising businesses in continental Europe and the US respectively.
ITV’s material CR issues
Programme/content standards
– Compliance with the Ofcom Broadcasting Code
– Access services including signing, subtitling and
audio description
– Regional programmes serving local communities
– Other public service programmes including news and
current affairs
– On-screen diversity
– Premium rate services
Advertising standards
– Compliance with the British Code of Advertising Practice
– Length and frequency of advertisement breaks
– Proposals to introduce product placement
...Global Content
...Online
Our Global Content business includes the UK’s biggest
commercial television production company and one of
Europe’s largest programme distributors.
Our Online business works with the Broadcasting and Global
Content teams to deliver ITV content through new platforms.
It consists of three main areas: Broadband, Transactional
and Mobile.
The Global Content business comprises:
ITV Productions, 12 Yard, Cosgrove Hall Films,
The London Studios, Granada Ventures, Granada America,
Granada Australia, Granada Germany
The Online business comprises:
itv.com, itvlocal.com, ITV Mobile, Friends Reunited, ITV Bingo
Community investment and engagement
– Selection of causes supported
– Allocation of on-air support
– Donation of money and other resources
Health and safety
– At ITV productions
– At all ITV locations
– At independent productions made for ITV
Creative economy
– Expenditure on regional production
– Freelance employment opportunities
– Training and support for the independent sector
– Monitoring of independent sector health, safety,
employment and environmental standards
Environment
– Energy consumption and climate impact
– Material consumption, waste and recycling
– Water use
– Protecting the environment when filming
on location
Employment
– Off-screen diversity
– Training and development
– Work/life balance
– Freelance and contractor workforce standards
Suppliers and business partners
– Independent production companies
– Premium rate services
– Merchandise and promotional items
Corporate responsibility (CR) has
never been more important to ITV.
It is crucial that we maintain
(and where necessary regain) our
viewers’ trust in our programmes
and business ethics. ITV’s reputation
as a responsible broadcaster is one
of our most important assets as we
strive to be the UK’s favourite source
of free entertainment.
ITV has maintained a strong relationship with a loyal UK
audience for over half a century. Society and broadcasting
conditions have changed dramatically in that time. Currently, the
established broadcasters face major challenges in the form of
increased competition from digital services. Marketing budgets
are now frequently split between television and the internet and
ITV is exploring new revenue streams to adapt to these changes.
These values are communicated throughout the business through
regular roadshows. They are also included in our induction and
training processes. In 2007 we added new modules on ethics and
programme codes to our in-house training (see page 11).
CR governance structure
John Cresswell, ITV’s Chief Operating Officer is responsible for
reporting CR performance to the Board. ITV’s CR Operational
Group is chaired by the Deputy Company Secretary, has
cross company membership and is charged with formulating
ITV’s CR policy commitments for consideration and approval
of the Board. It also determines ITV’s CR strategy and requests
resources where appropriate. The CR Operational Group reports
to a CR and Operational Risk Steering Group chaired by the
Company Secretary.
Following a strategic review of CR management across
ITV operations, our CR management structure is being revised to
strengthen internal reporting and accountability. Details of the
new structure will be included in our 2008 report.
Communicating CR
Our principal communications channel for CR issues internally
is through articles on our employee intranet, The Watercooler,
which has dedicated CR pages. This includes regular updates
on issues such as diversity, climate change and community
The changes to our business have brought new CR challenges, but involvement. To launch the 2006 CR Report, we ran a series of
there are also important benefits. Viewers have an unprecedented responsibility related articles on The Watercooler during April
amount of choice and flexibility. Our online presence has also
2007 as part of a “Focus on Responsibility” Week. This included
created new platforms for communities to connect and share
a recorded interview with John Cresswell underlining the
information, and new opportunities to reflect diversity and be
importance of CR at ITV.
inclusive. Our five year strategy is to make ITV a leading player
Our internal communications team won a Communicators in
in an all-digital, on-demand future. To do this we need to build
Business award in November 2007 for their CR awareness raising
a strong online presence, and to innovate to generate revenue
campaign in the category “Capturing the Imagination”. For more
through new streams.
information about internal communications at ITV see page 40.
Our material CR issues
We regularly review our material issues. Our materiality
assessment takes into account the opinions of a wide range of
internal and external stakeholders with whom we are in regular
contact (see stakeholder engagement below).
For information about our material issues please see page 2.
Managing CR
Values
ITV’s values underpin every area of our business, including our
CR management. They are:
– customer-focus
– collaboration
– commitment
– boldness
– excellence
– integrity
Stakeholder engagement
We regularly engage with key stakeholders to find out how
they perceive ITV and what they think about CR issues. Our key
stakeholders include viewers, employees, investors, regulators,
suppliers, advertisers, communities and other organisations.
Viewers
The ITV Vision Panel (the "Panel") is one of our principal tools for
engagement with viewers. The Panel is made up of 10,000 adult
viewers who respond to an online survey about our programmes.
A different survey is available each day and it is up to the Panel
member when they want to complete it. It is run independently
of ITV by GFK NOP and is fully representative of the demography
of the UK population. Feedback from the Panel is passed to ITV
within 36 hours giving us access to a powerful stakeholder
feedback tool.
We asked the Panel a range of questions to determine how
responsible they think our programmes are. The responses
to these questions are summarised in the relevant sections
of this report.
Employees
We conduct regular employee surveys to understand how people
feel about working at ITV and pick up on any issues or concerns.
See page 40 for more information.
Investors
Like other companies, we receive regular enquiries on our
CR performance from institutional investors and we respond
to these queries individually. We also make information available
to shareholders through our Annual General Meeting and our
interim and annual reports. These are supported by webcasts
and roadshows covering our interim and preliminary results.
Information is also available on our website at www.itvplc.com.
ITV is included in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index and the
FTSE4Good Index as well as the Ethibel Pioneer Investment register.
Regulators
We regularly engage with Ofcom, other UK regulators (in
particular the Office of Fair Trading, Competition Commission,
Advertising Standards Authority, PhonePayPlus), as well as the UK
government and European institutions on broadcasting subjects.
The key regulatory issues affecting ITV in 2007 on which we
engaged include:
– The launch in September 2007 of the second Ofcom review
of Public Service Broadcasting (PSB). This review, which will
not conclude until late 2008, is likely to be focused on the
long term prospects for PSB.
– Ofcom launched a consultation paper on the classification
of participation television including quiz television.
The consultation document examined placing responsibility
for compliance more firmly with broadcasters. Ofcom policy
statements following the consultation are expected in the
first quarter of 2008.
– The Audio-Visual Media Services Directive amends the Television
Without Frontiers Directive. The new directive makes minor
changes to the European rules on television advertising
minutage and scheduling and gives Member States the freedom
to introduce carefully regulated product placement.
Suppliers
ITV sources programmes, goods and services from a wide range
of suppliers. As our business changes we need to acquire products
and services from a range of new suppliers. This has brought new
issues and challenges to ITV.
In 2007 we issued a questionnaire to evaluate potentially
risky suppliers. We consider our highest supply chain risks to
be in premium telephone services, independent production
companies, gaming and gambling services, and suppliers of
promotional merchandise.
Communities and other organisations
We engage with communities and other organisations in each
region on local issues such as diverse representation. See the
Reflecting society section on page 17 for more information.
Everybody at ITV appreciates the
significance of corporate responsibility to
their job. The specific issues differ across
our business, but the common thread is
that acting with integrity and with the
best interests of the viewer in mind is
always the right decision.
John Cresswell Chief Operating Officer
CR forums
We engage with the following groups to track emerging CR issues
and learn from the experiences of other businesses:
– Media CSR Forum (www.mediacsrforum.org)
– Broadcasters and Creative Industry Disability Network
(www.employers-forum.co.uk/www/bcidn)
– Employers’ Forum on Disability (www.employers-forum.co.uk)
– Employers’ Forum on Age (www.efa.org.uk)
– Stonewall (gay and lesbian rights group) (www.stonewall.org.uk)
– Cultural Diversity Network (www.culturaldiversitynetwork.co.uk)
– Opportunity Now (www.opportunitynow.org.uk)
– Broadband Stakeholder Group (www.broadbanduk.org)
– The Association for Television on Demand (www.atvod.org.uk)
We engage in several Business in the Community (BITC)
programmes. In 2007 we were included in the BITC Corporate
Responsibility Index and achieved the Silver rating for our
performance in 2006. We also participate in Opportunity
Now, the BITC programme that supports opportunities
for women.
On air
Social value
ITV programmes contribute to society
in different ways. The storylines of our
serial dramas cover complex social and
personal issues. This can provide useful
information and stimulate discussion on
issues including unplanned pregnancy,
cot death and domestic violence.
k
On air
We aim to consistently create
engaging programmes in new formats,
while ensuring appropriate safeguards
are in place to protect the viewer.
The issue
Few corporate or commercial activities impact on society
as often or as clearly as free-to-air television broadcasting.
Television is seen and judged by millions and touches the daily
lives of almost everyone in the UK. At its best, television can
educate, entertain and inform. It helps shape our social
framework, contribute to and reflect cultural values,
and stimulate debate.
Broadcasting in the UK is closely regulated to ensure that
companies exercise their power and privileges responsibly.
The regulation of programme content in commercial television
has been developed over more than 50 years, and is today
embodied in the Ofcom Broadcasting Code (the “Code”).
The Code covers all aspects of programming and presentation
by broadcasters operating under Ofcom broadcasting licences.
The Code provisions cover protection of under-18s, harm and
offence, crime, religion, impartiality, accuracy and opinion,
elections and referendums, fairness, privacy, sponsorship
and commercial references. The full Code is available at
www.ofcom.org.uk/tv/ifi/codes/bcode/.
Our approach
Ofcom makes it clear that the context in which the material
appears and the expectation of the audience, is key to applying
the Code. ITV’s policy is to minimise the risk of offence by giving
pre-transmission announcements alerting viewers to programmes
containing strong language, sexual or violent themes. We provide
this information on air immediately before the programme,
in advance promotions and in off-screen listings.
Applying a 9.00 pm “watershed” is a recognised strategy by
broadcasters and regulators to protect children from inappropriate
content. Complying with the Code requires that programmes
which are only suitable for adults should not be broadcast before
9.00 pm. Programmes broadcast before the watershed are subject
to particular scrutiny to ensure they comply with the detailed
requirements of the Code relating to protection of the under-18s.
The key responsibility of all programme makers and broadcasters
is to ensure that the Code is upheld.
Compliance
ITV believes programme makers should be qualified to make the
right decisions about implementing the Code in the context of
their own programme. However, there are frequently grey areas
requiring expert interpretation.
ITV’s compliance team of more than 30 specialists provides
support for programme makers before and during production.
This support is extended to independent production companies
making programmes for ITV. In addition the compliance team at
ITV – or on occasion within another Channel 3 licensee – reviews
every programme to verify its compliance before broadcast.
Similarly, advice is given to commissioners, broadcasters and
those involved in sponsorship, advertiser funded programming,
presentation and promotions. The advice increasingly extends
to many of ITV’s activities outside of broadcast television – for
instance broadband delivery of video on demand.
ITV Mobile supplies programme content to mobile phone
operators, tailored to mobile phone users. Our aim is to supply
content made to compliance standards comparable to ITV’s
television output. In addition the mobile operators implement the
content classification framework overseen by the Independent
Mobile Classification Body. This ensures that any content suitable
only for adults is clearly marked as over-18 and procedures are in
place to protect younger mobile phone users from accessing it.
Duty office
Viewers may complain to ITV’s duty office. Our Duty Officers
respond to questions and complaints and log all the calls, letters
and emails. Any viewer not satisfied with ITV’s response can
complain to Ofcom. For contact details please see page 52.
Ofcom rulings
In 2007 Ofcom dealt with complaints about 773 ITV
programmes/episodes. Of these 754 were either not upheld or
outside Ofcom’s remit. Four complaints were resolved to Ofcom’s
satisfaction. Complaints were upheld about the remaining
15 programmes.
Ofcom is still investigating complaints about PRS services
described on page 10. The most complained about programme
of 2008 was The Brits.
The Brits is an annual music awards ceremony broadcast
on ITV1. 262 viewers complained about the live broadcast
on 14 February 2007, making it the most complained about
programme broadcast on ITV in 2007. Ofcom considered the
complaints about two jokes made by presenter Russell Brand
about drugs and intimate parts of the human body.
Since the programme was transmitted before the watershed,
Ofcom had to decide whether children were adequately
protected and if the rules on the portrayal of illegal drugs had
been breached.
Ofcom considered the references made by Russell Brand were
sufficiently obscure to be beyond the comprehension of children,
and that his comments regarding drugs were justified in the
context of a “humorous ‘tongue-in-cheek’ style expected at a
music awards ceremony transmitted after 8.00 pm.”
Ofcom concluded: “We understand that some viewers found the
comments offensive, but on balance Ofcom has concluded there
was no breach of the Code.” (Ofcom Broadcast Bulletin 86).
k
Commitments in our licences
Ofcom requires ITV1 to broadcast specific quantities of certain
genres of programming as well as delivering certain other public
benefits – particularly in relation to programme production.
This includes national and local news and current affairs.
There are also requirements for ITV1 (see page 19) and our
digital channels to provide access services including subtitling,
audio description and signing. We met all of these requirements
in 2007, except for regional news coverage which was agreed
with Ofcom.
In September 2007, Ofcom launched their second review of Public
Service Broadcasting (PSB). This review, which is not expected to
conclude until late 2008, is likely to be focused on the long term
prospects for public service television (particularly commercial
public service television) in the UK up to and beyond digital
switchover in 2012.
It is clear that the current model based on delivering a range of
PSB obligations is unlikely to be sustainable in its current form in
the medium to long term as multichannel competition erodes
the value of the commercial PSB licences. ITV believes that it is
possible to create a new and sustainable long term commercial
PSB offer. As part of its overall case to the PSB review ITV
announced in September 2007 plans for a modernisation of its
regional news services from 2009 which Ofcom is now considering.
As I have made clear on
numerous occasions,
the relationship of trust
between the broadcaster
and the audience is
paramount.
Michael Grade Executive Chairman
Ofcom complaints 2007
Not upheld/out of remit
773
Upheld
15
Resolved
4
Vision panel research
How important is it for television
programmes to raise awareness of
environmental and social issues?
Important
No strong feelings either way
Not important
71%
24%
5%
71% of viewers think it is important that television plays a role in
raising awareness of environmental and social issues. Only 5%
do not agree.
On air
Premium Rate Services
Viewer votes and competitions have been a feature of television
programming for many years, but the advent of mobile phones
and premium rate telephony enabled broadcasters to build
on such interaction and to generate revenues in the process.
Over recent years, use of PRS in ITV and GMTV programming –
and the associated revenues – grew rapidly. Such revenues
were generated by PRS elements in mainstream programming,
as well as from dedicated participation channels and services,
such as ITV Play.
In March 2007, following press reports alleging irregularities in
our programming, Michael Grade announced the immediate
suspension of all PRS activity and appointed Deloitte to carry
out a review of PRS in ITV programming. Deloitte reviewed PRS
procedures in all current programming; identified means of
reducing the risk of failures arising in the future; and investigated
PRS-related incidents in ITV programmes broadcast from April
2005 to March 2007.
In October 2007 we published the findings of the Deloitte review
and ITV’s investigation into PRS within our programmes. Out of
more than 100 ITV programmes and series, serious editorial issues
were identified in three entertainment programmes. The Deloitte
review also highlighted serious technical issues on five occasions
affecting two further ITV shows; on none of these occasions did
the problems alter the outcome of viewer votes. In addition, the
review identified failings in the way ITV integrated PRS into its
programming: appropriate account was not always taken of the
impact of editorial actions on the integrity of interactive elements
in programmes. Agreed and consistently applied procedures,
controls and ways of working between the parties involved in the
process were lacking. In addition, supporting technology, in the
most part supplied by third-party suppliers, did not deliver the
required level of service consistently.
In response to the Deloitte review, ITV announced a
comprehensive reimbursement scheme and made a
commitment that any unclaimed element of the potential
total to be reimbursed – around £7.8 million – would be donated
to charity in 2008 (please see below).
