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V4.1 Last updated 27/0417 HH

RADIO COMMISSIONING FRAMEWORK

Commissioning Brief

Commissioning Brief No: 31242: Drama on 3Production of programmes for April 2021 to March 2022 (although some

proposals may be commissioned ahead for April 2022 onwards)

CONTENTS

SECTION A: EDITORIAL OPPORTUNITY......................................................................................3

SECTION B: THE COMMISSIONING PROCESS..........................................................................13

1. TIMETABLE..................................................................................................................13

2. THE THREE STAGES.....................................................................................................14

SECTION C: FULL PROPOSALS.................................................................................................15

1. WHAT WE NEED FROM YOU.......................................................................................15

2. WHAT TO EXPECT FROM US.......................................................................................16

3. IMPORTANT POINTS TO NOTE....................................................................................17

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SECTION A: EDITORIAL OPPORTUNITY

Commissioning brief no. 31242: Drama on 3

Commission contact Matthew DoddDuration 74’-179’ (although 89’ is usual)Number of programmes available 21Transmission period Mostly April 2021-March 2022, although

some will be commissioned ahead for April 2022 onwards

Guide price per episode £15,000-£18,000 per hour

Commissioning Slot Sunday, 1930-2100 (if 89’)

Commissioning Round 2021/2022 Round 1

Editorial Opportunity

Drama on 3 is Radio 3’s weekly drama showcase. At its heart are new productions of classic and modern stage plays; major new works from leading and emerging writers; radio versions of acclaimed current theatre productions.

Drama on 3 reflects Radio 3’s overall strong relationship with live performance – and we commission a substantial number of new productions of historic stage plays each year – from Greek tragedies to Twentieth century landmarks. We also commission radio transfers of exciting recent stage plays - and co-commission with theatres. At the same time, we’re part of Radio 3’s quest for discovery and new works of culture – so, for example, we commission new productions of plays by international playwrights not so well known in the UK. And in the same spirit, we support innovative new writing.

Drama on 3 and the Lockdown 

As part of the BBC Culture in Quarantine initiative, Drama on 3 has collaborated with a number of theatres to bring plays and new productions which have been taken off-stage to an audience on radio instead.

In response to the changing future of Lockdown, we think there are number of opportunities and challenges for commissioning Drama on 3 in conditions of uncertainty.

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1. We’re interested in more projects that we can do to work in partnership with theatres, directors and actors who are unsure when they can return to full operation.

2. We’re interested in thinking about how Radio Drama can increase its impact amongst drama audiences who are looking for plays, but are being denied the chance to see them at the theatre.

3. Drama production teams have made amazing headway in recording remotely so far. But at this point in time, we need an assessment around the feasibility of new productions when you offer a play. If a proposal needs much greater relaxation of social distancing in order to be produced (even in a year’s time) – please tell us in the proposal. Likewise if your production is ideally suited to restricted conditions, please tell us.

Main Editorial Brief

The key qualities:

This is “event” drama. Drama on 3 should be one of Radio 3’s stand-out moments of any week. The plays we commission here have to catch people’s imagination and then hold their attention for a full 90 minutes or longer. Every broadcast in this slot is Radio 3’s play of the week.

With a 7.30pm broadcast slot, we need plays which feel like a centre-piece of Radio 3’s weekend and productions which will engage all listeners – not just the dedicated radio drama fans.

A large proportion of Drama on 3 listening is now done on-demand online but this varies greatly between productions – so each play has to earn that audience. We need to know how you will do that.

We expect the storylines, the dialogue, the emotional complexity, and the intellectual curiosity of evening drama or absorbing on-demand listening

Strong casts: Drama on 3 is an arena for great actors – new and established. This is a place for high profile actors to take the parts that stage and screen won’t allow them.

Psychological sophistication: The plays here are usually 90 minutes long. Some are two hours or more. In that time we expect characters that change and develop, and actor portrayals that are nuanced and intriguing – like any powerful stage play.

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What we’re looking for:

Classic Plays reinvented for 21st century audio.

