Interview preparation
Due my mock interview on the second of February, I am needing to create my presentation now
where I will be pitching an original idea to the BBC for the channel of my choosing. The idea could be
made into a programme, movie or even a podcast if I wished.
With this, I must a least cover the following:
 Outline your idea
 Market place
 Scheduling
 Justification
 Target audience
Before making a start on my pitch, I need to find my idea. As a start, I will be having a look around to
see what the BBC could be needing or/and what the audiences are asking for.
Unable to find an answer there, my next attempt at sparking up an idea is to read into each station
the BBC owns, and the content they produce.
Television channels
BBC ONE: News and current affairs, drama, comedy and entertainment.
BBC TWO: Factual programmes; art history, science and human-interest documentaries.
BBC THREE: “never afraid to try new things”. Comedy, entertainment and documentaries.
BBC FOUR: High quality, intellectual and culturally enriching programmes "taking and expert and in-
depth approach to a wide range of subjects”.
CBBC: Drama, entertainment, factual, comedy, animation and news made for those 6-12.
CBeebies: Offers creative play, creativity and imagination to those under the age of six. On-air and
online.
BBC News: The UK’S most watched news channel. Airs 24/7, and features correspondents from
across the globe.
BBC Parliament: Dedicated to the UK politics.
With more to offer from the BBC, hosting radio stations and digital services, I believe I will stick with
the television channels as that is where my interests lie most. It also limits my options giving me less
to have to think between.
Already I will be scratching out the parliament option as politics are at the bottom of my interests.
BBC News will just skip that one as well.
Only having so much time now to come up with something, it was suggested to me to use the idea I
have so far for my B2 project. Going to make a short film for Sunderland Culture, I will be adjusting a
few of the motives behind that project having it associated more for the BBC.
Actually, instead of using the idea I am going with, I will be using my original idea of a short film
about Mary Ann Cotton herself heading into the Durham Royal Court one the first day of her trial,
cutting back to her story being told finishing up on her being found guilty and sentenced.

As for the channel I will be suggesting this for, the BBC Three. Publishing both entertainment and
documentary content with the aim of trying things that haven't been done before, as it is a I believe
this is where my product would fit best.
Already having a document full of research on the BBC Three, I will be going off of that whilst also
continuing my research in case there is anything new, un-noted and updated that I can find and add
into my pitch.
Another note I need to figure out, is the schedule. What time of what day would my documentary
air? Looking at the BBC Three TV schedules, I hoped to find a theme with when they air particular
things.
Finding the ‘programme index’, it appears that every day, the channel airs from 7pm up until four in
the morning. Considering the times, seven to ten is the ideal times for when it comes to airing for
younger audiences. Whereas any later it is usually eighteen plus content. Eleven could be a push, but
ten being the latest time sounds more ideal especially for younger audiences who have to be in bed
early as such.
Thinking about the target audience, I will be going off of the BBC Three’s target audience of sixteen-
to thirty-four-year-olds as that is already the age group, I was hoping to create this product for.
Having all of my primary target audience research complete also with the help of a survey created
on google forms, I can also go back and forth from that interpretating more of my original project
into this pitch.
Having what will most likely be seen as a... concerning thought at first. An idea to the unique selling
point circles around feminism. To back my statement up, I will also make this point in my pitch,
when researching into the killer I remember finding that she, unintentionally, impacted history
causing men to change their ways around woman. What were once seen as innocent and pure, were
then known not to be underestimated as such after the events.
Finishing up, a final slide was included to give an explanation as to how I came up with this idea. For
this, I basically just went on to say how Mary Ann Cotton is pretty much unheard of compared to
other serial killers, and due to her impact with becoming the first of something in our country I
believe that is enough reason to have her be more talked about. Or even just known about.
Obviously needing a “thank you” page to end the document, I would say I am now done with the
slideshow. All I aim to get done now is to write out a few cards with notes to help keep me on track
with what I am saying and explaining. Besides from that, I am done.
The BBC's services in the UK - About the BBC
Schedule - BBC Programme Index