ITV also announced changes to the operation of PRS,
including the following:
– Suspension of all SMS and Red Button voting in live
programmes, until systems are in place to ensure timely
delivery of votes;
– Reducing ITV’s dependency on third-party providers, by
bringing telephony service provision in-house on programmes
wherever possible;
– Introduction of training across ITV to ensure that employees are
aware of their responsibilities in respect of the operation of PRS;
– Strengthening ITV’s compliance resources with the addition of a
dedicated Interactive Governance team.
The problems identified in relation to ITV’s PRS are being
considered by Ofcom which could result in a fine or other
sanctions. ITV expects to learn the outcome of the regulatory
process in 2008.
The issues identified by Deloitte relate largely to PRS elements
in mainstream ITV1 programming, rather than participation
television programming broadcast under the ITV Play brand.
However, in March 2007, ITV closed its digital participation
channel ITV Play. From the end of 2007, ITV ceased broadcasting
ITV Play participation television programming on all ITV channels.
Charitable donations
After fulfilling reimbursement claims, ITV committed to any
excess funds being donated to charity. The reimbursement
process closed in February 2008 and in March 2008 ITV paid
the unclaimed funds – over £7 million – to the Charities Aid
Foundation which, in turn, will distribute this to a wide range
of agreed charities nationally and through ITV’s regions.
The funds will be split approximately three ways into supporting:
– The Princess Royal Trust for Carers;
– Armed Forces charities (four were chosen); and
– Charities in each ITV region. The amount to be distributed
between regions was calculated based on the percentage
population in each region. The key areas on which we focused
our regional donation were media (including the arts), culture,
youth and community support.
GMTV
In April 2007, serious shortcomings emerged relating to
competitions on GMTV and in particular the selection of winners
before phone lines had been closed in competitions run between
August 2003 and February 2007.
In response, GMTV suspended all competition activity and
contracted Deloitte to undertake a review and to seek to identify
affected viewers. In July 2007 GMTV confirmed a package of
measures aimed at restoring the trust of viewers. These included
offering full refunds to all entrants who were wrongly excluded;
holding 250 free prize draws, each with a £10,000 prize for
affected entrants; and making a £250,000 donation to the
children’s charity Childline. The Managing Director and Head of
Competitions both resigned.
GMTV also introduced new measures to manage PRS in the future
(although PRS competitions have not yet returned to GMTV
programming). These included:
– Development of independently audited compliance checks
and procedures;
– Regular inspection of future service providers; and
– Ensuring that future competitions allow for orderly winner
selection in a timely and compliant manner.
Following an investigation completed in September 2007, Ofcom
imposed a fine of £2 million on GMTV and required GMTV to
broadcast a statement of the regulator’s findings.
k
Viewer trust
A separate wider issue undermining viewer trust and goodwill
also emerged in 2007 – could viewers believe everything they
saw on their television screens. A number of widely-publicised
claims of “television fakery” were made about a range of
broadcasters, some of them capable of seriously undermining
viewer confidence in the veracity of programme content.
ITV’s Executive Chairman Michael Grade took the initiative.
In advance of these claims, and drawing on the emerging lessons
of the PRS issues, he made a speech in July which set out the case
for “zero tolerance”.
This led ITV to produce detailed guidance for producers, reiterating
ITV’s zero tolerance of deliberate deception and material
misleading of viewers. This stated that ITV had faith in the
integrity and honesty of its programme makers, whether in-house
or independent, and that it did not believe that deception,
manipulation and cheating were widespread.
Nevertheless, ITV will not hesitate in taking action against any
programme maker or production company found to have
knowingly deceived the viewer or the network. In the case of ITV
staff, disciplinary procedures would follow which could result in
dismissal. In the case of an independent production company or
other supplier investigation of the issue could lead to ITV declining
to work with the company or individual in the future.
Trust – it’s a must
Following publication of the findings of the Deloitte review and
issues involving trust in television across all UK broadcasters in
2007, ITV committed to improving training and awareness for
all employees involved in programming and interactive services.
Two compulsory online compliance modules were launched,
supported by an internal campaign seeking to raise awareness
of the importance of compliance and trust in ITV. The campaign
included a booklet – Trust: it’s a must – for all new joiners and
production staff.
This has been followed by an overhaul and increase in training
provision for ITV’s production staff, involving for the first time
completion of online training modules as a mandatory
requirement. In this way ITV is committed to maintaining
responsible, honest standards in all of its programming and
regaining the full trust of viewers.
On air
Programmes with a social value in 2007
Many programmes in our entertainment and current affairs
schedule inform or encourage debate about social issues.
Tonight, ITV1’s twice weekly “news magazine”, regularly
investigates social and political issues affecting life in the UK
(see table).
Our soaps can draw attention to important issues on a mass scale.
For example, in March 2007 an Emmerdale storyline featured a
suspected outbreak of meningitis. This raised awareness of the
condition and its symptoms among viewers.
Regional programmes with a social value
ITV’s regional programmes frequently give local perspectives
on social issues and address local concerns. For example, in 2007
West Eye View in ITV Westcountry continued its investigative
tradition with a programme relating the chronic diseases of some
British Army H Bomb test veterans to the contamination they
suffered at the time. The London Programme, a current affairs
programme on ITV London, featured an investigation into rising
neighbourhood crime and highlighted cycle theft in the capital.
In 2007, the ITV regions collaborated on the “Climate Change
– Make a Difference” initiative. Regional news programmes
looked at the local effects of climate change and encouraged
people to take action. For example, Wales Tonight reported on
the loss of snow cover on Mount Snowdon. See page 16 for
more information.
Many of the regions made programmes for the “The Big Ban”
which ran in the lead up to the ban of smoking in public places
in July 2007. The programmes informed people where to get
support to stop smoking, and followed local people on their
quest to kick the habit.
The storylines of ITV soaps and
dramas raise important
environmental and social issues
Agree
Neither agree nor disagree
Disagree
38%
45%
17%
Viewers recognise that even entertainment programmes
like soaps can raise important issues. 38% agreed with the
statement compared to 17% who disagreed.
Some of the issues tackled on Tonight in 2007
Crime
Antisocial behaviour among youths
Limitation to the reliability of
forensic evidence
Credit card fraud
Car theft
Crime on public transport
Terrorism in the skies
Identity theft and identity fraud
Murder investigations
Health and safety in the police force
Police funding
Police and crime rates
Dangerous driving and illegal street races
“Hoodies”
Zero-tolerance policy and use of
police time
Smoking and driving
Dangerous dog breeds
Environment
Green vehicles
Overfishing of cod
UK floods
Government
Councils overcharging council tax
Economic impacts of immigration
Waste collection
Wastage of council tax
Immigration and housing
2012 Olympics
Super hospitals
Social services and children
Congestion charge
Road safety and compensation
Wastage of public funds
Health and nutrition
Body image and plastic surgery
Health of Briton’s abroad
Shortage of paramedics
Risks of buying medicines on the internet
Superbugs
Infertility in men
Smoking
E-Coli superbug
NHS access for smokers and the obese
Eating disorders
Obesity in children
Diet pills and dieting
Child nutrition and behaviour
Cutting the annual food budget
Ethical food labelling
Organic food
Personal finance
Excessive loan charges
Reclaiming bank fees and charges
Interest rates
Risks of equity release products
Protecting our money chip and
pin technology
Personal finance lessons for kids
First-time buyers access to housing
The cost of Christmas
k
ITV News editors carry an important
responsibility to create informative
news programmes to the highest
ethical standards.
The issue
News programmes have a crucial social function. They inform
public opinion and generate debate. The news is not simply a
passive reflection of current affairs, the way it is reported can
have a direct impact on the course of events being covered.
This gives broadcasters a huge responsibility. If news
gets things wrong, or makes a bad decision, people can be
misinformed on crucial issues and in extreme cases lives can be
put at risk. It is crucial that news broadcasters have high ethical
standards and report issues sensitively, accurately and fairly.
The commercial instinct to be first with a story must not
compromise these standards.
We apply a consistent standard of compliance across all media
platforms. Editorial content must satisfy the regulations set down
by Ofcom even if it is destined for media not regulated by Ofcom
such as mobile phones and the internet.
Editorial training
ITN’s head of compliance John Battle holds regular seminars to
brief news teams on legal and code compliance issues. In 2007,
there were 12 seminars. Sensitive reporting issues such as privacy,
children, court cases and copyright were covered. Most journalists
have some formal training before they start at ITN, such as a
postgraduate qualification in journalism.
ITN’s Compliance Manual provides guidance on the most
commonly encountered risk areas. We encourage a strong
“reference up” culture, so editorial staff know that if there
is an issue that raises legal or compliance issues they should refer
the matter up to the duty lawyer or editorial management.
Daily National News editorial review meetings
9.15 am
First editorial planning meeting of the day.
Our approach
10.00 am Cross-company editorial meeting chaired by
“ITV News” comprises ITV National and ITV London News,
David Mannion, ITV News’ editor in chief. The day’s
produced by ITN, and ITV’s other regional news programming
news stories are reviewed, coverage across
produced internally by the ITV News Group.
programmes and platforms discussed and potential
compliance and PR issues identified.
ITV News is highly influential, reaching an average of 21 million
viewers per week in 2007. We recognise that our news and current 1.00 pm
Pre-broadcast, programme editor and lawyer view
affairs programming has an important social function, and we are
all items for the Lunchtime News.
committed to vigilant reporting and high editorial standards
1.30 pm
ITV Lunchtime News.
ensuring our programmes comply with the Ofcom Broadcasting
2.30
pm
Editorial
meeting to review the list of items for the
Code (the “Code”).
Evening News.
ITV National News
3.30 pm
Editorial meeting to review items for News at Ten.
ITV National News obtains stories from all over the world, with
5.45 pm
offices in London, Brussels, Jerusalem, Johannesburg, Washington
all items before the Evening News.
and Beijing.
6.30 pm
ITV Evening News.
We air three main National News bulletins a day. These are the
7.10 pm
ITV Lunchtime News, the ITV Evening News and the ITV News at
all items before the News at Ten.
Ten. We can react to breaking news 24-hours a day and interrupt
10.00 pm ITV News at Ten.
the schedule to broadcast important stories.
Under the terms of our Ofcom licence, we must broadcast
365 hours of news programming a year, 125 hours of which
must be aired at peak time. In 2007 we met these targets.
In 2007, ITV demonstrated its commitment to serious
independent reporting by regularly being at the forefront of
the biggest news stories of the year.
Editorial standards
Sound editorial judgment is crucial for making responsible news
programmes. Our newsrooms apply the Code when making
editorial decisions, which have to be taken quickly, in a highly
pressured environment. We have a tightly managed daily system
for reviewing news items and making editorial decisions to ensure
that all our news bulletins throughout the day are legal and
comply with the Code. A specialist lawyer is available to give
advice 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
ITN use a cross-company internal notice system to notify editorial
staff about legal or compliance issues such as court orders,
requests by police, and adjudications by Ofcom.
On air
Journalist safety
The work of television journalists and camera operators can
involve exposure to dangerous situations. We provide training for
all our teams and conduct a risk assessment for all assignments.
Our risk assessment uses a traffic light rating to classify the
potential level of danger. The highest category is red which
automatically includes any assignments in war zones or where
there is fighting or where journalists or westerners are being
targeted. Our health and safety manager ensures that the team
understands the risks and is taking appropriate precautions. We
employ local staff familiar with the conditions to support our
news teams on assignment (see Zimbabwe on page 15).
Our staff attend a five day residential course in operating in
hostile environments to obtain clearance to work on “red”
assignments. To maintain this status they must attend two
day refresher courses every three years. Nobody is ever forced
to work on a “red” assignment if they do not wish to do so.
There were no significant safety incidents involving our news
teams in 2007.
Compliance rulings
Two cases were upheld against ITV National News programmes
by Ofcom in 2007:
Tony Blair: The issue was whether an ITV National News
report was accurate in stating Tony Blair had said in an interview
with Michael Parkinson that he prayed to God before making the
decision to go to war in Iraq. Ofcom held that the report was
not accurate. A correction was broadcast on ITV News on
26 February 2007 (Ofcom Broadcast Bulletin 79).
UK Juicers: A complaint against ITV National News (and ITV
Central News) was upheld over a report broadcast on 9 March
2006 on the regulation of the fitness industry. The bulletins
referred to an unnamed trampoline company that had been
investigated by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA).
Ofcom upheld the complaint stating the report did not
accurately report what had been said by the ASA (Ofcom
Broadcast Bulletin 76).
Example news stories in 2007
Our National News items bring information on world and
domestic affairs to millions of viewers. In the course of a year
we cover a vast range of issues. Below are just a few examples
of important news stories we covered in 2007:
Chinese Coal Mines
China correspondent John Ray won the prestigious Foreign
Press Association award for revealing journalism about the
treatment of miners in China’s illegal coal mines. It was one of
several undercover exposés this year. Ray also travelled into
Burma, beating the BBC and Sky to Rangoon at the height
of the crackdown against the Monks.
Explaining environmental issues
The Big Melt
ITV News became the first news programme to broadcast live
from Antarctica, highlighting the dramatic effects of global
warming. The programme overcame unique technical and logistic
challenges to hear from the British scientists at the forefront of
research into global warming.
CR translates into trust. If you’re not
responsible in the news business, you
won’t be trusted by viewers. Our job is
to expose, to hold to account and ask
uncomfortable questions. We have to
do this while always respecting the
responsibilities of complying with the
law and the Code on issues such a
privacy, impartiality and offense.
Our journalists are acutely
aware of this.
Deborah Turness Editor, ITV News
k
Floods
Working closely with the ITV regions, we provided comprehensive
coverage of the floods across Yorkshire, and then the West
Country. ITV commissioned a half hour news special on the
day of the Sheffield floods. Mark Austin presented live from
Sheffield with Katie Derham airborne in a helicopter.
Covering international affairs
Letvinenko (Russia)
ITV News broke several new storylines on the poisoning of
Alexander Letvinkenko in London. In particular, we were first
with the story that three British Airways passenger jets were
grounded with suspected Polonium 210 contamination.
Iraq
We fronted a major week of special programmes from Baghdad,
to mark the fourth anniversary of the war. Our programmes
were made in collaboration with Guardian films whose local
cameramen revealed new human stories.
ITV News and current affairs
cover issues objectively
Agree
Disagree
55%
37%
8%
55% of viewers think ITV News and current affairs deal objectively
with issues. Only 8% do not agree.
Iran
We had a world first with a live interview on the ITV Evening News
with President Armadinajad. Nothing like it had been attempted
before, but we felt the opportunity to interview him live was too
good to pass up. Julian Manyon travelled to Tehran to conduct
the interview, in a joint deployment with Channel 4 News.
Highlighting UK social and political issues
C-Difficile
Science Editor Lawrence McGinty presented a week of coverage
of Britain’s dirtiest hospitals. There was an enormous viewer
response, both to the news programmes and the online material
associated with it.
Falklands 25
A quarter of a century after the liberation of Port Stanley, Britain’s
most famous veteran, Simon Weston, returned and became
our Evening News anchorman for a series of remarkable reports.
His mother recalled the day she saw him, and didn’t recognise his
badly charred face.
Leadership Lab
The three main political parties have new leaders, and we have
invented “Leadership Lab” as an innovative and engaging and
lively way to track voter opinion. Floating voters in a marginal seat
– Bedford – gather regularly to assess their performance, in an
exercise moderated by the polling company, Populus.
Exposing human right abuses: Zimbabwe
ITV National News anchored an award winning week of special
programmes live from the South Africa/Zimbabwe border.
Our correspondents exposed the true level of political oppression
in the country, the depths of the economic mismanagement,
and captured the widespread human misery of life under Robert
Mugabe. In-depth reports and a week of special programmes
presented live revealed the plight of a whole country’s people.
Soon after ITV News’ coverage the Prime Minister Gordon Brown
conceded for the first time that he was prepared to step up
sanctions against Zimbabwe.
The programme went undercover, flouting Robert Mugabe’s
ban on filming and threats of violence to expose Zimbabwe’s
escalating humanitarian crisis. The assignment was categorised
as “red” risk. A network of local contacts helped secure stories
and advise our team on safety. Their identity has been carefully
protected to avoid reprisals. We also disguised the identities
of interviewees.
On air
ITV Regional News
In 2007 we broadcast over 3,100 hours of regional news which
reached an average 10 million viewers a week.
Regional News is an important part of our public service
programming. We are committed to continuing to provide this
service in an increasingly challenging commercial environment.