We’re looking for fresh and innovative productions of the great plays of world theatre. They need to appeal to today’s audiences. They might be re-written to increase impact; they could be radiophonic versions that re-imagine the plays for today; or they could feature high profile casts who act as a make-a-date bridge into historical pieces. They are always superb high quality programmes with a contemporary feel.

By radio standard, these works are sometimes very long. They are big and bold statements about what Radio 3 offers to audiences. We need to know that your proposal will keep listeners engaged and that your version will feel like a significant moment in the history of productions of this work.

Don’t be afraid of offering a playwright’s best-known works – we are always looking for some of the major classics. At the same time, a lesser-known work may offer a chance for discovery of a different aspect of his or her work. We need to know what you the production team are going to add to an established work. And we will certainly want to commission a number of out-of-copyright plays.

But at the same time, we’re not only reflecting the theatrical canon – we aim to push at its boundaries. Are there works from different times and different parts of the globe that you can make resonate and surprise today’s audience?

We’re also looking for innovative rediscovery of existing plays – but they need to be forceful and newsworthy revivals, rather than interesting curiosities or neglected classics.

In line with Radio 3’s objective to rediscover unjustly neglected female composers from the past, we’re interested in hearing about historical female playwrights who you think you can turn into thrilling radio drama.

Stage Transfers

Radio 3 is a station for the performing arts, with concerts, operas, poetry readings all integral features of our output - and prior to COVID-19, Drama on 3 aimed to reflect the best of what was happening in Britain’s theatres. With their closure, Radio 3 (alongside Radio 4) has worked on a number of broadcast projects with theatre makers - and as long as the prospect of theatres re-opening is uncertain, we welcome new ideas on how Drama on 3 could collaborate with venues, directors, writers and actors to help fill the gap.

We are also open to new radio productions of recent stand out plays which will bring the play to a broader audience.

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Younger audiences

We’re looking for a significant number of ideas that directly address a 35-54 audience. They will be sophisticated dramas and may include historical plays and innovative new ways to do things.

We’d like to discuss writers, storylines and formats that are going to achieve this. Recent successes in this field have tackled contemporary subject matter and have drawn on genres like fantasy and the psychological thriller to create compelling plots.

These productions might be stage transfers of successful plays that have proved popular with a younger, cultural aware audience.

We are open to new ideas about how we use the R3 drama slots to make it more flexible: We’ve sometimes divided the Sunday evening into three plays of 30 minutes each by emerging writers. We’re looking for further format experiments of this kind.

We are interested in trying new things, in challenging the way we broadcast in order for Drama on 3 to reach out to new audiences.

New writing

We’re looking to commission major new plays from the best writers in British drama – both the existing titans and up-and-coming voices. Drama on 3 offers at least 90 minutes of air-time to writers who want to tell a thrilling story that needs time and space to develop. For the established writer, this should be a chance to realise a passion project. For brand new writers, we’re looking to find fresh ways of segmenting the Drama on 3 slot so that we can make space for a variety of new voices.

We’re also looking for a number of works that offer a radical challenge to received ideas about radio drama. These might be collaborations with leading artists, poets, musicians or sound designers – but they will bring together innovative ideas about format without abandoning a sense of the importance of the listeners’ experience. This is a chance to create a radio work with the now-established creators of immersive or site-specific theatre – or to collaborate with digital partners.

Contemporary European Drama

We’d like to address the paucity of contemporary European drama with new commissions – but productions that offer strong propositions for the Radio 3 audience. These should be plays that travel easily and aren’t meant to be beginner’s guides to an unknown country: Our interest is focused on the writing and the writers.

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We would also like to introduce UK audiences to writers whose works are well known in Europe but unjustly not so well known here. We’ve already looked at translating some works that aren’t yet available in English, based on sample sections.

Long Poems

We’ve commissioned a number of long poems and extended readings in this slot – and we are now keen to do more. We’re looking for classic poems but not over-familiar or often-quoted works. These need to be long works that take full advantage of the Drama on 3 slot. Some have run at 100 minutes or more. They need imaginative and contemporary treatments, with, for example, music, archive and additional voices included. The poems can be narrative or non-narrative, and can be challenging language – but must be attractive propositions as programmes. We expect high profile readers who will draw the audience to poems they have not heard in full.

