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<bold>The ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ's annual report has been published for the financial year 2011-12. </bold>

Here are some of the key points from the review, which is conducted by the management and the corporation's regulatory body, the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Trust.

The ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ generated £499m in efficiency savings, bringing the cumulative total saved since 2008-09 to £1.498m.

The ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ has reduced its overall spend on artists, presenters and performers by £9.5m to £203m, covering 51,991 people.

The total paid to stars earning more than £1m was £9.69m - down from £14.65m the year before - while 16 stars earned more than £500,000.

The ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ says it has made "significant progress" in reducing the number of senior managers and their salaries - with 70 posts cut in the last 12 months.

Pay for those earning more than £150,000 is down by 19%, while new senior managers are earning on average 10% less than their predecessors.

Director general Mark Thompson's base salary remained the same, at £613,000, but with no additional remuneration for pension benefits, his overall salary dropped from £779,000 to £622,000.

The total pay for the Executive Board - the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ's very top management team - fell from £5.71m to £2.56m. However, the reduction was mainly due to six of the 13 members either leaving the organisation or stepping down from the board.

In terms of overall ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ staff, headcount was reduced by 384 from 17,242 to 16,858. The ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ said this reflected "the initial impact" of its Delivering Quality First savings plan.

<bold>Managment's view:</bold>

The ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ continues to deliver value for money with the average cost per user hour at 6.4p, down from 6.6p the previous year and 7.0p in 2009-10.

More than 140 hours of new British drama were broadcast over the year - such as Call the Midwife and The Hour - as well as other new content including Frozen Planet and Mrs Brown's Boys.

<bold>The Trust's response:</bold>

The ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ should use the security of its licence fee funding to take creative risks that a commercial broadcaster might never consider.

³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ One must offer its viewers more in terms of fresh and new ideas. The Trust supported ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ management's ambition for the channel to be more topical and to ensure serious current affairs has a peak-time home.

³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Two is succeeding in becoming more distinctive, with the return of original drama to the channel and a wide range of factual programming.

³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Three and Four had a strong year, increasing viewership amongst their target audiences. Following last year's suggestion to increase ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Four's impact, the Trust was pleased to find viewers were more familiar with the channel and its role.

<bold>Management's view:</bold>

Approval levels for ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Radio has been the highest ever, while digital audiences also grew.

Downloads for radio programmes also surpassed the billion mark.

<bold>The Trust's response:</bold>

³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ digital stations all increased their audience last year, with 29% of all ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ radio listening now via digital platforms.

Radio 1 needs to continue focusing on serving its target audience of 15-29 year olds and expects to see a shift in the balance towards younger listeners with its recent schedule changes.

The Trust was pleased Radio 2 had made progress on the recommendation it became more distinctive during the day, while Radio 3 faced the challenge of becoming accessible to new listeners, while maintaining its distinctive range of music.

Radio 4 reversed the decline in listening amongst 35-54 year olds, which is considered important to the long-term health of the station. Radio 4 Extra became the most listened-to ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ digital station.

Radio 5 live must increase its focus on news and ensure a range of sport gets coverage alongside football.

Asian Network must preserve its distinctiveness and improve quality while reaching new listeners and reducing costs.

<bold>Management's view:</bold>

³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Online reached a record 43m average weekly unique users in February this year, while ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ iPlayer programme requests reached 191.7m the same month.

³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ content is now available on more devices through partnerships with providers including Virgin, Xbox and Apple to extend its reach further.

<bold>The Trust's view:</bold>

People are accessing ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Online on more devices with more than a quarter of usage now via mobile phones and tablets.

The Trust will examine the service and its perceptions of quality when it conducts its review later in 2012.

<bold>Management's view:</bold>

More than 80% of UK adults consumed ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ News each week across TV, radio and online. ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ New continued to attract record audiences, with 13.2m watching on the day of the riots across England last summer, and 39m using the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ News website or the World Service.

<bold>The Trust's view:</bold>

³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ News has maintained its weekly reach of more than 80%.

The ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ must continue to deliver high impact current affairs, "even with budgets under pressure". The corporation must also continue to maintain the volume of current affairs programmes on ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ One and ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Two.