We currently spend £100 million a year providing 17 different
regional news programmes and this cost is disproportionate to
the value of ITV’s analogue licences.
We are committed to high quality news broadcasting, but to
compete in this challenging environment, we need a modernised
regional structure fit for purpose in a digital age. We have drawn
up a proposal to consolidate some of our regional news teams,
and produce a smaller number of high quality regional news
programmes. We are currently discussing our proposals with
Ofcom and other stakeholders. For more information about how
we support employees affected by company restructuring see
Our People, page 35.
Compliance rulings
Two cases were upheld against ITV Regional News programmes
by Ofcom in 2007:
Bluewater
Following a complaint from a viewer, Ofcom ruled that Meridian
Tonight breached the rule on excessive promotion of a brand in
a script explaining a competition to win gift vouchers redeemable
at stores in the Bluewater shopping centre. ITV acknowledged the
mistake and we broadcast an amended version in later editions of
the programme (Ofcom Broadcast Bulletin 85).
Making a global issue local
In March 2007 ITV launched “Climate Change
– Make a Difference” to teatime news audiences.
ITV’s Regional News programmes in England and Wales
linked up with colleagues in National News to raise awareness
of the climate change debate. Politicians including the then
Environment Secretary David Miliband were featured along
with celebrities, climatologists, academics and HRH the Prince
of Wales in regular coverage across three months. As well as
offering advice to viewers on how to save energy, the coverage
also highlighted the growing scientific evidence pointing to
climate change.
The on screen reports and features were backed up by a website
which offered viewers more information, with links to other
organisations including the Environment Agency and Friends
of the Earth.
The campaign featured more than 120 news reports across three
months. The www.itvclimatechange.com website attracted over
400,000 hits.
More than 4,000 viewers completed our online questionnaire
– which looked at ten ways in which people can make a difference
to their energy consumption. Over 2.4 million watched the
regional “Climate Change – Make a Difference” programmes
broadcast on ITV1 against Eastenders on 17 April.
In an exclusive survey carried out for ITV by the Environment
Agency, it was revealed the Anglia region was the most
climate-conscious in the UK.
UK Juicers
Please see summary on page 14.
Awards
ITV News and current affairs help
me to understand environmental
and social isssues
In 2007 ITV News was recognised with a series of awards for
high quality reports of social importance:
– ITV National News won four awards, Scoop of the Year,
News Programme of the Year, Home Story of the Year,
and Young Journalist of the Year at the RTS Awards 2007
and our Zimbabwe coverage was nominated for the RTS
Journalism Award.
– One World Awards for Chris Rogers and “Romania’s
unwanted children”.
– Foreign Press Association Awards for China Correspondent
John Ray and “Mistreatment of Chinese Miners”.
– Broadcast Magazine award for our Zimbabwe coverage.
Agree
Disagree
61%
33%
6%
ITV’s news and current affairs programmes are recognised as
valuable sources of information about the environment and
society by 61% of viewers. Only 6% disagree with this statement.
Our regional programme Granada Reports was also awarded
a BAFTA for Best News Programme for its coverage of the
Morecambe Bay cockling tragedy in 2006.
k
Reflecting society
We have an important social
responsibility to accurately reflect
the lives and concerns of people
living in the UK.
The issue
Television affects the way we think about ourselves and society.
Delivered responsibly, it can be a uniting force, bringing together
people of every age, religion, class and culture. Television can help
erode social barriers, giving people from different walks of life an
understanding of how others live, and helping to develop a culture
of tolerance.
Our approach
We know we have an important social responsibility to
accurately reflect the lives and concerns of people living in the UK.
This applies on air and among our own employees. Being inclusive
means portraying ethnic and cultural minorities, of both genders,
people with disabilities and people who are gay, lesbian and
bisexual. It helps us stay authentic and relevant to 21st century
Britain, and supports our business goal to attract as wide an
audience as possible.
We are committed to embedding diversity in all our processes,
from commissioning to production. We try to cast people of both
genders and all ages from as many different race and disability
groups as we can. Our production unit has diversity champions
within each genre. The champions monitor portrayal patterns
and provide diversity statistics to production teams and senior
managers. They also influence their colleagues to improve
diversity. ITV News Group is engaged in a range of similar
activities to improve representation.
We hold Diversity Road Shows where we share best practice and
identify opportunities to improve. Through the Road Shows we
identified increasing the representation of disabled people as a
priority for 2007.
We communicate with employees about our diversity strategy
and the commercial benefits of reaching diverse audiences
through articles on our employee intranet site. We also engage
with diverse groups in the community in each of our regions and
invite them to give feedback on our representation.
ITV is a member of the Cultural Diversity Network. Members of
the network are committed to changing the face of television,
and report progress through annual reviews on the network
website at www.culturaldiversitynetwork.co.uk.
To achieve accurate representation of social diversity it is
important that our workforce is diverse, and that we have an
appropriately wide range of perspectives to draw on. To learn
more about what ITV is doing to promote employee diversity
see page 35.
Diversity monitoring
Our automated portrayal system enables us to track the diversity
of people appearing on ITV. It also helps independent production
companies provide us with this information.
We collect and monitor diversity data from every programme.
The data is then collated in quarterly portrayal reports (see table).
This system measures the diversity of main, secondary and
background characters in both national and regional programmes
on ITV1. The results do not show a significant change from
last year. See the sections below for our work to improve our
representation of minority groups.
Portraying ethnic minorities
In 2007, black and ethnic minorities made up 13.6% of people
on screen on ITV channels (see table below). This is a good overall
level of representation, as it is estimated 7.9% of people living in
the UK come from ethnic minorities (2001 Census). However our
monitoring system does not identify whether people from
ethnic minorities are in prominent roles or whether they are
sensitively represented. We recognise that there is still work to
do to ensure we portray ethnic minority perspectives fairly.
Our long-running soap Coronation Street continues to feature
characters and storylines that reflect the cultural communities
and ethnic minority groups in the UK. 12% of the characters in
our thriller series Mobile were from ethnic minorities, in lead and
supporting roles. X Factor also had strong minority representation.
We aired the comedy series, Mumbai Calling about a British Asian
who travels to India to work in a call centre. The comedy gives an
insight into life for the people who work at the call centres that
people living in the UK often get put through to when they call
company service lines.
It can be a challenge to cast young people from ethnically diverse
backgrounds, as minorities are often under represented in the
youth groups and training centres we draw our talent from.
To address this issue, the casting director of Britannia High,
an eight part drama series due to be filmed in 2008 decided
to put on open auditions, to attract applicants from a wider
pool. They will also advertise the opportunity in minority
papers such as Asian News.
13.6%
of people on ITV channels in 2007 were from
black and ethnic minorities
On-screen diversity (%)
White
Black
Asian
Chinese
Mixed race
Other
Total black and minority ethnic
Disability
Gender women
Age over 55
2007
86.1
3.1
2.2
0.3
0.7
7.7
13.6
0.6
41.4
11.4
2006
88.5
4.2
1.5
0.2
1.5
4.0
11.5
0.6
43.1
9.6
2005
86.4
4.9
5.9
0.4
0.6
1.8
13.6
0.5
39.0
13.7
On air
Reflecting society
It is important that ethnic minorities are also represented in
children’s television. In 2007 Citv ran a second series of My Life
as a Popat, a comedy series about an Asian family. The director
Charles Martin won a Children’s BAFTA award for the series.
Many of the programmes Citv airs including Bratz, Jungle Run,
The Saddle Club, Little Einsteins, The Little Bang and Go Diego Go
include central characters or presenters from ethnic minorities.
Television programmes can also promote intercultural
understanding. The Muslim Jesus, broadcast in 2007,
was a documentary film which examined the links between
Christianity and Islam.
News
People from ethnic minorities play a prominent role at ITV News.
For example, in October 2007 Sir Trevor McDonald, the first black
newscaster in the UK, announced his return to ITV to present
ITV News at Ten. He is joined in National News presenting by
Nina Hossain and Joyce Ohajah. The percentage of people
from black and minority ethnic backgrounds in National News
is significantly higher than in the general population.
ITV programmes reflect the ethnic
and cultural mix of the UK
Agree
Neither agree or disagree
Disagree
39%
48%
13%
39% of viewers feel that ITV programmes reflect the UK
ethnic and cultural mix. 13% disagree with this statement.
Lisa Aziz, Tony Morris, Sameena Ali-Khan and Sangeeta Bhabra
continue to present regional news.
We recognise we must do more to include ethnic minority
perspectives in the news as a commercial imperative. It is crucial
we deliver news that is relevant to the large section of the
population that are not white or middle class or those viewers
will go elsewhere. We recognise there are lots of opportunities
for improvement. In 2006 a YouGov survey revealed that half of
ethnic minority viewers felt UK news programmes reported issues
that concerned them badly or very badly.
In response to this feedback, in 2007 ITV News started consulting
with the ethnic minority newspaper Awaaz on stories that
require particular cultural sensitivity. This has helped the teams
understand cultural issues within black and minority ethnic
communities, and gain access to relevant interviews and contacts.
The ITV News Group strategy document, Succeeding Together 2
includes a chapter on diversity. In 2006 all the newsrooms drew
up Diversity Action Plans which determined their policy in 2007.
These are due to be revised during 2008.
Every newsroom has a Diversity Champion who sits on the Group
Diversity Panel. Many of the regions now also have local diversity
panels, chaired by their Diversity Champion. The regional panels
meet regularly and help come up with new ideas to improve
diversity. For example, ITV Meridian's regional panel decided to
include diversity information in assignment sheets to remind
camera operators and others working in the newsrooms of the
importance of inclusivity in shots.
The newsrooms monitor the diversity of their output and
review the results at monthly “information and ideas” meetings.
The portrayal figures reflect coverage in quantitative and
qualitative terms as some newsrooms in the past recorded
significant on-screen portrayal but found that much of it was
negative and stereotypical when they examined it more closely.
Now there is a greater emphasis on neutral or positive portrayal
using case studies, contributors and vox pops to ensure a fair
approach. For example, ITV Central East produced an item on
a woman who runs an open house for black teenagers from
St Ann’s in Nottingham. It shows the teenagers preparing for
a carnival, a break from the stereotypical representation that
associates these groups with guns and gangs.
Malcolm and Barbara
Despite the debate about the pre-publicity surrounding the film,
Malcolm and Barbara was a moving and challenging documentary
that followed Malcolm’s shocking deterioration while suffering
from Alzheimer’s and the extraordinary way his wife Barbara
coped with losing her husband.
k
As a result of engagement with employees about how to
increase the diversity of the people they cover, from 2008 all ITV
journalists will have protected days to draw stories from contacts
in diverse communities. They will report back to their Diversity
Panel and add contacts to the newsroom’s contact list.
One of our strategic objectives is for each region to set up a
forum for members of the public from diverse communities to
review the regional news output. They can also use the forums
to give feedback on ITV’s output more generally. For example,
ITV Meridian & Thames Valley has a group called the Cultural
Diversity Advisory Group to the Media, which scrutinises its
content. The group has been in existence for 14 years and meets
quarterly. Similar groups are now being set up in ITV Meridian, ITV
Yorkshire, ITV Westcountry, ITV Central and ITV Tyne Tees, and we
aim that all regions should have them by the end of the year.
Portraying people with disabilities
Television programmes that feature people with disabilities and
chronic diseases can help raise awareness of the issues these
people face, and promote understanding. This is an important
foundation for promoting equal opportunities for disabled people.
According to our portrayal monitoring 0.6% of people in ITV
programmes have a disability evident to the viewer (see table
on page 17), compared to a UK population average of 19%.
ITV’s figure is very low, but this is partly due to the difficulty of
capturing on-screen disability information – some disabilities
such as diabetes, heart problems and other long term illnesses
are not visible. We recognise we need to improve the
representation of disabled people as a priority and this was an
important focus for 2007.
In 2007 three ITV Productions’ in-house casting directors met a
self imposed challenge to each cast at least one person with a
disability. An episode of Cold Blood included a young man with a
learning disability. The casting director worked with Mind the Gap,
a theatre group which specialises in drama training for people
with learning disabilities, to cast the artist, who was heavily
featured in the programme. Richard Sargent, a wheelchair user,
joined the cast of Coronation Street. Malcolm and Barbara, a
documentary sensitively explored the issues facing an Alzheimer’s
sufferer and his carer wife as he suffered from dementia.
We ran a Disability Road Show in November 2007, for people
working in drama production. These were also attended by key
influencers with disabilities from outside ITV. These workshops
will be held for the other production genres in 2008. In 2007,
ITV Granada held a conference aimed at increasing awareness of
minority groups among producers and members of casting and
writing teams. The conference generated awareness of the power
of diversity in programming, focusing primarily on disability and
gave people the chance to share information and best practice.
In 2007, 40 representatives from across the ITV regions attended
the Enabling Talent conference in Birmingham, to help them
identify opportunities to be more inclusive both on and off screen.
ITV is also a member of the Broadcasters and Creative Industries
Disability Network (www.employers-forum.co.uk/www/bcidn).
Portraying gender
It is important that men and women are equally represented
in our programmes. In 2007, 41.4% of people on-screen on ITV
channels were women (see table on page 17) which is less than
representative. This is an important social issue, reflecting some
factors beyond the control of ITV. For example, women are still
under represented in public affairs and this has a direct impact on
our programme content.
Access services
As well as representing disability issues, it is important that
people with disabilities have access to our programmes. We are
required by Ofcom to provide specified levels of access services to
deaf and blind people across our channels, and ITV is committed
to providing sensory-impaired audiences with access to our
programmes. We provide substantial levels of subtitling, signing
and audio description. Our signed programme slots include a
range of factual and daytime titles. In 2007 soaps, dramas and
feature films were among the programmes that were broadcast
with audio description.
ITV is proud to have its own award-winning in-house
signing facility, SignPost (www.signpostbsl.com). In 2007
SignPost developed and produced content for a portfolio
of new websites which we will launch in 2008. SignPost TV
(www.britishsignlanguage.tv) will deliver a range of news,
information, entertainment and education in and about sign
language. We plan to launch www.itvbabysign.com, a website
where parents can learn how to bond and communicate with
their baby in sign. We are also launching an online storytelling
website for children in British Sign Language.
In 2007, ITV1 exceeded the access service targets for subtitling
and audio description. We provided subtitling on almost all
the ITV1 schedule, and all the programmes aired at peak-time.
Audio description was provided for many of ITV’s dramas
where there is the greatest value to viewers. We met our access
service targets for all the ITV digital channels.
We had a regular dialogue with relevant charities and interest
groups about our access services provision in 2007, including the
Royal National Institute for Blind People and the Royal National
Institute for Deaf People.
Advertising in targeted media helped ensure that visually
impaired and hearing impaired viewers were aware of our
access services.
Access services 2007 – ITV1
S
Subtitling
Commitment
Delivered
86.0%
91.4%
Audio description
Commitment
Delivered
10.0%*
10.5%
Signing
5.0%†
Commitment
Delivered
* rose from 8.0% to 10.0% in November 2007
† rose from 4.0% to 5.0% in November 2007
4.5%
On air
ITV raises awareness of charitable
work on air, and offers behind the
scenes financial support and
commercial expertise to charities
and social organisations.
The issue
Broadcasters can make a significant contribution to society
by airing programmes that raise the profile of social and
environmental issues and help charities with their appeals.
Like other successful companies, they can also help by making
cash donations to good causes and by contributing their
skills. People who work in the media industry have
expertise in communications which can be valuable to
voluntary organisations.
Our approach
ITV supports charities and good causes on-air and through
both cash and in-kind donations and we strongly encourage
our employees to get involved.
A significant social contribution is the airtime we make available
for charitable causes. Over the past four years we have used the
Business in the Community (BITC) Percent Club guidelines as a
basis for our calculation. We work out the value of the airtime
from the value of advertising revenue we would normally
generate within that programme slot. We are reviewing how we
measure the value of our in-kind donations in the future.
We also made charitable donations out of unclaimed funds
from the PRS reimbursement process. These are not included
in our community investment calculations for 2007.
See page 10 for more information on our response to these
issues and resulting charitable donations.
On air
The People’s Millions
The People’s Millions is a three year partnership between ITV and
The Big Lottery Fund which allows the public to decide on the
distribution of lottery money. In 2007, Sustrans Connect2 was
chosen by the public to win a landmark award of £50 million to
invest in walking and cycling routes across the UK. In 2008 72
projects will be eligible for grants of up to £50,000 each.