Digital and sonic innovation.

The importance of digital platforms for Drama on 3 is vital – and growing. A large – and growing - proportion of all listening to this slot is online. When pitching and producing programmes for Drama on 3, we need you to think about its online success.

We are looking for some key drama commissions which could work harder online and become available on demand for a long period. If you’ve got a project that will have clearable rights then please let us know. We’re looking for head-turning, effective ideas.

We’re also interested in commissioning further sonic innovations, fresh ways to develop binaural recordings and in commissioning more plays that include sound design.

At the point of commission our digital editor will assess the potential for any additional digital content. The supplier of the programme will have the first option to offer to supply this if it is required and if you have the capacity and expertise.

Specials

We’re looking for special seasons for Radio 3 which put Drama on 3 at their centre. This isn’t always about volume – it can be about a single ambitious commission around which other programming can coalesce. We’re also always looking for great new plays about classical music. Too many of these proposals have focused on great historical composers. We’re keen on finding new ways of representing music in

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the contemporary world – new stories that have music at their heart, use music in their production, but aren’t biographical journeys of the great and the good.

Some stand out moments from last year:

Invisible – An original drama set in a speculative future London by Linda Marshall Griffiths – using binaural sound to create a dystopian sound world

The Mother – By Bertolt Brecht with original musical score by Hans Eisler.Translated by Mark Ravenhill, with Maxine Peake in the lead role and music performed by the BBC Philharmonic.

Magnitsky the Musical - Blending music and satire, Johnny Flynn and Robert Hudson explore the origins and aftershocks of the Magnitsky Act, an international law which sanctions offenders of human rights.

Dance Till You Bleed - Toby Jones stars as Hans Christian Andersen in five interlinked fairy-tale adaptations by Lucy Catherine that shine a light into the dark regions of the author's mind.

The Secret Lives of Babi Segi's Wives Drama about the struggles, rivalries and interplay of personalities among the four wives of Baba Segi, the pompous patriarch of a well-to-do polygamous Nigerian household. Originally created for the Arcola Theatre

Winter Solstice - David Haig stars in a caustic, timely play by Germany's most performed contemporary playwright, Roland Schimmelpfennig. A disturbing stranger interrupts a family Christmas.

The Escape Artist – Part fact, Part fiction, podcaster Ross Sutherland tells the extraordinary life of Arthur Cravan. Father of performance art and surrealism, Cravan's strange life is the ultimate art enigma.

The Masque of Anarchy Maxine Peake performs Shelley’s poem of protest, The Masque of Anarchy, with eyewitness accounts and ballads sung afterwards

The Likes of Us – Roy Williams new play about the history of the Notting Dale area of North Kensington – home of Grenfall Tower – where he grew up.

Schreber World premiere of a never-filmed screenplay written by Anthony Burgess, inspired by a landmark psychiatric case in late nineteenth century Vienna. Starring Christopher Eccleston.

Elizabeth And Essex - a new play by Robin Brooks, based on the writings of Lytton Strachey, about Elizabeth I and her young favourite, the Earl of Essex. Recorded live at the Alexandra Palace Theatre, with music by Erich Wolfgang Korngold by the BBC Concert Orchestra

Henry IV part 1 New production starring Iain Glen, Luke Thompson and Toby Jones as Falstaff.

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Othello Khalid Abdalla, Matthew Needham and Cassie Layton star in Shakespeare's tragedy, staged in an imagined near future, in which a power-hungry Turkish president attempts an attack on Cyprus. 

Radio 3 at High Tide Two new companion plays by Tallulah Brown and Vinay Patel. Co-commissioned with the HighTide Festival in Aldeburgh

What we’re not looking for this time:

Adaptations from novels: They are not our main focus – and where we do them they have to be big, bold and different.

Classic plays we’re done recently: Please consult the accompanying list.

Minor historical plays which are chiefly of interest in relation to better known plays, rather than as works in themselves.

History and biographical plays which are chiefly dramatisations of historical events, rather than authored works about characters.

