BBC Studios win competitive tender for Bargain Hunt
The BBC today announced the result of the fifth title put out to competitive tender, as part of the Charter and Agreement requirement to open up more of the BBC’s TV programming to competition.
Published: 7 August 2018
Bargain Hunt is a cornerstone of the BBC One daytime schedule and BBC Studios have been successful in their bid to produce the series for the next two years.
BBC One’s daytime series Bargain Hunt will continue to be produced by BBC Studios for a further two years in Wales.
The BBC invited pitches from all producers to test who could deliver the best quality and ambition for viewers at the best price. The process scored bidders on their editorial vision for the show, value for money, how it delivers against the BBC’s strategic priorities, and risk management.
A BBC evaluation team made the decision based on criteria openly shared with all suppliers who were eligible to tender.
Dan McGolpin, Controller, Programming & Daytime, BBC Content who led the evaluation team says : “Bargain Hunt is a cornerstone of the BBC One daytime schedule and BBC Studios have been successful in their bid to produce the series for the next two years. Right from the initial bids through to the final shortlist, the quality of competition for this tender was extremely high. Following a rigorous process, BBC Studios scored highest against the criteria that we set out at the start. I would like to thank each of the bidders for all of the time and hard work that they put in."
The other titles opened up to competitive tender were A Question of Sport, Holby City, Doctors and Songs of Praise. The first three were all retained by BBC Studios and the latter was awarded to two independent producers Avanti and Nine Lives. In addition, Horizon was also opened up to a competitive pitch process, with independent producers Windfall Films and Wingspan Productions joining BBC Studios to produce bundles of films for the BBC’s flagship science strand, as well as a number of single films commissioned from a range of independent producers.
Most recently TV coverage of the Proms was opened up to competition; its Invitation to Tender (ITT) was published in June and the process will resume later in the year once the season is over. Last week, Mastermind, Later with Jools Holland and Hootenanny were confirmed as the next titles, their ITT’s will all to be published in September 2018. An Invitation to Pitch for The One Show inserts was also published last week, building on the annual commissioning round.
The tendering of returning series currently produced by BBC Studios forms part of the Compete or Compare strategy launched by the BBC in 2014, which underlined the BBC’s commitment to commission the best programmes for audiences, regardless of who makes them. The BBC will be releasing further opportunities to the market across 2018, some of these will be further tenders for existing series, some will be specific invitations to pitch for new shows with a clear purpose, and others will be open to competition for the best ideas as part of the normal commissioning process.
The requirements for each tender are communicated at the time of publication, with enough time for suppliers to do appropriate research and preparation.
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