ITV Carer of the Year
ITV Carer of the Year was our national initiative in 2007.
The UK’s six million carers are unsung heroes, whose unpaid work
saves the economy £87 billion each year. This campaign aimed
to raise awareness of the valuable work carers do, and help give
them a voice.
We asked viewers across the regions to nominate people who
made a difference to other people’s lives. We broadcast over
120 regional news reports on ITV Carer of the Year across England
and Wales over four months and more than three million viewers
watched special half hour documentaries on caring and carers
issues. Panels of independent judges narrowed down thousands
of nominations from across the country, and 16 regional finalists
were chosen by a total of 23,000 viewers. The finalists went
through to the Daily Mirror Pride of Britain Awards and were
invited to a special reception at No. 10 Downing Street, hosted
by the Prime Minister and his wife Sarah Brown. Miriam Bennett,
a foster carer for around 300 children in total, was the overall
winner (pictured below with Carol Vorderman).
The campaign helped to raise awareness about the importance
of carers in the UK and Ivan Lewis, Minister for Care Services,
thanked ITV for “bringing the issue of carers to the forefront of
the political agenda”. A new government Standing Commission
launched in 2007 means carers now have a voice in government
policy. ITV is committed to this work and we will continue to
report the issues facing carers in the future.
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Challenge Anneka
Challenge Anneka returned to ITV for a special programme in
June 2007. In the programme Anneka Rice has to complete a
challenge that would help transform lives in minimal time. For the
June programme, she had to record and launch an album in only
five days, to benefit 40 children's hospices around the country.
Regional initiatives
– Many of the ITV regions ran a series of items on giving up
smoking leading up to the ban on smoking in public places in
England in July. For example, ITV Meridian’s Big Ban followed
a group of people attempting to quit smoking in time for
the ban. They also made a poster showing presenter Fred
Dinenage’s pledge to stop smoking, which was displayed in
doctors’ surgeries and pharmacies across the region.
– ITV Border’s What’s On Wall is a weekly showcase of charitable
and community events in the region providing free television
advertising for the events.
– ITV Tyne Tees ran its 19th annual Salvation Army Christmas
Appeal on North East Tonight. Viewers were encouraged to
hand in toys, gifts and clothing to collection points across
the region. Thousands of items were collected in response to
the programme.
– ITV Tyne Tees also sponsored a series of sports events in aid of
the Princes Trust. The Duke of Northumberland challenged the
Earl of Durham to a sporting challenge, which began with a golf
tournament at Slaley Hall. They recruited a line up of sporting
stars and celebrities to do battle.
Our internet site itvlocal.com also offers a platform for
community activity. Local councils and voluntary organisations
can publish videos that raise awareness of local issues, such as
domestic violence or local diversity. See user-generated content
in the Online section of this report for more information, page 28.
Behind the scenes
Sharing expertise and facilities
We also share our expertise and facilities with community groups
and charities.
ITV presenters from across the regions host awards ceremonies
and other events for a range of charities and community
organisations.
We continue to support the Community Channel, a channel
broadcast on Sky and Freeview dedicated to highlighting issues
from local and international communities and the voluntary and
charitable sectors.
Our total in kind donations in 2007 were worth £5.5 million.
Cash donations
We also support charities through cash donations. These
amounted to £1.3 million in 2007. Here are some examples:
– ITV Granada’s news team won a BAFTA award in 2007 for its
coverage of the Morecambe Bay cockling disaster. In response,
ITV donated £5,000 to the Morecambe Victims’ Fund,
ather than taking out the traditional celebratory advert in
Broadcast magazine.
– Every year, rather than sending a paper card, ITV sends an e-card
and makes a donation to charity. The recipient can vote which
charity they would like to receive the donation. In 2007, a
donation of £30,000 was divided between Macmillan, Shelter,
Childline and the World Wildlife Fund according to their
proportion of the vote from the 2006 Christmas e-card.
£6.88m
ITV’s total charitable donations in 2007
ITV is a corporate member of the Media Trust. Through the trust
we support charities across the ITV regions with communications
training, video and website production, PR, marketing and
mentoring. In 2007 this enabled the Media Trust to hold 120
communications training seminars and workshops,
recruit 144 mentors from the media industry and match 300
charities with volunteer media professionals.
We host events such as seminars and workshops for a range of
charities and local organisations. For example, in February 2007,
ITV London hosted a reception for supporters of the Media Trust.
It was attended by the Rt Hon Tessa Jowell MP, and senior
representatives from all major broadcasters. ITV London also
hosted events for Kidney Research UK, the National Council for
the Training of Journalists, Business in the Community and
Business Action on Homelessness in 2007.
* restated from £8.46 million in 2006
Total (£m)
Cash (£m)
In-kind (£m)
% of pre-tax profit
2007
6.88
1.38
5.50
3.6
2006
11.58
2.12
9.46*
4.0
2005
19.27
1.49
17.78
6.2
On air
Employee involvement
We encourage employees to get involved with community
projects through volunteering and fundraising activities.
Employee volunteering
ITV employees are all eligible to take a day’s paid leave each
year to volunteer, and we run campaigns in the workplace and
on our intranet to encourage them to use it.
Employees also participate in group volunteering days.
For example, in 2007, 30 ITV Granada employees took part
in two volunteering days organised by Business in the
Community. They spent one day helping gardeners at a park
in Manchester and another day at the City of Manchester
Stadium helping children from local schools to take part in
a fitness programme.
Employees also give time to share skills with charities, through
the Media Trust. For example, Arti Halai, a Broadcast Presenter at
ITV Central, spoke to six charities at a Presentation skills seminar
on 17 January 2008.
In August 2007, ITV joined the Media Trust’s Media Matching
programme. This matches skilled people in the media with
charities that need their support. In 2007 the ITV SignPost team
were matched with Acorns Project, a charity helping young
children living with the effects of domestic violence
(www.acornsproject.org.uk). The team drew up a wide-ranging
set of recommendations to improve the image of the charity,
and attract more funding to help it expand. Eileen Young, the
Manager of ITV SignPost has since become a trustee of the
charity and chairs its Management Committee. Another SignPost
employee developed a new logo for the organisation as well as
artwork to use on its stationery and website. The team also
helped with press releases to help raise the charity's profile.
£10,000
per month is donated to charity through
our payroll giving scheme
Employee charitable donations
In July 2007 we introduced a Give as You Earn (GAYE) scheme
run independently by the Charities Aid Foundation. This was
established after a survey of our employees revealed 80% would
be interested in such a scheme. ITV matches each donation,
which is deducted from the employee’s pay before tax. ITV also
pays the GAYE administration fees to ensure the charity receives
the entire donation. Employees currently give £5,000 a month to
charity through the scheme. This means the overall donation is
£10,000 a month with the company match included.
Employees also raise money for organisations that are important
to them through activities at work. For example, in 2007
employees of ITV Meridian and ITV Thames Valley raised
£1,280 for charity by selling cakes and lunches.
The cast of Emmerdale raised £250,000 for charity in June 2007,
by participating in an activity day watched by an audience of
27,000, and hosting a gala dinner for 800 people. The beneficiaries
included the Anthony Nolan Trust, Leukaemia Research,
Maggie’s Hospice, UCAN, a charity which raises money for
urological cancers and The Wooden Spoon, a charity for
disabled and disadvantaged children.
Intranet search engine donations
We have incorporated everyclick.com, the internet search engine
designed to raise funds for charities, into our employee intranet.
This means a small donation goes to charity each time an
employee clicks through an internet search. In 2007 ITV
employees raised over £150 for The Princess Royal Trust for
Carers using everyclick.com.
Bone marrow donation
In 2007, 88 ITV employees underwent a blood test with a nurse
from The Anthony Nolan Trust and are now entered onto the
British Bone Marrow Registry. This followed an appeal by an ITV
Border employee whose fiancé was terminally ill, and urgently
searching for a transplant. News of this spread quickly and
employees from around the Company came forward to donate.
Special sessions were set up at various sites and our employee
intranet raised awareness about the appeal. The blood tests give
leukaemia sufferers a better chance of finding a match for a bone
marrow transfusion, which improves the chance they will live. If a
match is found, the donor has the option to go through a three
day procedure to donate their bone marrow. As yet none of the
donors have been called to donate but they will remain on the
register until their 60th birthday.
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Advertising remains the primary
revenue source for ITV. The value
of commercial breaks is enhanced
if viewers trust the content of the
adverts they see on television.
The issue
It is essential that viewers find the balance of programmes to
adverts acceptable and trust the content of the adverts we air. It
is also important that viewers do not perceive any influence by
advertisers on programme content.
The content and scheduling of television adverts is governed by
the Television Advertising Standards Code (TAS Code) which is
regulated by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA).
The amount and frequency of advertising is regulated by Ofcom.
Our approach
Like all commercial broadcasters, ITV is subject to detailed
regulations concerning advertising. In recent years ITV maintained
a team of experts (BACC), to ensure the rules are upheld and that
the needs of both our viewers and advertisers were respected.
The services of this team were offered on a commercial basis
to all other UK broadcasters to check and clear the
advertisements they broadcast.
BACC has worked hard over the last two years to improve its
services by being more transparent in its work, improving its
dialogue with key stakeholders and responding to the evolving
needs of the industry.
During 2007 arrangements were made to change the existing
ITV owned body BACC into a new organisation, Clearcast,
co-owned by major broadcasters. The staff and expertise
built up at BACC was transferred to Clearcast when it
launched on 1 January 2008. The new arrangements will
not affect advertising standards. For more information see
www.clearcast.co.uk.
Food advertising to children
New restrictions concerning food and drink advertising aimed at
children came into force in 2007. Advertising of food or drinks in or
around programmes of particular appeal to children (programmes
that have a significantly higher than average proportion of
children watching) is now restricted. The restrictions apply to
advertisements for foods identified as high in fat, salt or sugar
under the Food Standards Agency definition and will
apply to all channels.
The full scheduling restrictions came into force on 1 January
2008, when the restrictions were extended to programmes
of particular appeal for children up to 16 years. New rules on
advertising content for the same categories came into force in
July 2007.
Gambling
Advertising of gambling services was allowed from 1st September
2007 and is governed by strict content and scheduling
restrictions. This is a significant change from the previous ban
on advertising for this category.
Product placement
New technology is creating new challenges for commercial
television. The proliferation of cable and satellite channels means
that ITV operates in an increasingly fragmented and competitive
market. Additionally there is the possibility that with the arrival of
personal video recording technology, viewers will fast forward
commercial breaks. Product placement (the paid-for featuring
of products in programmes), is currently banned but will be
permitted under the new Audio-Visual Media Services Directive,
subject to implementation in member states.
Advertising clearance system
BACC (now Clearcast) reviews scripts and storyboards for
television adverts before they are filmed and provides
pre-transmission clearance of finished adverts for the major UK
broadcasters licensed by Ofcom.
Before adverts are shown on ITV they are vetted to ensure that
they meet the requirements of the TAS Code. The advertiser or
advertising agency is alerted to any potential infringements of
the Code and asked to substantiate any claims made about
products or services. Every advert you see on ITV has been
examined and cleared before broadcast.
It is important to us that viewers
trust the adverts they see on ITV.
All the adverts we screen have been
pre-cleared by Clearcast (formerly BACC)
to check they comply fully with the
relevant codes.
Rupert Howell Managing Director, ITV Brand and Commercial
Particular attention is given to sensitive categories such as
advertising appealing to children and advertising of alcohol, food
and medical products. Adverts must not mislead, cause serious or
widespread offence against generally accepted moral, social or
cultural standards, or offend public feeling.
During 2007 BACC reviewed more than 28,000 scripts for adverts,
and considered more than 52,000 finished adverts. A very small
proportion of adverts broadcast cause complaint. Complaints
from individual viewers, from organisations or from competitor
companies are investigated by the ASA.
On air
The table on this page shows the total number of complaints,
the number of adverts causing complaint and the number of
adverts judged to have breached the TAS Code for all television
broadcast advertising in the UK (not only on ITV). The very low
proportion of adverts being found in breach of the TAS Code is
evidence that the system functions well.
The amount and distribution of advertising
The amount and frequency of advertising is regulated by Ofcom.
Ofcom licences limit the amount of advertising ITV can broadcast
to seven minutes-per-hour averaged over a day. In any particular
hour the precise amount may vary and during peak viewing times
(6.00pm to 11.00pm) the average in an hour is 8 minutes and the
maximum 12 on ITV1. The length of commercial breaks within
programmes is also limited to be shorter than the breaks
between programmes.
The new Audio-Visual Media Services Directive which comes into
force in 2009, allows for up to 12 minutes of advertising per hour.
Ofcom has therefore decided to conduct a review of practice in
the UK.
Programme independence
The Ofcom Broadcasting Code requires broadcasters to maintain
the independence of editorial control over programme content
and to ensure that advertising and programme elements are
kept separate.
84
was the number of adverts ruled
to breach the TAS code in 2007
2007
2006
2005
10,685
8,594
13,059
Number of adverts causing
complaint
2,639
2,369
2,284
Total number of adverts
ruled by the ASA to breach
the code
84
94
165
Number of adverts
cleared by BACC that ASA
ruled breach the code
46
48
71
Number of individual complaints
Note: These figures are for all ASA complaints, they are not specific to ITV.
Programmes may have some or all of their costs met by a
sponsor who receives a credit on screen. A sponsor may not
influence the content or scheduling of a programme and the
sponsorship must be transparent to viewers. News and current
affairs programmes cannot be sponsored.
To minimise risk of confusion between adverts and programmes,
adverts featuring a well-known personality are separated from
television programmes in which they appear. Undue prominence
of products in programmes is not permitted, including the
Changing expectations
presence of or references to a product or brand where there is no
editorial justification. Product placement, currently not permitted, BACC received a lot of press coverage when it decided not to
allow a re-run of the classic ads of Tony Hancock – to “go to work
is under discussion (see above).
on an egg” from 1957. After the first response from BACC, the
Cinema advertising
advertising agency decided not to continue the dialogue.
ITV's cinema screen advertising business, Carlton Screen
Advertising regulation has evolved significantly over the last
Advertising, is the market leader in the UK and the Republic of
50 years. BACC was therefore obliged to reject the 1957 adverts,
Ireland. It accounts for 2,200 screens and 75% of the UK market.
in their original form, since they do not comply with rules on
Cinema adverts are subject to the Code of Advertising Practice for
nutritional claims. BACC invited the advertising agency to work
non-broadcast media (also administered by the ASA) which has
with them towards a version that could be approved under
similar rules to the TAS Code.
contemporary advertising standards.
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Digital switchover
The issue
UK television is going digital. This will bring viewers more
choice and free up the spectrum for other services, such as more
television channels, wireless broadband, local television and
wireless home hubs. The switchover began in Whitehaven,
Cumbria in October 2007 and ends in 2012. It is crucial that
broadcasters communicate with viewers so that the switchover
happens smoothly.
Our approach
Along with the UK’s other public service broadcasters, ITV is a
founding partner of Digital UK, the organisation responsible for
managing the switchover. Digital UK was set up at the request
of the government. It coordinates the technical rollout of digital
television across the UK and provides impartial advice to viewers.
Customers can go to the website at www.digitaluk.co.uk for
information on all aspects of the switchover.
Communicating with customers
ITV helps Digital UK communicate with viewers by broadcasting
updates on our regional programmes in each area as it
approaches switchover. Each ITV region will provide information
for affected people through community groups and by engaging
with local government councils. The regions engage with groups
such as Age Concern in order to ensure the needs of vulnerable
groups such as the elderly are met.
Free access to television
All channels that were available on analogue television will still
be freely available after switchover through Freeview, along with
a range of other channels. Freeview is a freely available digital
television service. The only requirement is that the viewer makes
a one-off investment in a digital box with Freeview built-in.
Viewers can buy and install the digital box themselves for around
£30. There is no subscription charge for the television service and
no strings attached. Viewers can choose to pay more for a digital
service that offers a wider range of channels, but Freeview ensures
this is not compulsory.
Currently some areas of the UK have no access to Freeview.
Digital switchover will free up bandwidth and allow Freeview
to be made available in every area that previously had access to
analogue television. ITV has joined forces with the BBC to create
Freesat, which will launch in 2008. It will make digital satellite
television freely available to almost everyone living in the UK.