Your proposal

We require short proposals as a first stage of the commissioning process. These don’t need to be a summary of your full proposal. All we want is your title, a plot indication if necessary and a precis of why you want to bring it to Drama on 3.

Full proposal: Don’t spend too much time saying why the play is historically significant; instead say what you would do with it.

Successful proposals will make the case for a new production of the play, and must include the main features of your new interpretation.

Key casting suggestions will influence our selection – of course, we don’t expect these to be confirmed – but we are looking for striking, imaginative or high-profile casting ideas.

Please give an indication of the extent of adaptation proposed, any particular challenges it raises, and whether or not the adaptation will be done by the producer or by another writer (and if by another, your reasons).

If the proposal is based on an existing script this must be submitted at the same time as the full proposal (please do not leave this for the commissioning team to chase up). Please send supporting written and audio material (as MP3 files) electronically by Dropbox to matthew.dodd@bbc.co.uk.  Please label such material Drama on 3 – [Supplier Name] – [Proposal Name] – if it’s not clearly labelled, it may be missed.

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We strongly encourage you to use electronic means, but if you are absolutely unable to do so, and need to send physical material by mail, please contact Lea Lauvray by email (lea.lauvray@bbc.co.uk) to arrange this.

If the proposal is for new writing please include details of the writer’s previous work including any radio commissions, and it will strengthen your proposal if you submit an example of this work. If you want to work with a specific composer please give details.

Introduction to the Play

We now require an informal, unscripted two-minute introduction before all editions of Drama on 3, usually from the director or writer, or lead actor. If your proposal is conditionally commissioned we would expect you to discuss the introduction with the commissioning editor and if necessary factor it into the final budget and duration.

Editorial Compliance

If the play involves the portrayal of real people, strong language or other major editorial issues, this must be made clear in the proposal. All proposals should include details of the proposed Executive Producer who will be responsible for compliance.

Budget

The guide price for Drama on 3 is between £15,000 and £18,000 per hour and we will be looking to commission programmes at different points along this scale. Please submit a price (you can now do so in the “Price per episode” field) that is realistic for your proposal, with justification if necessary.

At the point of commission a formal price offer will be made which, if accepted, will result in a contract being issued immediately at that price, without the need to have budgets analysed and approved.

Programme Descriptions

The minimum requirement for any commissioned programme is an arresting and pithy description that works well on the programme website; clear metadata; strong photographs of the cast recording where realisable and possible clip requirements. These core components are essential for any new play.

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Credits

Closing announcements and cast details at the beginning and end of the play must be recorded and included within the duration of your drama. If they are not, and this omission has not been agreed with Radio 3, we will expect a new version to be delivered.

The opening sequence cannot be a plain reading by a single voice, since this is too similar to continuity. It might include a music bed or sound effects to establish the sound world of the drama. Listeners now hear Drama on 3 in a variety of digital formats and we cannot be sure they will hear the continuity announcements.

Duration

Please try and include a realistic estimate of duration in your offer. We will confirm the duration and slot with you when we agree the budget and confirm the commission. The total length of the recorded play and any live announcements will be one minute less than the overall slot i.e. a for a 90 minute slot we require a total of 89 minutes including announcements.

Radio 3’s schedule does give us more flexibility to accommodate changes to the original estimate if these are raised with us at least 8 weeks ahead of broadcast. We hope to offer listeners as full an experience of stage plays as possible. Although these may often be edited as part of the adaptation on editorial grounds we hope to avoid the editing of stage plays simply to fit a slot.

After commissioning any requests for a variation on the agreed duration must be raised with Matthew Dodd and David Ireland as early as possible and agreed in writing.

All proposals must be submitted via Proteus.

All proposals must first go through the short proposal stage – please complete your short proposal using no more than 250 words (in the short synopsis section of the Proteus submission form).

COMPLIANCE AND BBC EDITORIAL GUIDELINES

You will be required to deliver programmes that are in line with the BBC’s Editorial Guidelines and be able to adapt to the BBC’s changing editorial and business needs during the period of the commission.

