MUMBAI: BBC is making a series of changes to its freelance contracting arrangements, as per a review study conducted by Deloitte LLP and its own internal audit team.

The UK pubcaster, however, realises the importance of a freelance model to enable creative renewal for its audiences and deliver value for money.

The review was commissioned following the Government?s Alexander Review of tax paid by senior public appointees and the BBC?s appearance before the Public Accounts Committee in July 2012.

BBC has published a review of its freelance contracting arrangements. Conducted by Deloitte LLP and the BBC?s own internal audit department, the review covers all on-air and off-air individuals contracted and paid in the financial year 2011/12.

Deloitte and the internal auditors reviewed the BBC?s policies, guidelines and correspondence and conducted interviews with key BBC stakeholders and with talent agents. They also carried out a detailed review of a sample of contracts and files, including a line-by-line assessment of 469 existing on-air talent service companies and 335 self-employed freelance talent paid over ?50,000 in 2011/12.

The key findings of the review are:

? The BBC has a high standard of tax compliance and there is no evidence that the BBC uses personal service companies to aid income tax or National Insurance Contributions avoidance

? Retaining a freelance model is critical for the success of the BBC, to enable creative renewal for its audiences and deliver value for money

? However the BBC?s current policy for contracting is inconsistent - with on-air talent engaged as staff, self-employed or via a personal service company, often doing very similar work

? The BBC wishes to address the public perception that off-payroll contracts and in particular personal service companies are used to avoid tax

As a result the BBC is making a series of changes to its freelance contracting arrangements:

? The BBC will move away from its previous position of engaging on-air talent on long-term contracts as personal service companies. Instead it will:

1. Introduce a more objective and specific employment test for any new engagement, and individuals will be offered a staff contract when appropriate

2. Work with HMRC to develop new objective criteria for the tax treatment of on-air TV and radio presenters where none currently exists. This will enable the BBC to engage individuals who meet the criteria as self-employed without the risk of misclassification and help to further reduce the number of personal service companies

The BBC aims to have both of these changes in place by the start of the next financial year, April 2013.

The BBC will apply the new employment test to 804 freelance on-air talent assessed by Deloitte as a priority for review. This could result in an estimated 131 individuals being offered staff employment when their current contract expires.

The new test will then be extended to all on-air and off-air talent paid via a personal service company.

In future, the BBC will only contract via a personal service company when it is absolutely satisfied that an individual should not be on the payroll or self-employed. The expectation is that these situations will be considerably fewer than at present. On those occasions when the BBC will engage via a personal service company, it will provide fuller reporting to HMRC, going further than the Government?s Alexander Review recommendations on the level of detail provided; contractual clauses on tax/NIC compliance will also be strengthened.

The BBC will also improve and strengthen all the BBC?s internal contracting processes and data management.

BBC CFO Zarin Patel said, ?Our review shows the BBC is not using personal service companies to avoid tax or help others avoid tax. Nevertheless, it shows inconsistencies in the way our policy has been applied. We are addressing this with a more objective employment test for all new contracts and by developing a new framework with HMRC for self-employed on-air resenters.?

MUMBAI: BBC has announced a documentary ?Supersized Earth? that traces the story of how humans have changed the world in a single generation. In this series for BBC One in the UK, Dallas Campbell travels the globe, visiting the world?s largest and most ambitious engineering projects, exploring the power of human ingenuity and the making of the modern world.

In 1980 the tallest building on the planet was the Sears Towers in Chicago and Dubai was a dusty strip of desert with a single highway. Fast forward 30 years and the world?s tallest building stands at more than 800 metres, cities like Las Vegas have sprawled across the desert and are home to millions, and China is the manufacturing capital of the world, with many of the fastest growing cities on earth.

In just a single lifetime, humans have changed the face of the planet on a scale unimaginable to our predecessors. Supersized Earth charts the epic scale of our redesign of the planet for the first time.

