Ofcom: BBC Needs “Significant Further Steps” to Engage Young People

As part of Ofcom’s annual report on the BBC, the U.K. media regulator has warned the broadcaster that it needs to make more efforts to regain younger audiences.

The report outlines that, as a whole, the BBC is serving viewers and listeners well, and people are satisfied with it. However, it cautions, the BBC is vulnerable to the rapid changes taking place in the media landscape, and it must do “much more to connect with children and young adults,” or it will be at risk of losing a generation of potential license-fee payers.

“To ensure its future resilience amid unprecedented choice for audiences, the BBC needs to make content that is relevant and appealing to younger audiences, so they build a connection with the BBC’s services,” the report states. “If people don’t consider the BBC as a core part of their viewing, then it will be hard to encourage them to pay the license fee in years to come, and public support for the license fee could become eroded. This is a direct threat to the BBC’s ability to continue to deliver its mission and public purposes.”

The BBC is also struggling to reach other groups within the U.K., as some are unhappy with how they are portrayed on the BBC—expressing that BBC news programs largely represent a white, middle-class, London-centric point of view. “Audiences tend to connect more strongly with programs that reflect aspects of their identities or their lives and are finding more content like that outside the PSBs: online, SVOD services and from other broadcasters,” the report states.

Sharon White, Ofcom’s chief executive, said: “The BBC is still a vital, valued part of British culture. But we’re concerned that a new generation is tuning out of its services. So the BBC must set out bolder plans to connect with younger viewers and listeners.

“We also want the BBC to broaden the appeal of its news, which some viewers and listeners feel isn’t relevant to their lives. And the BBC must find ways to be more distinctive online, where our research shows younger people are passing it by.”