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THE EVALUATION TEAM

The following people will evaluate your proposal:

Matthew Dodd, Head of Speech Programmes, Radio 3

Alan Davey, Controller, Radio 3

David Ireland, Commissions and Scheduling Manager, Radio 3

Subject matter experts (e.g. production experts, network management, finance, etc.) may also be consulted. See Section B for information on the commissioning process, timetable and assessment criteria.

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SECTION B: THE COMMISSIONING PROCESS

1. TIMETABLE

The commissioning process consists of three stages, as set out in the timetable below.

Stage Timings (all midday) Activities

Launch 9 June 2020 Publication of commissioning guidelines and Round opens in Proteus.

1. Short Proposal and shortlisting

2 July 2020 Deadline for Short Proposal submitted via Proteus

week commencing 6 July 2020

Commissioners shortlist proposals and producers notified of outcomes. Full proposals requested from those proceeding to next stage

2. Full Proposal 13-31 July 2020 Opportunity to discuss programme brief with commissioning editor prior to submitting full proposal. (via Zoom/Skype/Phone)

6 August 2020 Deadline for full proposals submitted via Proteus.

3. Conditional Commission offered

October 2020 Commissioning decision made, subject to contract. Editorial specifications agreed. Feedback submitted on Proteus.

We will assess your proposal(s) according to this timetable. Late submissions can not be accepted.

If you have any questions about this commissioning brief that you need answering before you submit your short proposals, please ensure you send them to david.ireland@bbc.co.uk by 22 June.

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2. THE THREE STAGES

STAGE 1: SHORT PROPOSAL

Step 1 Complete a short proposal in Proteus.

Please note only the first 250 words of your short proposal will be considered.

Ensure you use your word count wisely - describe your ideas and vision for the programme rather than quoting the brief back in your answer.

Step 2 The short proposals will be evaluated by the team

Step 3 You will be notified of the outcome. If you are proceeding to next stage, you will be asked to make a full proposal. No feedback will be provided for unsuccessful suppliers at this stage.

STAGE 2: FULL PROPOSAL

Step 1 Producers proceeding to the full proposal stage will be invited to provide a full proposal responding to this commissioning brief, which includes all the elements outlined in Section C paragraph 1 (“Full Proposal”).

Step 2 Producers will be offered the opportunity to discuss the programme brief with the commissioning editor prior to submitting full proposal.

Step 3 We will evaluate all full proposals against the editorial brief, as given above, and commission those we feel most successfully fulfil the brief and help to make up the most varied and balanced season of Dramas on Radio 3.

Step 4 Producers who are successful will be notified on Proteus. Feedback for rejected proposals will be also be given here. Further feedback can be requested at a later stage.

Note: At any stage of the process, we may need to come back to you to seek clarification. Your answers will be factored into the evaluation process as appropriate.

STAGE 3: COMMISSION AWARDED

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SECTION C: FULL PROPOSALS

1. WHAT WE NEED FROM YOU

You should submit a written proposal via Proteus adopting the following structure:

Part 1 – Your detailed full proposal, showing your response to the BBC’s requirements outlined in Section A of this commissioning brief.

Part 2 – a section containing the following information:

(i) The name and contact details of your nominated representative (a single point of contact within your organisation who will be responsible for all communication related to the commissioning brief).

(ii) Location of production [specify any location pre-conditions, e.g. relating to talent or strategic objectives].

(iii) Evidence that you have the skills to deliver, or the ability to acquire the skills to deliver, the production of the programme in line with this commissioning brief.

(iv) Details of third party suppliers. You may want to work in partnership with third parties to deliver the brief. If so, you should include:

o responses on behalf of each partnero details of the responsibilities of each partnero an outline of the main personnel who will be responsible for the

production and delivery of the programme o An explanation of how working in partnership would be successfully

achieved, including a proposed legal structure (e.g. one lead contractor and sub-contractors).

Appendix A – Confirmation of acceptance of the BBC’s key contract terms (see Section E).

Appendix B – Risk management. You should identify specific risks and the processes or systems that will be put in place to manage the identified risks. This section should also include a detailed transition plan and an explanation of how you will manage the transition from the current to the new production of the programme, with minimum disruption.