See www.freesat.co.uk for more information.
These initiatives will ensure there is widespread free access to
digital television in the UK following switchover. For more
information on ITV’s involvement with digital switchover
please see www.itv.com/help/digtalswitchoverhelp.
2012
is when the digital switchover ends
Managing the first switchover
ITV Border was the first ITV region to go through digital
switchover in one of its areas. It began communicating about
switchover in January 2005, and briefed a wide range of local
groups including the regional council and the Women’s Institute.
ITV Border’s nightly news programme Lookaround also ran an
awareness raising campaign, called Ask Tim. Lookaround’s
presenter, Tim Backshall, was designated the public’s oracle on
all things digital and viewers were encouraged to email or call
him with their questions. Ask Tim generated hundreds of calls
from viewers.
Many people predicted chaos when switchover started to roll out,
with some viewers left without access to television when the
analogue signal from the first transmitter was switched off.
Fortunately this did not happen. The ITV Border switchboard had
just one related call on switchover day, and that was from a viewer
in another part of the region who wanted to know when their
area would go digital.
ITV Border reported the experiences of the first of its areas to go
digital in a special programme called Switched on to Switchover,
to help other parts of the region prepare. The programme
followed a normal family as they upgraded their household
television equipment, to help demystify the process.
Online
New platforms,
Operating in today’s fast changing
media environment requires us to find
new ways to protect the consumer,
including safeguards to prevent children
from viewing unsuitable content.
ITV has voluntarily introduced control
and protection mechanisms such as the
guidance sign on itv.com, “G”, which is
displayed next to any programme that
was originally broadcast after the 9.00 pm
watershed. Anyone who wants to access
the content must confirm their age
to proceed, or parents can introduce
PIN only access.
Online
Content on demand
In 2007 we developed our online
presence with the re-launch of
itv.com and the expansion of
itvlocal.com. These new businesses
introduce new CR challenges.
The issue
Online businesses and services are subject to less stringent
regulation than television broadcasters. ITV therefore needs to
establish self imposed responsibility standards in its new online
businesses to ensure that its reputation is protected.
Our approach
We understand that our diversification from television
broadcasting brings us into new and different regulatory
environments with specific risks in each business. Before entering
a new market area we assess the risks, including social,
environmental and ethical issues, and establish appropriate
safeguards to manage them.
Our overall approach is to apply the same high standards to our
non television businesses as we do for television. We value the
trust viewers and consumers have in the ITV brand and will ensure
that is maintained in new spheres of our business.
Internet programming
Although the Ofcom Broadcasting Code (the “Code”) does not
apply to the internet, ITV has decided that programmes on
itv.com must comply in full with the Code. Most of the
programmes first appear on television and have therefore been
made to comply. If original content is created for itv.com, this will
also be subject to our normal compliance procedures.
The 9.00 pm “watershed” cannot be applied online as it is on air.
Instead, ITV has voluntarily introduced control and protection
mechanisms. These ensure any content originally broadcast after
the watershed or which carried an on-air announcement features
a “G” (for guidance) beside it. As users move the mouse over the
programme’s icon, the content advice will appear in more detail
(for example “This programme contains strong language”). It is
not possible to open the selected programme without this advice
box appearing.
In order to ensure access to itv.com can be controlled by parents,
ITV has voluntarily put a PIN access control system in place.
Parents can use the access control to protect their children from
viewing post-watershed content the first time they enter the
site. The PIN must then be entered before the user can view post
watershed content every time someone uses that computer to
visit itv.com.
We continued to be involved with both the Media Literacy Task
Force and the MediaSmart initiative which aim to give children
the tools they need to understand and interpret media and
advertising messages so they can make informed choices.
ITV is also a member of the Association for Television On-Demand
(ATVOD), a self-regulatory body committed to protecting
consumers of on-demand content provided by members.
We use ATVOD’s Code of Practice and Guidance Notes to make
sure we take adequate measures to protect children and other
customers. This commits us to offering information about
content that may be harmful or offensive to the general public
or unsuitable for children and young people. ATVOD sanctions
members that do not adhere to its Code of Practice and Guidance
Notes and consumers can contact the organisation if they have
cause to complain.
Community platforms on ITV Local
In 2007 we continued to roll out ITV Local, which supports our
regional programming and provides local information and
interactivity. By the autumn of 2007, all ITV regions had their
own dedicated service.
The service at itvlocal.com provides regional news and current
affairs programmes on demand, as well as community news
and information, classified ads, and entertainment features.
It allows us to build on programmes shown in the regions.
For example, many ITV Local services showed supporting footage
and material for the ITV Carer of the Year campaign (see page 20).
ITV Local also provides a platform to report on local events.
For example, in 2007 ITV Local London provided extensive
coverage of cultural and community events such as
St. Patrick’s Day, Pride London, Diwali, and the London Freewheel
cycling event. It also made dedicated channels for events
including the Notting Hill Carnival, the Thames Festival and the
Bloomsbury Festival.
ITV Local can be used to keep people updated during a local crisis.
Up-to-date information from the Met Office and the emergency
services was displayed on the site during the flooding in England
and Wales in June and July 2007.
ITV Local gives organisations and individuals the opportunity
to upload their own films. This gives local groups a platform to
communicate about important issues. For example, local councils
can publish videos tackling issues like racism and domestic
violence, and charitable organisations can encourage people to
volunteer. It also promotes citizen journalism: users can upload
mobile and video clips to the Your News and GrassRoots Sport
channels. ITV Local Wales provided a special platform for viewers
to report on the floods in June and July using their own videos.
The content which is uploaded by users (known as “usergenerated content”) goes through strict editorial controls.
ITV Local checks all the videos that are uploaded to the site
and removes anything that would breach the Ofcom
Broadcasting Code or infringe copyright. All content published on
the site by ITV, such as news, weather and local events coverage,
is of a pre-watershed nature.
Social networking
ITV owns Friends Reunited, Genes Reunited, Friends Reunited
Dating and associated services.
These social networking services currently operate on a
membership fee basis (requiring credit card identification).
They are therefore significantly safer than other large networking
sites where people can assume false identities. Friends Reunited
has a Privacy Policy available online (www.friendsreunited.co.uk).
The Policy states that Friends Reunited will not send spam emails,
explains which “cookies” the site installs on members’ computers,
and explains the protection provided for personal data and
security. Personal data is never passed to third parties without
the member’s consent.
Our rapidly growing online
businesses are extending the
range of content and services
we offer customers and the
way we deliver it. But the same
principles of responsibility
apply – high content standards,
protection of children and
respect for the consumer.
Jeff Henry Managing Director, ITV Consumer
Specific personal information such as date of birth, telephone
number and address are not displayed on Friends Reunited.
The service is only available to people over 16, so issues
associated with children and social networking sites are
generally not applicable.
Internet gaming
There are a range of ITV branded gambling programmes on
itv.com, many of which are tied to specific programmes.
These are operated by PartyGaming which holds licences in
Alderney and Gibraltar and is regulated by the Gambling
Commission (www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk). Any changes
to their games require regulatory approval. PartyGaming is also
a member of Gamcare. They were recertified in 2007 and
achieved the Gamcare Plus standard.
ITV has daily contact with PartyGaming and receives monthly
reports on customer service, covering complaints and other
issues that arise. There were no issues uncovered through this
channel in 2007.
PartyGaming also has dedicated social responsibility tools on all its
products, to allow the customer to regulate use and set limits.
These include customer-led deposit limits, self-exclusions,
cool-off periods and session timers.
19m
people have registered with Friends Reunited
Family Fortunes, Blockbusters and the Price is Right are all skill
games provided by a partner called JD Project. These do not
require any licences to operate. There is an option to play these
games for free, and not win cash prizes.
Behind the scenes
Supporting
the people
TV is a talent business. We have over
5,000 employees on permanent contracts,
and use approximately 40,000 freelancers
every year. We support the UK creative
sector, training employees and freelancers
and providing them with career
development opportunities.
Behind the scenes
Creative economy
ITV employs tens of thousands of
creative people every year and often
provides the first experience of working
in television for writers, actors, directors
and technical people.
The issue
Nations and Regions production fund
ITV has a three year Nations and Regions production fund
(formerly the Regional production fund) established in 2006, to
support new-to-network producers in the regions, and nurture
emerging talent (www.itvrpf.com).
In 2007 the fund again ran an executive producer scheme for
new to network independent producers as well as a series of
screenwriter workshops geared towards drama development for
ITV’s soaps. The fund also ran a development initiative aimed at
medium sized out of London production companies who wished
to develop programmes for ITV in the drama and factual genres.
The fund supported screenwriters through sponsorship of a Script
Market at the Cheltenham Screenwriters Festival and joined forces
with PACT to launch the Talent Attraction Scheme aimed at
further strengthening production outside London.
The UK has a rich cultural life and a thriving creative community.
A wide range of art forms entertain people, support our
intellectual life, and raise awareness about important social issues.
The television industry supports the artistic and creative
community by providing work for writers, actors, musicians,
designers, directors, editors and other creative people. It also
provides an important platform for a wide range of other art forms. Training
We are involved with a wide range of training initiatives designed
Our approach
to increase the number of skilled people in our industry.
This investment helps improve the quality of the talent pool
ITV Productions is an important employer of creative people.
In 2007 we employed approximately 40,000 people on short term ITV and other production companies have to draw on.
freelance contracts. These equate to 2,000 permanent full-time
Directors’ training
employees and make up 30% of our workforce.
In 2007, we offered an internal Director Development Scheme
We invest in training for artists such as actors, writers and
directors as well as for the technical people whose skills are
crucial to producing creative work.
Independent production
35% of our output was provided by independent production
companies in 2007. We aim to increase the proportion of
programmes made in-house by ITV Productions to 75% by 2012.
This is in keeping with the commitment in our Ofcom obligations
(see table on page 33).
for the fourth consecutive year. The scheme is designed to
develop up and coming drama directors within ITV as well as
external candidates. In 2007 two people participated in the
scheme. A total of nine people have now gone through the
training since it began in 2004 (five in Coronation Street, four
in Emmerdale). The majority of trainees go on to work on ITV
Productions’ dramas.
This year we also took over from Channel 4 to co-sponsor a
training programme for young theatre directors, now called the
ITV Theatre Director Scheme. The scheme awards three bursaries
Regional production
every year to support the careers of young directors. Each bursary
ITV Productions operates three major production centres in Leeds, gives a young director the opportunity to spend a year training
Manchester and London, and also has a base in Norwich. Our serial and developing their skills in a professional theatre. It also provides
dramas Emmerdale and Coronation Street are made in the north them with contacts to enable them to transfer their skills to the
of England, which ensures we give opportunities to writers and
television sector.
actors living outside the South East.
Ofcom sets quotas for network production outside London.
These require us to make 50% of programme hours and spend
50% of our production budget outside London. In 2007 we
made 57% of programme hours and spent 50% of our budget
outside London.
40,000
people were employed on short term
freelance contracts at ITV last year
k
News training
The ITV News Group has run a trainee scheme for the past two
years. In 2007, as well as offering a journalism traineeship, two
new schemes were launched for technical operators and graphic
designers. A total of 19 trainees joined these schemes and
followed a structured programme enabling them to learn about
working in a regional newsroom and skills specific to their
particular job roles. All of the trainees have the opportunity to
swap regions and the journalism trainees also spend two weeks
at ITN and two weeks at GMTV. Forty-nine people have
participated in the schemes to date and journalists from the first
two years have gone on to work in our newsrooms as reporters,
planners and broadcast journalists. Some are now also moving
into roles in the ITV National newsroom.
Technical training
We run a range of training programmes for the technical people
who play a key role in making creative productions. For example,
in December 2007 3sixtymedia employed eight technical
apprentices in camera, sound, electrics, joinery and set painting.
Over the last 18 months 14 technical operators were trained in
operational skills, including cameras, sound, vision and graphics.
Once the trainees have gained experience they will progress into
production crews in other departments.
In 2007 our London Studios received a National Training
Award for their Studio Training days. These each provide up
to 60 operational staff with an opportunity to work on shows
in genres and formats they might not be familiar with to
improve their confidence and skills.
Funding external training programmes
We also fund a range of training organisations within the industry.
For example, in 2007 we provided funding worth £238,000 to
Skillset, which provides training to people and businesses in the
audio and visual industries.
A home grown television and
programme making industry
is an important part of the
UK economy and distinctive
culture. Our ambition is to
maintain a depth of talent
within ITV Productions and in
the UK independent sector.
John Whiston Director of ITV Productions
ITV funding for other training programmes reached £910,000
in 2007. The organisations we supported include the Freelance
Training Fund, the National Film and Television School, The Actors’
Centre and other media education partnerships.
We also support the National Council for Drama Training. We have
a seat on the council, which enables us to assist and influence the
direction of training for students who want to work in the
television industry.
Ofcom quotas for programme production 2007 – ITV1
Independent
Commitment
25%
35%
Delivered
Original all-time
Commitment
65%
90%
Delivered
Original peak-time
Commitment
85%
95%
Delivered
European
Commitment
Delivered
50%
91%
Behind the scenes
Creative economy
Youth engagement
The ITV regions run activities such as competitions, studio
visits and open days to encourage young people to get into
the media. In 2007, ITV Wales ran a youth programme called
It’s My Shout, to encourage young people to get media
experience. They worked with local authorities, colleges and youth
theatres on the scheme, which culminated in a series of
programmes aired on ITV Wales.
Supporting the arts
We have a longstanding tradition of supporting the arts in
the UK. ITV’s South Bank Show, now in its thirtieth year is the
longest running arts programme on UK television. The show,
presented by Melvyn Bragg aims to bring both high art and
popular culture to a mass audience.
This year the series featured music programmes about
Annie Lennox and Eric Clapton; stage and screen programmes
about June Whitfield, Victoria Wood, Bird and Fortune and
Michael Sheen. The programme also covered the literary writers
Isabelle Allende and WH Auden and individual works including
Macbeth and The Nutcracker.
The South Bank Show Awards
honoured artistic achievement in
2007, including theatre, opera, film,
television, literature, popular music
and visual art
South Bank Show 2007 AwardWinners
Category
Winner
Film
This Is England (Warp Films)
Comedy
Gavin and Stacey (BBC Three)
TV Drama
The Mark of Cain (Channel 4)
Theatre
Saint
Joan (National Theatre)
The South Bank Show Awards honoured artistic achievement in
Popular music
Arctic Monkeys for
2007, including theatre, opera, film, television, literature, popular
“Favourite Worst Nightmare”
music and visual art, see right.
Literature
Mohsin Hamid for
Much of our activity to support artistic diversity takes place in the
“The Reluctant Fundamentalist”
regions. For example, in 2007 ITV London hosted the opening
Classical music
“Traced Overhead: The Musical World of
reception at Creative Clusters, an international conference to
Thomas Adès” (at the Barbican)
foster the growth of creative industries. A sculpture of the artist
Visual arts
Andy Goldsworthy at the
Anthony Gormley’s body was displayed on the top of the London
Yorkshire Sculpture Park
Television Centre in the run up to a retrospective of his work at the Opera
“The Turn of The Screw”
Hayward Gallery.
(English National Opera)
Morphoses/The Wheeldon Company
ITV London funds tickets to concerts for performers participating Dance
(at Sadler’s Wells)
in educational programmes at the Royal Festival Hall. This scheme
Daljit Nagra, novelist for
is now in its tenth year and has enabled a wide range of people to Arts Council England –
Decibel Award
“Look We Have Coming To Dover!”
access live professional performances.
The Times
Jennifer Pike, violinist
Breakthrough Award
In 2007 ITV Granada supported the annual DaDa Fest, a
celebration of art created by people with disabilities. As part
Outstanding Achievement
J.K. Rowling, novelist
of the event ITV sponsored a Writer’s Award, won by a young
deaf writer, Charlie Swinburne. Charlie was given the opportunity
to spend three weeks working in the storyline office of
Coronation Street. This year ITV Granada also supported
First Take, a Liverpool group that encourages talented people
with no previous experience in the industry to become
film writers.
Our people
Employing people from a wide range
of backgrounds helps ITV make
authentic and relevant programmes
for our viewers and attract minority
audiences.
The issue
Television is a people business. Providing a work environment
in which creativity and professionalism can flourish depends
on getting employment fundamentals right. These include
commitment to diversity and inclusion, training and development
and, where possible, flexible working practices.