Throughout the series Dallas undertakes some extraordinary feats ? from cleaning the windows of the world?s tallest building - the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, to scuba-diving in raw sewage in Mexico City, in order to unblock the turbines driving the mega-city?s failing sewage system. He also flies a replica of the Wright Brother?s glider from 1902, paraglides over the world?s largest greenhouse array and travels to a cosmodrome on the desert steppes of Kazakhstan, to witness a new age of space travel.

He said, "The way we live on the planet is changing in ways that our ancestors would have thought impossible. Telling that story has been utterly absorbing and fascinating and by far the most ambitious and demanding project I?ve ever worked on. I?ve had privileged access to the some of the world?s defining engineering projects - projects that are re-shaping the planet, and the chance to experience first-hand some of the extraordinary innovations that allow us to live the way we now do."

In the first episode, Dallas looks at how we are building faster than ever before and the extremes that are gone to daily in order for us to live the way we do.

In episode two, he explores how we are shrinking the planet, transforming our transport networks, and moving more objects around the globe faster.

In the final episode, Dallas examines what it takes to keep seven billion of us alive, in terms of energy, food and water.

Drawing on satellite imagery, CGI and specialist filming, the series provides a new view on the world and compresses time to watch a generation of change pass in a few moments. Multiple time?lapse cameras track the progress of the biggest construction projects underway today, from bare rock to engineering marvels. Each an emblem of a global trend, together they capture the sheer scale of human ambition to remake the planet.

Filmed in HD, Supersized Earth invokes the stunning and sometimes terrible beauty of the man-made world.

MUMBAI: UK broadcaster?s the BBC and Sky are in a dispute with the BCCI over the telecast of the upcoming India versus England series.

Reports indicate that Sky Sports might provide commentary from London rather than from India due to a dispute in the fee that cricket?s richest board is asking for. Negotiations have been going on a week.

The BBC might also not have radio commentary from India but do it from the UK. The BCCI is asking for ?500,000 from Sky and ?50,000 from the BBC for using facilities. Reports also indicate that if the deadlock is not broken then it will be the first time in two decades that an England overseas tour will not have commentary from the venue.

MUMBAI: UK pubcaster The BBC and Science Channel are co-producing a new factual drama starring award-winning actor William Hurt.

Hurt will play the brilliant US physicist Richard Feynman, who was instrumental in uncovering the truth behind the space shuttle Challenger disaster of 1986.

When Challenger exploded 73 seconds into its flight on the morning of 28 January 1986, it represented one of the most shocking events in the history of American spaceflight.

A Presidential Commission was immediately convened to explore what had gone wrong, but with the vast complexity of the space shuttle and so many vested interests involved in the investigation, discovering the truth was an almost impossible challenge.

A truly independent member of the investigation was Richard Feynman. One of the most accomplished scientists of his generation, he worked on the Manhattan Project building the first atom bomb and won the Nobel Prize for his breakthroughs in quantum physics. Feynman deployed exceptional integrity, charm and relentless scientific logic to investigate the secrets of the shuttle disaster and, in doing so, helped make the US space program safer.

BBC Commissioning Editor, Science and Natural History Kim Shillinglaw said, "This is the gripping story of a brilliant physicist?s battle for scientific truth in the dark corridors of big government. With an impressive cast, including award-winning actor William Hurt, it promises to be a powerful factual drama for BBC Two and part of our mission to make science programmes ever more surprising and ambitious."

Science Channel GM, executive VP Debbie Myers said, "The Challenger disaster represents an indelible moment in American history - anyone who is old enough to recall it remembers exactly where they were when this terrible tragedy occurred. Science Channel is honoured to work with the incomparable William Hurt to tell the story of Richard Feynman, a true-life hero and one of most controversial scientific minds of our time."

