But annual report lauds the quality of its programming

The BBC spending on TV comedy and entertainment has fallen slightly in the past year, the corporation’s new annual report reveals.

A total of £175million has been spent in the category, down 1.1 per cent on 2018 –whereas across TV as a whole, spending was up 7.5 per cent.

The fall in spending comes despite the fact that comedy shows are generally getting more expensive to make.  Indeed, in the report, the BBC’s chief financial officer Glyn Isherwood pointed out: ‘The last few years have seen funding challenges due to high inflation in areas such as drama and comedy.’

Between them, BBC One and BBC Two aired 353 hours of comedy in the last year, including repeats, 215 of them in peak time. Similar figures were not published last year.

On Radio 4, there was a slight decline in the amount of comedy made, with 260 original hours made in 2017/18 and 248 this year. But the figure remains well above the quota of 180 hours.

The corporation is so proud of its comedy output that the cover of the report was a full-page image of Phoebe Waller-Bridge in Fleabag.

In his statement, director-general Lord Hall pointed to the ‘much-anticipated return of Phoebe-Waller Bridge’s Fleabag, Peter Kay’s Car Share, and Alan Partridge with This Time’. 

Amid scrutiny on the pay of senior on-air talent and the narrowing of the gender pay gap, the report reveals that the  BBC’s head of comedy commissioning,  Shane Allen, was paid between £215,000 and £219,999 last year.

The section on comedy in the annual report reads as follows:

Scripted comedy on the BBC continued to hold a mirror up to the UK in unearthing diverse voices and presenting a huge array of talent, new and established. 

Peter Kay’s Car Share returned for two final episodes on BBC One. The final episode brought in the biggest audience of the year for comedy, with over 8 million people watching (after 28 days).  Warren starring Martin Clunes and This Time with Alan Partridge played out in peak on BBC One, showing our commitment to bringing scripted comedy to the widest possible audience. 

Christmas on BBC One gave us some well-loved treats in Click & Collect with Stephen Merchant and Asim Chaudhry as well as a festive special from The Young Offenders. 

BBC Two delivered a rich range of comedy that pushed creative boundaries with the exceptionally prolific Inside No. 9 producing a live episode that won plaudits from audiences and critics. 

Mum by Stefan Golaszewski won awards for its second series as Lesley Manville returned as Cathy, and Diane Morgan’s Philomena Cunk brought her own special twist to British history in Cunk on Britain – a landmark mockumentary series. 

BBC Three welcomed back its most popular success stories. Fleabag’s return was greeted by huge audience love and universal critical acclaim. People Just Do Nothing went out in style as the Kurupt FM team finally left Brentford. Guz Khan’s Man Like Mobeen returned to the streets of Birmingham and Famalam introduced the public to a surprising and hilarious array of new characters. 

Comedians such as Bilal Zafar, Tom Allen, Pippa Evans, Ashley Blaker, Lucy Porter and Geoff Norcott brought their popular stand-up shows to Radio 4. Tez Talks with Tez Ilyas returned – with extended podcasts – as did Women Talking About Cars with Victoria Coren Mitchell. The station aired the first series of Ability with BBC New Comedy Award winner Lee Ridley and Allan Mustafa, and Joe Lycett explored the nation’s weird and wonderful Obsessions.

Dead Ringers continued to add to the satirical take on the world of politics and Radio 4 Extra’s Newsjack offered topical comedy with sketches and one-liners submitted by the public. 

Published: 2 Jul 2019