Our approach
ITV had 5,634 employees as at 31 December 2007. 98% of these
work in the UK, and 2% in Australia, Germany and the US. We also
use a large number of freelancers. These include the creative
people such as writers, editors, actors and cameramen who help
make our productions.
To be successful in a competitive industry we need to attract
and retain the most talented employees. We aim to offer
competitive rewards and benefits, and a stimulating and inclusive
work environment.
Diversity
Diversity is important to any healthy organisation, bringing a wide
range of perspectives and a deeper understanding of the needs
of diverse customers. Employing people from a wide range of
backgrounds helps ITV make authentic and relevant programmes
for our viewers and attract minority audiences.
Diversity strategy
Our diversity strategy is set by the Board. In 2007 it focused on
four key areas:
– Ensuring each business area has a plan for diversity and
identifying opportunities for development;
– Raising awareness of the commercial benefits of reaching
diverse audiences and attracting minority viewers
and advertisers;
– Continuing to run recruitment schemes to attract employees
from a diverse range of backgrounds; and
– Raising awareness of diversity and training diversity mentors,
to deliver workshops and raise awareness in each business area.
The diversity strategy is embedded in the business by senior level
diversity champions in each major function. Each regional ITV site
has a diversity action group to implement the strategy.
In addition the diversity strategy is supported through national
and regional specific projects and initiatives. These are determined
each year targeting various campaigns, schemes and awareness
programmes. External events and activities are also aligned to
the strategy.
Part of the diversity strategy is to share best practice and to
collaborate with other organisations around this agenda. ITV are
active members of the following organisations that operate in
this area: the Cultural Diversity Network and Network North;
Opportunity Now; the Employers’ Forum on Disability, of which
Michael Grade is a member of the President’s Group; the
Broadcaster and Creative Industry Disability Network; Stonewall
and the Employers Forum on Age.
Diversity is a significant part of our recruitment and selection
strategy, ensuring managers are competent to recruit fairly.
As part of our overall approach to talent management,
recruitment statistics are monitored and reviewed by our
HR teams and the Executive Board to ensure that we continue
to attract and retain talent from the widest possible pool.
Industry activity
ITV participated in the Year of Diversity campaign during 2007,
run by the National Centre for Diversity. The campaign aimed to
raise the profile of diversity across the UK and help organisations
share best practice. ITV played an important role in the campaign,
including presenting at the launch, raising awareness and
encouraging organisations to participate, and donating office
space, equipment and facilities.
Ethnic and cultural diversity
When the last UK Census was carried out in 2001, ethnic
minorities made up 7.9% of the population. In 2007, 8.4% of
our employees came from ethnic minorities, compared to 6.4%
in 2005 (see table). Although figures show we are becoming more
representative, we recognise we need to continue to do more to
ensure the number of ethnic minority employees reflects the
communities in which we operate.
49%
of our employees are women
Workplace profile**
2007
Total number of employees
5,411
Number of female employees
2,648
Number of female employees (%)
49%
Number of ethnic minority employees
331
Number of ethnic minority
employees (%)*
8.4%
Number of employees with disability
79
Number of employees with disability (%)† 2%
Number of employees over 50
736
Number of employees over 50 (%)
14%
2006
5,384
2,566
47.6%
390
2005
5,556
2,647
47.6%
291
9.9%
82
2%
812
15.1%
6.4%
93
2%
932
17%
* this figure is calculated from the total number of respondents who disclosed their ethnicity.
** figures reflect ITV UK-based employees. They exclude GMTV, Friends Reunited and Enable Media.
† this figure is calculated from the total number of respondents who disclosed their disability.
Behind the scenes
Our people
ITV is a member of the Cultural Diversity Network, an industry
organisation of UK broadcasters that aims to promote cultural
diversity both on and off-screen. The network meets six times
a year and members each host events that promote cultural
diversity within the industry.
In 2007, 14 senior ITV representatives participated in two “Move
on Up” networking events. These events are designed
to give commissioners and producers across the industry an
opportunity to meet talented potential employees from ethnic
minorities. They are run by BECTU, an independent union for
people working in broadcasting, film and theatre, and other
areas of entertainment.
In May 2007 ITV News held its second diversity conference,
co-ordinated by senior level diversity champions, including the
Head of News at ITV Thames Valley. The conference gave the
news teams an opportunity to learn about diversity from
speakers such as Kay Hampton, the Chair of the Commission
for Racial Equality. They were also able to share best practice
and exchange ideas about their diversity action plans.
Recruitment and training
ITV Newsrooms have also been stepping up efforts to ensure
they recruit from a diverse pool of candidates. The News Trainee
scheme (see page 33) has attracted a diverse range of trainees.
ITV News also offers a day-a-week placement for black and
minority ethnic students from City University, and newsroom
staff at all levels regularly take on mentoring roles for aspiring
journalists from minority backgrounds. In 2008 all newsrooms will
offer work placements or attachments in editorial, technical and
administrative areas to students from underrepresented groups in
society. Each ITV region will also produce a DVD for schools, and
some regions will create a mini-road show to illustrate how
newsrooms work.
In 2007 the newsrooms also ran courses such as Islamic
Awareness for Media Professionals and we are pioneering a similar
course to educate staff about Sikh culture, with Sikh employees
designing the course for their colleagues. 11 ITN managers spent
a day giving advice to black and minority ethnic professionals
seeking new jobs in broadcast news during the Move On Up in
News event organised by BECTU.
We continue to offer paid pre-employment placements for young
people from ethnic minorities who want to embark on a career
in television through the Media Foundation Placement Scheme.
The scheme was initially piloted by ITV in partnership with
funders and training specialists, and has grown to include other
regional media companies. In 2007 we hosted 40 trainees. A total
of 83 placements have been provided across ITV since the scheme
began in 2003. Twenty-six more people will go through the
training at ITV in 2008. We are also extending the scheme to
ITV London.
We frequently run events in the regions to encourage people from
ethnic minorities to enter careers in the media. For example, in
2007 ITV Central held a Media Awareness Day for young Muslims
in the Birmingham area.
83
places have been provided on the Media
Foundation Placement Scheme since 2003.
In May 2007 ITV News held its second
diversity conference, co-ordinated by
senior level diversity champions.
Disability
It is our responsibility as an employer to ensure people with
disabilities have equal opportunities to enter the work force and
progress in their careers.
Enabling talent
Sarah Rogers took part in ITV’s Enabling North West Talent
scheme in 2007.
In 2007, 2% of our employees told us they had a disability which
is comparable to other companies in our sector – only 1% of
people working in the broadcasting industry said they had a
disability in a Workforce Census conducted by Skillset in 2006.
However, it is estimated that 19% of the UK’s working
age population has a disability. This highlights the need for
improvements across the sector.
Sarah says: “the scheme gave me the opportunity to show my
capabilities, rather than just my disability.
In 2007 we focused on making ITV workplaces more accessible.
We also improved our support for new employees who declare
a disability – we now contact them before they begin their
job to ensure we have appropriate technology to meet their
requirements, and to ensure their team is aware of any
support they might need. Our new recruitment website
(www.itvjobs.com) complies fully with the Disability
Discrimination Act.
I am now on a three-month work placement at ITV. During the
placement I have organised a film screening and written press
releases. I’d like to get into PR and events within the media
industry in the future and I know this experience will help me
achieve this goal.
We actively recruit people with disabilities through our Enabling
Talent programme. The scheme was launched at ITV Granada’s
Manchester offices in 2006 in partnership with North West Vision
and Media, and ran for six months in 2007. A total of six trainees
were selected for placements. We work closely with Scope and
other national and regional organisations to ensure we offer
appropriate support and opportunities for the trainees. As part of
the scheme we hosted a “TV Academy” which ran over two weeks,
giving a further seven individuals with disabilities an opportunity
to learn about the industry and gain knowledge and skills to apply
for work experience. This enabled two people to gain a further
work experience placements at ITV. See page 34 to read how ITV
Granada supports disabled people in the arts and page 17 for
more information on our efforts to cast people with disabilities.
Training and awareness have played a vital role in our drive to
improve accessibility. In 2007 we hosted over 500 training days.
These covered topics including awareness of disability issues
within teams, and recruitment and selection processes.
In 2007, 60 employees started or continued to learn British Sign
Language and 22 of them achieved level one. One hundred and
thirty-nine members of our news teams participated in a deaf
awareness road show during Deaf Awareness week. We also held
two conferences focusing on disability employment and
portrayal. 120 members of our senior news and drama staff
attended the conferences and agreed actions for 2008.
ITV is a member of the Employers’ Forum on Disability and the
Broadcasting and Creative Industries Disability Network (BCIDN).
The network aims to address disability issues in the media, both
on and off-screen. We are participating in a range of CEO dinners
designed to raise the disability agenda at a senior level across
the industry. We also attend regular network meetings where
members meet to share best practice and performance and hear
from experts in the area.
I became involved in the scheme following a two day “Discover
Media” event held at ITV in Manchester in August. After that I
was selected to continue onto the TV Academy, where I helped
make a short film.
The scheme has given me an amazing chance at a dream career.
It’s been an unbelievable opportunity. I have learnt so much and
in return worked very hard! Before I took part in the scheme
events I was unable to gain vital industry work experience.
The events offer a different way to spot talent and potential,
and have helped balance the disadvantages I’ve faced. I feel
I’ve proved to myself and others that despite my disability
I’m a highly competent and valuable worker.”
Behind the scenes
Our people
Lesbian, gay and bisexual employees
We want all ITV employees to be treated with respect and
acceptance. We will not tolerate harassment or discrimination
against any employee because of their sexual orientation. We are
part of Stonewall’s Diversity Champions programme, which brings
together employers from across the UK to share best practice and
promote lesbian, gay and bisexual equality in the workplace.
Gender equality
Gender equality is another important issue. Women make up 49%
of ITV employees. This compares favourably with the results of
the 2006 Skillset Workforce Census which discovered that only
46% of all employees in the UK, and 38% of people in the
broadcasting industry are women. 46% of managers and 35%
of senior managers at ITV are female (see table on page 35).
During 2007, we significantly changed our policy to improve
our support for employees with children under the age of five.
We now provide child care vouchers for qualifying employees.
In addition we try to accommodate flexible working requests
beyond statutory requirements. Flexible working has been taken
up by men as well as women within the organisation. In 2007,
80% of women returned from maternity leave, and 20% of these
requested flexible working arrangements. 91% of flexible working
requests were approved.
In 2007 we also held a series of seminars entitled Parents Matter,
to support employees from all over the country who care for
young children. These events gave parents the opportunity to
hear talks by child development experts and learn techniques
to manage work-life balance. They also provided a valuable
opportunity for parents to build relationships with other
We aim to increase the number of women in senior management
employees in similar situations.
to 45% by 2012. We have planned a number of actions to achieve
this, including increasing the level of available support for flexible
Age discrimination
working patterns. We are creating a senior women’s network
42% of the adult population of the UK is now over 50. This is a
to encourage peer support and will continue to advise women
large proportion of the potential workforce. It is important for the
on an individual basis. Senior women role models within the
UK economy that older people can continue to work as long as
Company will help raise awareness of maternity and flexible
they want to, without discrimination. 14% of ITV employees are
working options.
over 50.
ITV is a member of Opportunity Now, an employer’s organisation
that focuses on creating an inclusive work place for women.
In 2007 we participated in a benchmarking exercise which
compared gender equality initiatives made by different
employers across a range of industries. We will use the results
to better understand the barriers faced by women in terms of
opportunities, promotion and work life balance.
Since government legislation changed in 2006 our human
resources policy and processes have included safeguards to ensure
potential candidates do not experience age discrimination in the
recruitment process. We promote age awareness on our intranet
and include guidance on the subject in our senior managers’
diversity training course. ITV is also a member of the Employers’
Forum on Age, which provides expert advice on age matters.
We also sponsor an award at the Women in Film and Television
annual awards, a membership organisation that promotes the
interests of women in our industry.
Benefits and incentives
Work-life balance
A flexible workplace that helps employees to balance the
demands of work and home life promotes employee
engagement and wellbeing. It also supports gender equality in
the workplace, as women are frequently the primary carers
of young children. Our flexible working policy allows anyone
employed by ITV for six months or more to apply for a flexible
working option.
80%
of women returned from maternity leave,
and 20% of these requested flexible working
arrangements. 91% of flexible working
requests were approved.
We aim to offer a competitive and comprehensive remuneration,
benefits and incentive package to help us recruit and retain
the best employees. We regularly review our pay and benefits
packages to ensure we remain competitive and comply with
legislative changes. The benefits we offer include a contributory
pension scheme, childcare support, life assurance and an
extensive employee discount scheme. In 2007 we produced
reward statements for all our employees for the first time, in
response to employee feedback. These communicate the total
reward package and ensure each employee makes the most of
the range of benefits available to them.
We structure our incentive programmes to ensure our employees
have a stake in the future success of the Company. Our annual
all-employee bonus scheme is linked to company performance.
In 2008 we are introducing a one-off all employee long term
incentive scheme, aligned with the achievement of our long term
company objectives. Employees can also participate in our
Sharesave scheme and Create, a scheme which rewards
employees for their programme and new business ideas with a
share of any profits made. A significant proportion of senior
managers’ pay is performance related, based on achievement
against corporate financial targets and individual targets.
Their behaviour in relation to ITV’s values is also assessed.
Freelancers
We use a wide range of freelancers to make our productions.
These include creative people such as performers, directors and
writers, as well as technical experts. These people are crucial to our
business, and it is important that we treat them fairly. Contracts
with performers are usually negotiated through agents or lawyers
under collective agreements with trade unions. These include
Equity, the Musicians Union and the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain.
We comply with child employment law as well as the Producers’
Rights Agency guidelines on child performers. We have developed
our own guidelines for casting teams to use when working with
children. We were involved in creating an industry Code of
Conduct for the employment of children in entertainment.
Grievances and whistleblowing
Most problems at work can be resolved informally, but sometimes
formal processes are necessary. Our Grievance Policy ensures
that employees have access to appropriate channels to
communicate grievances.
Our Whistleblowing Policy was devised with help from Public
Concern at Work (PCaW), a charity that promotes good practice
on whistleblowing. PCaW provides a confidential and independent
helpline for our people to contact if they are concerned about
wrongdoing or a serious risk that could damage the public, our
workforce or our reputation.
Child employment
In 2007 ITV Productions produced a programme about child
employment in partnership with the National Network for
Children in Employment and Entertainment, which examined
the issues around employing children in television.
We encourage employees to read the Whistleblowing Policy
and phone the helpline if necessary, or email Public Concern at
Work on [email protected]. We raise awareness of the helpline
through articles on the Watercooler, our employee intranet site.
We ran a short awareness raising campaign on whistleblowing in
the autumn.
Redundancy and restructuring
In 2007 there were 197 redundancies. Our redundancy policy
requires us to give a period of consultation during which we help
employees find alternative jobs within ITV. Where this is not
possible, employees receive a redundancy payment in line with
their entitlement.
This year we intend making significant changes to our regional
news teams to increase efficiency in a more challenging business
environment (see page 16 for a more detailed explanation of
our restructuring plans). We aim to communicate openly with
employees throughout the process through formal and informal
consultations. We are working with employee representatives
and trade unions who will be involved throughout the process.
We will provide redundancy and outplacement support for
affected employees.
Behind the scenes
Our people
Internal communications
The Watercooler, our employee intranet site, is our primary
internal communications tool. It keeps employees up to date with
company news, team achievements and encourages them to
give feedback about company strategy and issues that affect
them. The Watercooler includes the latest news about ITV and the
media industry. Each month, approximately 5,000 users connect
to the site and the news stories audience varies from 100 to more
than 1,000 readers. The site is visited by an average of 85% of
employees each week and is updated at least twice each day with
breaking news and features.
Creativity is our lifeblood.
We aim to create an
environment where talented
and creative people can
do their best work. Our
commitment to our people
is the foundation for this.
Dawn Airey Managing Director of Global Content
The Watercooler includes a chatroom where employees can share
views about company issues. We also host online forums, such
as an open session with the HR Director. In 2007 we launched
a blogging facility and encouraged all our employees to get
involved. We want our people to share their knowledge
and expertise and benefit from other perspectives within
the Company.
