BBC Sounds is at the centre of the BBC’s digital listening experience, re-inventing and growing BBC Radio and Music. Created in response to today’s world of on-demand content and audio streaming, the app will transform the way audiences discover and enjoy the BBC’s output. It aims to give people, especially younger listeners, the best in entertaining, experimental and highly creative audio. Podcast commissions for BBC Sounds will be distinct and will serve that younger audience who are already more likely to listen online and on-demand.

There are four briefs in this round which is a rolling one with no closing date for proposals:

Commissioning Brief 103005: Funny, Quirky Odd

These podcasts are an irreverent but information rich take on the world using humour to enlighten and entertain. Podcasts in this space will devise formats to tackle everything from politics to science, fashion to finance. They highlight new and interesting voices and characters that make you laugh.

Commissioning Brief 103004: Dramatic Storytelling

The biggest brands in podcasting have been focused on ambitious stories in fiction and non-fiction (drama). These podcast commissions will tell big stories over long story arcs, tackling complex subjects and characters in depth. These investigations and dramas will be bespoke commissions with episodic frameworks designed to make the best of the stories.

Commissioning Brief 103003: Discover, Explain

These podcasts provide thinking tools and context for a younger audience who navigate a fire-hose of information daily. They are podcasts that are longer form answers to the video explainer and in recent times have given rise to a new generation of daily narrative-focused news podcasts. In a highly engaging and inventive way, they give listeners key facts on particular topics. These podcasts cover news and current affairs, contemporary history, sport, technology, lifestyle and health issues – offering key skills and insights the listener can take away and use in their lives.

Commissioning Brief 103002: Pop Cultures, Sub Cultures

Side-swiping conversations that celebrate fandom, popular culture and the joy of being obsessed. Surprising and odd conversations that explore the nooks and crannies of identity, culture and our place in the digital world.