Elon Musk mocks the BBC as “British Pravda”. Hostile politicians such as Reform UK’s Rupert Lowe want to scrap its licence fee. But the viewing public thinks differently and has just delivered the national broadcaster a bumper year.
That might sound counter-intuitive to those who saw headlines concerning the scandalous behaviour of MasterChef presenter Gregg Wallace, or the sentencing of disgraced newscaster Huw Edwards, or angry commentary on social media platforms alleging BBC bias – one way or another.
But the numbers are clear: the BBC is expanding its UK audience while those of other British broadcasters are declining. And its iPlayer streaming service is outperforming Netflix in the UK.
A study published last week by Enders Analysis showed that the BBC increased its total viewing hours by 3 per cent in 2024, while ITV fell by 5 per cent and Sky by 6 per cent. Disney+ recorded a drop in UK viewing hours but BBC iPlayer grew by 24 per cent.
What is happening here? Part of the explanation is 2024’s summer of sport, when the BBC covered the Paris Olympics and the men’s Euros. But the Enders study said that even without this, “total hours are still up year on year”.
In a fractious world, warm BBC viewing such as Gavin and Stacey: The Finale or Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl can attract audiences of more than 20 million. The TV set is proving resilient, especially at breakfast time and prime time. The over-65s are watching 4.5 hours of TV a day, more than in 2023.
Netflix and video-sharing platforms, notably YouTube, are the most popular services for young UK viewers. But the BBC cites data from Barb, the organisation that measures ratings, showing that while Netflix grew its total viewing hours by 610 million in the UK last year, iPlayer was up by 844 million.
Enders co-author Bella Monkcom believes the BBC is succeeding because of the breadth of iPlayer, in comparison with subscription-based streamers dominated by scripted drama and film.
Adding to a mix that includes current affairs, natural history documentaries, comedy, sport and soaps, the BBC has identified the importance to iPlayer of unscripted reality formats, notably The Traitors and its reboot of Gladiators.
“They are honing in on those,” says Monkcom. “They know that is what is going to bring in viewers, especially young viewers.”
The streaming landscape has changed immeasurably since 2007, when the BBC launched iPlayer, achieving first-mover advantage over the rest of the global visual entertainment industry. A narrative later emerged that streaming platforms were a medium for drama and that the BBC could not compete in that costly genre against the deep pockets of Netflix and Amazon Prime.
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Read MoreBut it is not turning out that way. The BBC is becoming more sophisticated and innovative in the way it operates. “We want to reinvent in every genre,” says Dan McGolpin, director of BBC iPlayer and Channels.
In the past year, iPlayer’s home page has been redesigned to make it “a much clearer and user-friendly experience,” he says. “We launched an extended home page and you can see a greater number of rails [of content] with many of those now personalised for you.”
Programme launch strategy is a science. Some series are made available all at once on a “day one drop”. The Traitors offered the first three shows to get audiences hooked, with the other instalments released individually to create “appointments to view,” says McGolpin. “You want the audience to get stuck in straight away but then to experience an unfolding narrative over time.”
Panorama shows are released on iPlayer first thing in the morning so that people who read about investigations in the press can watch them immediately.
EastEnders, once an evening fixture, is a “6am drop”. The soap’s 40th anniversary this month will be a long celebration, including a live episode, documentaries and a new Ross Kemp-hosted game show, allowing for the kind of event viewing that iPlayer thrives on.
The BBC cannot be complacent. To keep younger viewers returning to iPlayer it wants to offer a big event every month, whether that is Glastonbury or a youth-friendly show such as Race Across the World.
McGolpin says the BBC used this strategy to grow its share of the 16-34 demographic by 11 per cent in 2024. “By having a consistent cadence of high-impact series with young appeal, we have managed to build audience for the most competitive demographic in the market,” he says.
It’s a formula that seems to be working – and it looks nothing like Pravda.
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