Impact Report 2022

In the BBC’s 100th year, it’s more important than ever that we deliver value to all audiences, whoever and wherever they are. We cannot do this without ensuring that the content we make across every BBC channel, network and platform is inclusive and representative of all groups and communities across the UK.

The 50:50 Project offers a vital tool for achieving this goal. What started five years ago as a simple idea on one BBC News programme is now helping to drive sustainable and measurable culture change right across the organisation.

50:50 Challenge Month is a moment for us all to prove our commitment to fair representation and push to go further. So it’s incredibly exciting to see that more teams than ever before have taken part, and to see the progress we’ve made on disability and ethnicity with more than 100 teams publishing this data for the first time.

There is of course still much work to do to achieve equity in disability, ethnicity and gender representation, but we are moving in the right direction – not just at the BBC, but across the wider media industry and beyond.

The success of 50:50 has led to 145 organisations worldwide joining the 50:50 global partner network, with more than half joining us in the 50:50 Challenge. That 73% of those who weren’t achieving gender balance when they first joined the project have seen an improvement proves the impact of 50:50 well beyond the BBC.

Looking ahead, the launch of our new 50:50 Tracker, developed in partnership with Stanford University, is an important milestone that will help us further embed disability and ethnicity monitoring across the BBC and the 50:50 partner network. And we want to take this even further, with plans to pilot and roll out socio-economic diversity monitoring later this year. This will be an invaluable next step in our continued progress towards a more representative and inclusive BBC, alongside our new target for 25% of staff to come from a lower-socio-economic background.

I want to thank every champion, creator and contributor who has taken part in 50:50. I’m immensely proud of all you are achieving and grateful for the dedication and commitment of everyone involved – both inside and outside the BBC. It’s making a huge difference in ensuring the media we create truly represents society as a whole.