Face-to-face communication is also vital. As well as monthly team
briefings by local managers, ITV senior management led two
series of all-site open forum meetings last year: Michael Grade
and John Cresswell met informally with groups of employees who
were able to ask questions and discuss issues. Michael Grade also
hosts monthly information and idea lunches with a cross-section
of employees.
The 60 Second Update and the Senior Management Update are
two internal newsletters published monthly for all employees and
Senior Managers. They provide information on performance, all
our business areas and CR issues. Emails are an effective way to
make calls to action on specific issues. Posters and leaflets are
regularly displayed in all our offices communal areas.
Employee survey
We regularly survey our employees to ensure we are aware
of issues that affect them and can learn from their ideas.
By listening to employees we want to ensure we remain a
company where “great people do their best work”. In 2007 we
built upon the 2006 MORI survey with a “pulse survey” to test
employee attitudes.
We also conducted a full company-wide employee survey shortly
after the launch of our five year strategic plan, in October 2007,
using the Denison survey methodology.
The survey helped us identify a number of areas for
improvement. In 2008 we will focus on increasing collaboration
across the Group and embed our core values in every area of the
Company. We will develop action plans for each business division
to communicate results and make targets for improvement.
Senior managers’ bonuses will include an incentive to improve
performance in these areas.
As a result of feedback from the 2006 employee survey we
issued a reward statement to all employees. This clarifies the
key components of their pay packages, making them easier
to understand.
We will conduct another MORI survey in 2008, and will continue
to report progress from the 2006 MORI survey results.
Training and development
We have a strong commitment to training. Our courses range
from technical courses in camera operation to presentation skills
for journalists and modules on copyright law. 17% of our training
budget was allocated to Leadership and Management skills, 10%
went on Personal development and Diversity training, 17% on
Business and Sales skills and 56% on Programme making and
Technical skills.
In 2007 ITV employees received 5,653 training opportunities
in total, including courses, workshops and online programmes.
We estimate that employees received an average of 13 hours
of training each in 2007. We delivered 69,350 classroom training
hours in total, and provided on-the-job coaching and mentoring,
as well as online and self-paced learning. We also supported
professional qualifications and memberships.
69,350
the number of training hours delivered in 2007
Online induction
Every new joiner at ITV must complete an online induction which
includes interactive modules on diversity, our values, health and
safety and compliance issues, amongst others.
Every full time employee receives an annual career development
review. We address the development needs identified during the
review using our online Development Guide. The Development
Guide includes information about all of ITV’s training opportunities,
and helps employees identify appropriate courses. They can then
view and book the courses online through our “self-service”
training facility.
In 2007, 48% of managers and supervisors received leadership
training through our Creating Strong Leaders programme.
The course includes modules in communication, diversity and
finance. 796 managers have participated in the core programme
modules since it began in 2005.
We also run several trainee schemes, including a News trainee
scheme and a programme to develop new directors. See page 33
for more information.
We also ran “Colleagues United” again in 2007, following
the success of the National Skills Day initiative last year.
The day included opportunities for our employees to shadow
different roles within the Company, and to go on behind the
scenes tours of studios, offices and technical areas. In total
over 350 employees participated in activities ranging from
accompanying a political correspondent on a project to
shadowing Emmerdale’s storyline team.
Our internal development consultants work closely with business
leaders across ITV to ensure that our training portfolio reflects
current and emerging business priorities. In 2007, we re-launched
our training portfolios to reflect the latest changes to business
requirements and to make it easier for employees to understand
the breadth of training opportunities that are available.
This year, our in-house training team won a number of regional
training awards, including the Broadcast Sector National Training
Award. This award is run by the UK Skills and the Broadcast
Training & Skills Regulator (BTSR), in partnership with Ofcom and
Skillset, the Industry Sector Skills Council. It recognises the high
standard of training delivered at ITV.
Behind the scenes
Health and safety
Health and safety (“H&S”) is a high
priority at ITV. Our team of H&S
professionals develop and maintain
our H&S Management System
and assist with day-to-day H&S
risk management.
H&S management
Our H&S Policy is signed off by our Chief Operating Officer and
there is a network of local Health and Safety Committees that
ensure communication throughout the organisation on H&S
issues. These committees have a direct communication link
into the ITV H&S Steering Group chaired by the Head of Risk
Management. The H&S Department also has dedicated pages
on our intranet.
Our H&S Management System has been developed by our
in-house team. We are currently reviewing risk assessment
procedures for all day-to-day activities and renewing risk
assessment guidance for different areas of the business.
We share best practice on H&S with other employers in the
production and broadcasting industry. We belong to the Joint
Advisory Committee for Entertainment (JACE), chaired by the
UK Health and Safety Executive. We are also active members
of a working group responsible for updating the Entertainment
Industry Safety Sheets.
ITV is a member of the Broadcasting Industry Safety Group and a
board member of the Joint Industry Grading Scheme. We are also
actively involved in the Industry Grading Schemes for Stunts and
Special Effects.
Training and awareness
We require all employees to undertake some H&S training to
ensure they understand our policy and take responsibility for
reducing H&S risks in their workplace.
In 2007 we introduced online training for a number of hazard
areas, to complement the basic H&S induction. This includes an
online assessment for workstations which covers:
– Fire Safety
– Office Safety
– Workstation Set up
– Asbestos awareness
– Noise awareness
ITV has developed an online training course for safety awareness
in Production. A separate course was run at ITN. These courses
are all mapped to industry training standards.
We continue to run our Institute of Occupational Safety and
Health (IOSH) accredited course in Managing Safety in the
Audio-Visual Production Industry. Twelve four day courses took
place in 2007. One hundred and eight people in total attended.
Senior members of the H&S team run a one day in-house H&S
course specifically for production. In 2007 we ran 20 courses
and trained 166 people. In 2007 we also ran seven risk assessment
workshops in the News Group and trained 61 News employees in
how to conduct these.
Performance in 2007
In 2007 we introduced a new online accident reporting system to
improve our data collection. We also reviewed our data collection
methods to capture information including near misses.
Work related accidents to staff reported as required by law
No.
2006
Rate per
10,000
employees
No.
2005
Rate per
10,000
employees
7
13
23
41
No.
2007
Rate per
10,000
employees
Accidents requiring
more than three
days off work
9
17
Major accidents
2
1
1
Fatal accidents
0
0
0
Total work related accidents
Total internally reported accidents
451
Out of the 451 total accidents, 93% were minor.
Near miss reporting
ITV has introduced a system to encourage “Near Miss” reporting,
as part of our strategy to increase proactive health and safety
management. In 2007, 69 incidents were reported. We hope to
see an increase in the use of this system in 2008.
k
We are committed to minimising all our
environmental impacts, including the
CO2 emissions from our operations, our
water consumption and the volume of
waste we send to landfill.
The issue
Human society faces major environmental challenges. Companies
have an important responsibility to minimise their impacts to
help meet the challenge of sustainable development. Climate
change is one of today’s most pressing issues. It is important that
all organisations find ways to reduce carbon dioxide emissions
(CO2), year-on-year, to help the government meet its target to
reduce UK CO2 by 60% by 2050. Increased regulation will also
affect the cost of energy and the volume of carbon dioxide that
businesses can emit.
The use of materials and water and the production of waste also
have environmental impacts, and must be carefully managed.
Our approach
All our sites, including offices, studios and production locations
use resources such as energy and water, and generate waste.
We are committed to minimising our impacts, including
our contribution to climate change and the volume of waste
we send to landfill.
Our 2007 environmental statement of intent, signed by our Chief
Operating Officer John Cresswell is available on our website at
www.itvplc.com. It states that we will introduce a programme of
continuous improvement to reduce our environmental impact.
We will also rigorously monitor our operations and provide
environmental awareness training for staff. Our current focus is
on CO2 emissions and waste, both of which we consider to require
urgent attention. In 2007 we concentrated on four main areas.
These were:
– Capturing data and improving the reliability of existing
data sources;
– Reducing the climate impact of our sites across the UK,
especially of production “hubs”;
– Measuring the impact of our programme production
processes; and
– Engaging with the UK Government and other stakeholders on
carbon reduction.
We are continuing to work to develop our carbon strategy to
meet the environmental and businesses challenges we anticipate.
We will launch the strategy in 2008.
In 2007 we appointed a Group Environment manager, responsible
for managing and reporting impacts across ITV’s operations, and
raising awareness of environmental issues within the Company.
Capturing and reporting data
In 2007 we estimate that ITV emitted 47,991 tonnes of CO2 in
total (see tables on page 44).
We have strengthened our data collection system this year by
using the Greenhouse Gas Protocol of WRI/WBCSD. It is therefore
not possible to discern a trend from last year. We will use 2007 as
a more robust baseline to set future targets.
We monitor and report data for sites which are under the direct
operational control of ITV. It continues to be a challenge to
capture data for all our sites, which are managed by landlords or
subsidiary businesses. We also continue to have data collection
problems from some waste and water contractors. We are
improving ways to capture this data and hope to include more
complete data in our calculation next year. We are also working
to eliminate errors when reporting data and to ensure that data
sources are as reliable as possible. This includes developing new
reporting software and engaging with contractors to ensure that
data can be transferred directly to our systems.
In 2007, we improved our methods for measuring the climate
impact of our business travel. The figure for our total carbon
dioxide emissions from travel includes air travel, rail, cars and taxis,
fuel use and hotel stays.
Behind the scenes
Total CO2 emissions (tonnes)
Scope 1 – Direct energy use and associated CO2 emissions
2007
2006
2005
47,991
37,330
39,665
Our 2006 and 2005 data are overall totals. For a breakdown by
type for 2007 please see the tables on the right.
2007
Gas consumption MWh
Fuel oil consumption litres
Emissions (tonnes)
59,790
260,326
13,013
Scope 2 – Indirect energy use and associated CO2 emissions
2007
Electricity consumption MWh
54,300
Emissions (tonnes)
28,399
Scope 3 – Indirect CO2 emissions
2007
Petrol cars
(includes petrol use)
Hybrid cars
Diesel cars and taxis
(includes diesel use) (only for Q4)
1,734
tonnes of CO2 were saved in 2007 from
our Manchester site
1,393
3
288
Air
2,930
Rail
808
Hotel stays
1,157
Emissions (tonnes)
6,580
Reducing our climate impact
In 2007 we worked to improve the operational efficiency of
our sites. Many of our offices were fitted with movement
and daylight sensors during refurbishments. These ensure lights
switch off automatically out of hours and in bright natural light.
We also increased efficiency by replacing air-conditioning units,
chillers and fans at our London Television Centre. Our Manchester
site uses a combined heat and power (CHP) plant to reduce our
need to import heat. We are currently reviewing the performance
of our 1.7 MW CHP plant in London to ensure we maximise
efficiency and costs.
CHP plants are more efficient than conventional electricity
generation and result in reduced CO2 emissions. For example,
our site in Manchester CHP saved 1,734 tonnes of CO2 in 2007,
according to EnerG (our CHP provider partner).
We buy the rest of our electricity from a good quality combined
heat and power tariff on the national grid. We will review our
energy contract yearly and will consider a renewable energy
tariff if the contract can guarantee green supply. We are also
in the process of appointing a new energy bureau service to
help us monitor and report our energy use more robustly.
We are also investigating the use of power management tools
to make our IT infrastructure more efficient. These would
automatically shut down computers and other IT equipment
left on overnight. In November 2007 we carried out trials to
measure how much energy could be saved by switching off
computers. We are also looking for ways to identify computers
which are regularly left on. We are developing a new data suite
for ITV plc, which will allow us to reduce the number of server
rooms requiring cooling. This will also provide an opportunity to
invest in lower energy server technology.
In autumn 2007 we signed a new taxi contract in London that
provides hybrid vehicles as the default option where available.
At present, hybrid vehicles account for 14% of miles driven on
ITV business in London.
Measuring the impacts of our programmes
In 2007 ITV Productions measured the carbon footprint
of selected key programmes. This helped us understand our
impacts and raised awareness of the issues among employees
in production.
In September 2007 we believe The Sunday Edition, a current
affairs programme on ITV1, became the world’s first broadcast
to be given a carbon footprint. ITV1 broadcast the production’s
carbon footprint in the credits for the whole series. The total
carbon footprint for the seven hour long episodes was 2.1 tonnes.
The programme’s carbon footprint was measured using the
presenters’ and guests’ vehicle miles and the energy used in the
studios and production office.
We also measured the carbon footprint of flagship drama Lewis.
The programme production team was keen to make it as green
as possible. They used 100% recycled paper for scripts and desk
lights in the production office were switched to low energy bulbs.
Car sharing to locations was encouraged. The programme’s
carbon footprint for four two hour episodes was measured at
830 tonnes. This included transport (over 210,000 miles travelled),
production office use and location generators.
The CO2 emitted to make the drama Lewis was 103.75 tonnes
per hour, 346 times that required to make the studio show
The Sunday Edition, which came in at 0.3 tonnes per hour.
The exercise demonstrated the massive differences in CO2
emissions from different genres with different production
methods. 10.5 tonnes of waste were produced, (not including
location, props or costume waste due to practical constraints)
and a further 1 tonne of waste was recycled.
We aim to raise the profile of our programme carbon footprints,
both internally and externally as part of wider efforts to measure
our environmental impacts. We have developed a carbon
footprinting tool to be used by production teams. We plan to
extend the carbon footprint exercise to larger ITV shows such as
Coronation Street in 2008 and the Carbon Trust are interested in
endorsing this project.
Behind the scenes
Communicating with employees
Many areas of the business also encourage environmental
initiatives and raise awareness among employees. For example
ITV Yorkshire has a phone recycling campaign. ITV Granada
screened Al Gore’s film An Inconvenient Truth every two hours
during World Environment Day and more than sixty employees
watched the film. As part of the Make a Difference campaign
(see page 16), ITV London promoted simple changes to
employees to help the environment, such as switching off
appliances at the end of the day. This was supported by a
number of intranet features and competitions.
Engagement with the government
This year we participated in the UK Government’s Carbon
Reduction Commitment (CRC) stakeholder consultations.
We support initiatives to encourage businesses to tackle
climate change and we will continue to play our part.
Waste generation and recycling
Total waste (tonnes)
Total waste recycled (tonnes)
Total waste sent to landfill (tonnes)
2007
2006
2,210
1,776
813
520
1,397
1,256
In our 2006 report we stated that we were evaluating our waste
management strategy across ITV in order to ensure regulatory
compliance. In 2007 we engaged management consultants
to consolidate our UK waste contracts under a single service.
This will help us meet regulatory requirements, manage our waste
streams more efficiently and report data more reliably through an
online management tool. Access to more information about our
waste streams will help us to increase our recycling rate.
A new integrated waste management system will allow different
sites to manage waste according to their own priorities. We have
also put a carbon accounting element on the waste disposal
routes and we will work with the new contractor to identify the
lowest carbon routes to disposal where possible.
Unfortunately, it is not possible to avoid landfill for all our waste.
Our productions use some materials which cannot be reused or
recycled, and which cannot be substituted for health, safety
or fire-risk reasons. We continue to develop ways to manage
production waste streams. The integrated waste management
2005
system will help this process and we are looking at ways to extend
1,743 it to location productions.
937 Water use
806
In 2007 we produced 2,210 tonnes of waste, 813 tonnes
(just over a third) of which was recycled. It not possible to make
a meaningful comparison between this year’s data and the
previous years as we have made major improvements to our
data collection systems. We will use the data from this year as
a more robust baseline to make comparisons and set targets in
the future.
Our offices, studios, post-production facilities and location
productions all generate waste. Our most significant wastes are
the materials used to make sets for productions. Our broad aim
is to avoid landfill and instead generate less waste from source,
reuse materials where possible and recycle the materials, where
there is a viable market for doing so.
Total water use (m3)
2007
2006
2005
129,899
133,485
104,473
In 2007 water use was 129,899 m3 compared to 133,485 m3 in
2006 (see table).
Our water use per full time employee is above average for an
office environment due to the use of water in productions,
which is where most water is consumed. Everyday we use water
to clean studio floors, as different programmes will be made in
the same studio from one day to the next. Whilst we are not a
major consumer of water, we are committed to managing our
use of this limited resource.
Water saving measures that were implemented this year include
refurbishments at the London Television Centre where automatic
sensors have been fitted on men’s urinals and water taps, and
low-volume flushes have been added to toilets.
