Last month, the BBC announced it would be committing £100 million to diversifying its productions and talent. Director General Tony Hall said the fund, which was created in response to the killing of George Floyd, will be a “big leap forward”.
The £100 million was a nice, big flashy figure for a press release but it will be spent over three years. That is £33 million a year. According to the last BBC annual report, television content cost the broadcaster £1,678 million – so the fund amounts to just 1.9% of its annual TV budget.
To me, the plans have too much in common with the British Academy Film Awards (BAFTA) and British Film Institute’s (BFI) diversity strategy. In 2016, I warned that these paltry measures “might have no impact on BAME or disabled employment on-screen or off”.