Other cast confirmed include Canadian actor Bruce Greenwood who plays fellow Commissioner US Air Force General Donald Kutyna in the second lead role. He is joined by American actor Brian Dennehy who is playing William Rogers, Chairman of the Presidential Commission and English actress Joanne Whalley who is playing Feynman?s wife Gweneth.

MUMBAI: BBC Worldwide has announced that John Smith has decided to step down after eight years as CEO during which period the BBC‘s commercial arm posted record growth.

Tim Davie, who is currently BBC Audio and Music director, has been announced as Smith‘s successor Under Smith‘s leadership, BBC Worldwide grew into a major global media company, doubling its revenue, growing profits four-fold, almost tripling margins and returning more than ?1.3 billion to the BBC.

Smith, who has helped turn Doctor Who, Top Gear and Dancing With The Stars into global franchises and recently unveiled profits of ?155 million in the last financial year, told staff he is leaving the BBC to pursue new opportunities in the commercial sector.

Prior to this, Smith was the BBC COO and finance director and is responsible for the transformation of the BBC‘s property estate, including New Broadcasting House in W1.

BBC DG George Entwistle said, "I want to thank John for his enormous contribution to the success of BBC Worldwide in recent years. He has turned the company into a truly global phenomenon delivering a fantastic financial injection into the BBC every year. He leaves the company ideally set up for the future challenges it faces in a digital world."

On the appointment of Tim Davie, Entwistle added, "Tim has done an excellent job leading the BBC Audio and Music division and has a fantastic vision for the opportunities that lie ahead for BBC Worldwide. Building on John‘s success Tim will now take the BBC‘s commercial arm into the next chapter of its development. I am delighted he will be joining the team at this crucial time."

Smith said, "It has been a huge privilege to lead this powerful business, owned by the BBC that does so much to supplement the licence fee income and takes the BBC brand to audiences around the world. I am extremely proud of what we have achieved over the last eight years but I am excited to be moving on to new opportunities in the commercial world as our revenue and profits reach record highs."

Davie said, "BBC Worldwide is an outstanding business that plays a unique role in building the BBC‘s global reputation and it is an honour to be asked to lead it. John‘s legacy is a company with a strong performance record, leadership in digital and rising international creative exports. I look forward to leading BBC Worldwide through its next phase of growth, delivering further dividends to the BBC and championing great British content around the world."

MUMBAI: At the recently concluded television trade event Mipcom in Cannes, France music producer Audio Network is delighted to announce an international deal with Endemol. The music publisher has designed and developed a bespoke content management system where Endemol producers worldwide can select and use Endemol music in their productions.

Endemol Worldwide Brands CEO Olivier Gers said, "Our challenge was the efficient sharing of our own Music IP across the Group. We have worked with Audio Network for a number of years and turned to them to create a bespoke systemthat allows our global users to search, download and use music in all our productions. We are delighted that we now have online access to all our music via one comprehensive system allowing us to keep the music side of our brands consistent across all territories."

Audio Network MD Juliette Squair said, "This is a great partnership for us. Our flexible business model allows us to interpret Endemol?s business needs and develop this innovative management system for them. We?re delighted to share our music expertise and further our already close relationship with Endemol.It providesthe perfect music solution for them, and now enables them to rollout their own library in addition to the Audio Network repertoire to its global producers and to maximise their IP on a global scale."

Audio Network?s core business model is the offering of a quality music catalogue of up to 53,000 tracks across all genres - all of which are pre-cleared for multiple formats, for the world, forever.

With a catalogue of over 53,000 tracks, Audio Network offers a complete music solution by cutting through the traditionally complex and costly processes of licensing music. All high-quality tracks are pre-cleared for multiple formats, for the world, forever.

This approach allows producers to make content for international distribution, emerging platforms and new media without the need to go through the complicated and expensive process of clearing individual tracks or re-versioning productions.

The company supplies music to media clients, including BBC, HBO, MSN, MTV Networks, National Geographic Ogilvy, and Endemol.