Notes
1. As a result of improved data collection we are now reporting energy use and emissions
in accordance with the Greenhouse Gas Protocol: A Corporate Accounting and Reporting
Standard (WRI/WBCSD). However it should be noted that 2007 emissions from several ITV
owned businesses and joint ventures have not yet been accounted for. This will be addressed
in time for the 2008 report.
4. Within waste and recycling data we have not accounted for waste generated on
productions locations or from several ITV owned businesses and joint ventures. We have also
not been able to report waste data for certain parts of the ITV estate where buildings are
leased. We are continuing to work on ways to capture this data through the introduction of
new procedures, processes and engagement with stakeholders.
2. Emissions calculations for 2007 reported here have now been rebased according to updated
emission factors from Defra. “Guidelines to Defra’s GHG conversion factors for company
reporting” (2007)
5. Water use is calculated from water bills and so is not robust. At present we do not have a
mechanism for verifying fluctuations in our water use year-on-year.
3. Business travel is likely to be underestimated due to the nature of our business.
ITV employs many freelance staff and on location filming staff may use their own vehicles
but not claim fuel back.
6. The carbon footprint methodology for ITV Productions was prepared according to
the WRI/WBCSD Greenhouse Gas Protocol reporting standard. The methodology and
data (though not the sources) were verified by a third party, PIPC, in accordance with
BS ISO14064 Part 3:2006.
Performance indicators
On air
2007
2006
2005
Upheld complaints
Resolved complaints
773
843
799
15
10
8
4
19
19
Public service broadcasting
News (hours)
Current affairs (hours)
388
453
471
84
101
97
2006
2005
Independent production (% of programmes)
35
45
33
Original all-time (% of programmes)
90
82
83
Original peak-time (% of programmes)
95
96
95
European (% of programmes)
91
91
87
47,991
37,330
39,665
2,210
1,776
1,743
129,899
133,485
104,473
49.0
47.9
47.6
Ethnic minority employees
(% of those that disclosed their ethnicity)
8.4
9.9
6.4
2.0
2.0
2.0
14.0
15.1
17.0
CO2 emissions (tonnes)
Access services (ITV1)
Subtitling (% of programmes)
2007
Creative economy
Total complaints about programmes
Behind the scenes
91.4
87.0
89.0
Total waste (tonnes)
Water consumption (m )
3
Audio description (% of programmes)
Signing (% of programmes)
10.5
9.0
8.0
4.5
4.0
3.5
Workplace profile (UK only, excl. GMTV)
Reflecting society
Women employees (%)
On-screen diversity monitoring
Total black and minority ethnic
Our People
13.6
11.5
13.6
0.6
0.6
0.5
Women
41.4
43.1
39.0
Employees with a disability
(% of those that disclosed their disability)
Age over 55
11.4
9.6
13.7
Employees over 50 (%)
People with a disability
Health and safety
Accidents requiring more than
three days off work
9
7
23
Major accidents
2
1
1
Fatal accidents
0
0
0
Total (£ million)
6.88
11.58
19.27
Cash (£ million)
1.38
2.12
1.49
In kind (£ million)
5.50
9.46*
17.78
% of pre-tax profit
3.60
4.00
6.20
*restated
Advertising complaints for all broadcasters (not only ITV)
Number of complaints
Number of adverts causing complaint
Number of adverts ruled by the ASA
to breach the code
10,685
8,594
13,059
2,639
2,369
2,284
84
94
165
Online performance indicators are in development.
Objectives
Area
2007 Objective
2007 Outcome
2008 Objective
CR Management
Adopt a CR Strategy and engage with
both internal and external stakeholders
more effectively.
– Ongoing. Our CR management
structure is currently under review.
Adopt a CR Strategy and engage with
both internal and external stakeholders
more effectively.
Programming
Provide a popular and varied schedule
compliant with the Ofcom
Broadcasting Code on issues such as
offence, privacy and decency.
ITV maintained a popular schedule
with a low level of complaints upheld
by Ofcom:
Provide a popular and varied schedule
compliant with the Ofcom
Broadcasting Code on issues such as
offence, privacy and decency.
– ITV family viewing share up to
23.2% in 2007.
– 15 complaints out of 773 were
upheld by Ofcom in 2007.
All production teams to monitor onscreen portrayal and build relationships
with diverse communities to ensure
that programming reflects the makeup
of the UK population.
On-screen diversity portrayal
monitored by production teams.
See findings on page 17.
All production teams to monitor onscreen portrayal and build relationships
with diverse communities to ensure
that programming reflects the makeup
of the UK population.
Meet programming obligations
contained in our licences:
We met or exceeded the obligations
in all categories:
Meet programming obligations
contained in our licences:
– 365 hours of national and
international news and weather, with
125 hours in peak time.
international news and weather,
with 129 hours in peak time.
international news and weather, with
125 hours in peak time.
– 78 hours of current affairs.
– 5.5 hours of regional news per week.
– 5.2 hours of regional news per week
(under run agreed with Ofcom).
– 1.5 hours of regional non-news
per week.
Meet accessibility services
commitments for ITV1 (these differ for
other channels):
We met or exceeded accessibility
service commitments for ITV1 (these
differ for other channels):
Meet accessibility services
commitments for ITV1 (these differ for
other channels):
– 85% of transmission time subtitling.
– 91.4% of transmission time
subtitled.
– 86% of transmission time subtitling.
– 4% transmission time signed.
– 4.5% transmission time signed.
– 5% transmission time signed (from
November 2007).
– 10.5% of transmission time audio
described.
– 10% of transmission time audio
described (from November 2007).
Comply with Ofcom and ASA
regulations on amount, scheduling,
distribution and standards of
advertising.
The ASA upheld 84 complaints out of
10,685 in 2007 for all broadcasters
(not only ITV). Ofcom data above.
Comply with Ofcom and ASA
regulations on amount, scheduling,
distribution and standards of
advertising.
Provide pre-clearance for all broadcast
advertisements.
Clearcast (formerly BACC) cleared all
adverts before broadcasting and
reviewed 28,000 scripts.
Provide pre-clearance for all broadcast
advertisements.
A minimum of 20 hours of
broadcasting covering:
We broadcast over 25 hours of
programming covering these
initiatives and further hours covering
other initiatives such as ITV Carer of
the Year.
In 2008 our regional structures will be
undergoing significant change.
Community objectives are therefore
still under consideration at the time of
writing this report.
– 8% of transmission time audio
described.
Advertising
Community
per week.
– 5.5 hours of regional news per week.
per week.
– The “Make a Difference – Climate
Change” initiative.
– Regional news programming to mark
the 200th anniversary of the abolition
of slavery.
– Programming surrounding
The People’s Millions.
Area
2007 Objective
Employment
Maintain a diverse workforce in which
equal opportunities are respected:
2007 Outcome
2008 Objective
Maintain a diverse workforce in which
equal opportunities are respected:
– Offer 10 bursaries and 20 traineeships
covering editorial and technical roles
to news journalists.
– In 2007 we offered 19 traineeships
and reviewed the operation of the
bursary scheme.
– Our regional news structures will be
undergoing significant change in
2008, therefore objectives are still
under consideration. We remain
committed to the provision of high
quality training for our news
journalists.
– Offer 40 places on our Foundation
Placement Scheme for people from
ethnic minorities to receive a year’s
training and experience in Leeds or
Manchester, with the possible
addition of 20 places in London.
– In 2007 we offered 40 places on
our Foundation Placement Scheme.
We aim to launch the ITV London
scheme in 2008.
– Offer 40 places on our Foundation
Placement Scheme.
– Make and review arrangements for
promoting equality of opportunity.
– We made arrangements for
promoting equal opportunities,
with diversity roadshows and
training and development.
– Make and review arrangements for
promoting equality of opportunity.
– Publish (at least annually) observations
on the current operation and
effectiveness of the arrangements
for promoting equal opportunity.
– The 2007 equal opportunities
report was submitted to Ofcom in
early 2008.
– Publish (at least annually)
observations on the current operation
and effectiveness of the arrangements
for promoting equal opportunity.
Environment
Continue our work with the
Carbon Trust and act on the
recommendations from the
assessment of the London Television
Centre. We will also complete audits on
other areas of our business.
This objective was achieved with
considerable work undertaken on
looking at production impacts. Please
see page 45 for more information.
– Launch carbon strategy.
– Extend carbon footprinting to large
productions.
Health and Safety
Finalise the standardisation of
ITV Group procedures and guidelines for
key risk areas through EH&S
Operational Group.
Key procedures developed by
H&S Risk Management and
Environment Teams.
Work to continue development of
the H&S Management systems
documentation incorporating best
practice guidance.
Establish an EH&S Training suite to
enable access to appropriate training
for all employees.
Online training provision in place
and development work undertaken
for specialist online training
for production.
Phased roll out of online training
pack in 2008. Development of industry
benchmarked training for production
staff.
Review method for reporting accident
figures to capture data such as “near
miss” reporting.
ITV Group “near miss” reporting
system in place.
Development of online reporting tool
for “near misses”.
Maintain a high level of original
UK production from a diverse
production base and continue a fund
totalling £9 million over three years to
support new to network regional
production.
The Nations and Regions Production
Fund (formerly Regional Production
Fund) continued its work through
2007. Please see page 32 for more
information.
Maintain a high level of original
UK production from a diverse
production base.
– 50% of programme hours and 50% of
spend on original network
programme production in the regions.
– 25% of transmission time from
independent production.
– 85% original programming in peak
time.
– 65% original all time production.
– 50% European production.
– 57% of programme hours and
50% of spend on original network
programme production in the
regions.
– 50% of programme hours and
50% of spend on original network
programme production in the regions.
Creative Economy
time.
time.
Supply chain
– Distribute the Whistleblowing
Policy to all suppliers.
– Survey key suppliers on their
CR practises.
– Include clauses in contracts
requesting compliance with
Procurement Policy.
We met most of these objectives and
engaged with key suppliers in
2007 but aim to develop this
programme further in 2008.
Enhance our evaluation of CR risk
in the supply chain.
Assurance statement 2008
ITV commissioned Enviros Consulting Ltd (Enviros) to provide
assurance of the 2007 ITV Corporate Responsibility (CR)
report. The CR report has been prepared by ITV; Enviros has
conducted an independent review of its accuracy and balance
to ensure statements made reflect business practices within ITV.
This statement is the responsibility of Enviros and represents
our independent opinion. Our assurance does not cover
additional content concerning ITV’s CR activities published
on www.itvplc.com.
The verification was conducted by meetings, telephone
discussions and email correspondence with staff responsible
for collating and presenting the data on which the report was
based. Both quantitative and qualitative data were substantiated
through these meetings and supporting core data were sampled
for accuracy, completeness and interpretation.
Our opinion
Based on the approach above we have provided comments
against each of the three principles of assurance (as represented
in the AA1000 Assurance Standard).
Materiality (or does the report cover the issues of most
importance to stakeholders?)
Enviros believe that ITV has not omitted from the report any
issues or information that could affect stakeholder opinions
concerning ITV’s intentions or operations. ITV consults extensively
on selected CR issues with key stakeholders and has a
comprehensive system for monitoring feedback from viewers.
ITV’s commitment to CR, closely linked to stakeholder trust,
is becoming clear under the leadership of the Chief Operating
Officer, and would be enhanced by having the support of a
dedicated CR manager.
We are pleased to see that the expansion of ITV businesses into
new media such as internet and mobile is being reflected in the
report, and expect this to continue as the prominence of new
media grows.
Responsiveness (or how well does the report address the
issues of importance to stakeholders?)
This report shows a good level of transparency with regards to
some difficult issues such as premium rate services, and the
importance of trust in public broadcasting. ITV continue to
recognise that they need to go beyond regulation by defining a
CR strategy for the business taking into account stakeholder
feedback and we would hope to see progress on this in 2008.
Finally, we noted that the objectives set in the 2008 targets are
incremental, and not particularly stretching when compared to
2007. As ITV succeeds in focusing its CR strategy going forward
we expect to see more challenging targets set.
Looking to the future
ITV has accepted the challenge and opportunity that CR brings
and is intent on improvement. We would like ITV to consider the
following for 2008:
– Have a dedicated resource devoted to corporate responsibility to
formalise the reporting process and bring focus to ITV’s
CR efforts.
– Conduct an assessment of materiality on CR issues to allow
the Company to focus its efforts and reporting, including use
of the Vision Panel facility to gather viewer perceptions on CR
to supplement existing stakeholder engagement routes.
– Be ready to set more ambitious targets in 2009 and beyond to
fully develop ITV’s CR potential.
ITV has improved its reporting on some key environmental
impacts, and started assessing the carbon footprint of some of its
programming, a novel and promising initiative. However, whilst
this report provides information and data on numerous issues
of relevance to ITV, we would recommend that ITV assess the
materiality of key issues in greater detail to allow for better
prioritisation of key issues. For instance, we would like to see
ITV use the Vision Panel research capacity more regularly to
test viewers interest and perceptions on key CR issues, in a
Peter Young
similar way to on-screen diversity.
Director, Enviros Consulting Ltd
We reiterate our recommendation of last year’s report to consider
the environmental and community impacts of non-fixed
locations. We would also like to see ITV report further on its
influence and engagement on CR within its supply chain.
Accuracy and completeness (or how reliable and
representative is the information and data in the report?)
This report shows great improvement in terms of data collection
and verification, and we are confident that the data shown
in the report is an accurate reflection on ITV’s CR performance.
The report also succeeds in explaining relevant issues in
clear language to its readership to allow them to assess the
information provided.
GRI indicators
The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) guidelines are a framework for voluntary reporting on an organisation's corporate responsibility
performance. The following table shows where we to find information relating to some of these guidelines.
Section
GRI indicator
Introduction
Message from Executive Chairman
1.1, 3.1, 3.6, 4.2
About ITV
2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.5, 2.7, 2.8, 3.5, EC1
2.10, 3.5, 4.8, 4.12, 4.14, 4.16, 4.17
On air
4.12, PR3, SO1, SO8, PR9
Independent Reporting
2.10, LA7, LA8
Reflecting society
LA13, 4.13
EC1, 4.13, SO1
4.12, PR6, PR7
Digital switchover
EC8
Online
Content on demand
2.9, 4.12, 4.13, PR3
Behind the scenes
Creative economy
Our people
EC8, LA11
4.4, 4.8, 4.13, LA1, LA3, LA13, HR6, LA10, LA11, LA12, 2.10
Health & Safety
4.13, LA7
EN3, EN4, EN5, EN7, EN8, EN16, EN22, EN26, EN29, 4.12
Objectives
Assurance statement
Grey signifies full coverage, blue signifies partial coverage.
For further information on the Global Reporting Initiative please visit www.globalreporting.org.
1.1
3.13
Contacts
ITV Switchboard
0207 156 6000
Duty Office
Gas Street
Birmingham B1 2JT
[email protected]
Tel: 0844 88 14150
Fax: 0844 88 14198
We welcome feedback on our CR activities.
Please email [email protected] or write to:
Corporate Responsibility
ITV plc
London WC1X 8HF
Useful web resources
www.itv.com
www.itvlocal.com
www.itvplc.com
To find out more about some of the organisations
mentioned in this report please visit:
Advertising Standards Authority
www.asa.org.uk
Association for Television on Demand
www.atvod.org.uk
Broadband Stakeholder Group
www.broadbanduk.org
Clearcast
www.clearcast.co.uk
Cultural Diversity Network
www.culturaldiversitynetwork.co.uk
Freesat
www.freesat.co.uk
Health and Safety Executive
www.hse.gov.uk
Media CSR Forum
www.mediacsrforum.org
Ofcom
www.ofcom.org.uk
Public Concern at Work
www.pcaw.co.uk
Signpost
www.signpostbsl.com
Skillset
www.skillset.org
9/4/08
10:14
Page 2
Consultancy Context
Design and production Radley Yeldar
Print CTD Printers are ISO 14001 and FSC accredited.
Paper Sovereign Silk, made from virgin wood fibre from sawmill
residue, is FSC certified from well-managed forests and other
controlled sources. It is fully bio-degradable and recyclable and
produced in Mills that hold ISO 9002 and ISO 14001.
9/4/08
10:14
ITV plc
London WC1X 8HF
www.itv.com
Investors: www.itvplc.com
Page 1

ITV plcCorporate responsibility report 2007

Transcription

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