Appendix C – Company policies. This part of the response should include:

Evidence of your diversity and inclusion policy Evidence of the existence of other company policies listed in Section E.

(Note: the BBC will not be undertaking a detailed review of the policies themselves as part of the evaluation, it will be assumed that they comply with BBC requirements).

As with the short proposal, if you have any questions that you need answering before you submit your full proposal please ensure you send them to david.ireland@bbc.co.uk by 27 July.

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2. WHAT TO EXPECT FROM US

NOMINATED REPRESENTATIVEThe BBC’s nominated representatives for this commissioning brief are: Matthew Dodd and David Ireland. No individual other than the BBC’s nominated representatives (or their delegates as advised by the BBC) is authorised to discuss the contents or the substance of this commissioning brief with you. We’ll let you know of any change or addition to the BBC’s nominated representatives.

RESPONSES TO YOUR QUESTIONSIn the interest of fair competition, where we feel it’s appropriate, anonymised questions and responses will be circulated to all producers.

COPYRIGHTThe BBC is a signatory to, and will abide by the principles of the APC Code.

CONFIDENTIALITYSubject to Section 2, paragraph 5, the BBC will keep confidential all commercially sensitive information included in responses to this commissioning brief and will only use this information for the purposes of evaluating the full proposal, provided that you have identified the confidential nature of any such information in your response documents.

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACTAs a public authority, the BBC is required to comply with the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (“FOIA”), which came into force on 1 January 2005. The FOIA is intended to deliver greater accountability for decisions and spending across the whole of the public sector. It requires public authorities to strike a balance between achieving transparency and protecting genuinely confidential or commercially sensitive information.

You should be aware that, under an FOIA request, the BBC may be required to disclose information contained within the full proposal or future contractual information. Following a request, the BBC may take the views of organisations submitting proposal into account when deciding what information will be disclosed.

For more information on the Freedom of Information Act see bbc.co.uk/foi .

COSTSAs outlined in Section D, paragraph 6 below, you submit responses to this commissioning brief and take part in this process at your own cost.

A FIXED PRICE DEALThe contract will be offered as a “fixed price” deal, with you being responsible for any overspend and entitled to keep any underspend.

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3. IMPORTANT POINTS TO NOTE

All proposals should be submitted using Proteus.

Full proposals must be received no later than midday (12:00) on the dates set out in the timetable set out in Section B, paragraph 1.

We strongly advise you to submit your final responses in good time to avoid the possibility of difficulties caused by unforeseen network or transmission problems. No late submissions will be accepted.

This commissioning brief is not a contract. However, the information contained in this commissioning brief, together with your responses, will form the basis of the final contract between you and the BBC.

The BBC reserves the right to exclude any producer that is found to either:

a) have provided information which is untrue, or b) be in breach of any of the terms of the non-disclosure agreement.

IMPORTANT: Producers wishing to submit a proposal under this brief are not permitted to contact BBC production staff, seeking information about the programme, during the commissioning period without prior consent from the commissioner.

Producers are not permitted to contact on-air talent or their producers, unless shortlisted, and with prior approval of the commissioner.

Any producer found to be in breach of this clause will be excluded from the commissioning process.

The BBC may modify the commissioning brief (including the timetable as outlined in Section B paragraph 1) at any time prior to the submission deadline. Any such amendment will be notified in writing to all prospective producers. To allow time for such amendment to be taken into account, the BBC may, at its discretion, extend the deadline for receipt of submissions.

The BBC reserves the right at any time prior to the award of a commission, and without incurring any liability to the affected suppliers, to accept or to reject any proposal, or to annul the commissioning process rejecting all Full Proposals. More information relating to all commissioning briefs and rounds, regardless of Networks can be found on the Pitching Ideas page of the Radio Commissioning Website.

By submitting your proposal, you confirm acceptance of the key contract terms.

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Proposals must be submitted in accordance with the following instructions. Proposals not complying with these instructions may be rejected by the Commissioner whose decision in this matter will be final.