Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 3
3
Weaknesses in the BBC’s approach to the World Service’s digital transformation have meant it has...
Recommendation
Weaknesses in the BBC’s approach to the World Service’s digital transformation have meant it has struggled to migrate its audiences from traditional TV and radio services to digital platforms. Over the period 2021–22 to 2024–25, the World Service’s digital audiences fell, meaning they did not offset the impact of closing costly traditional radio and TV services in the way the BBC expected. Over the same period, the digital weekly audience (digital reach across BBC-owned services and third-party platforms) declined by 11% to 131 million. Performance varied widely across language services: the seven that became digital-only in 2022–23 saw overall audiences down 63% and their digital audiences down 39%, with Nigerian languages particularly affected as platforms deprioritised news. Beyond its high-level digital strategy, the BBC did not set detailed, 4 language service-level targets; define what ‘good looks like’ for each market; or establish granular monitoring to track whether broadcast users were switching by language and platform. Without a shared view of what ‘good looks like’ and timely data, teams could not redirect content and distribution quickly enough to secure audiences online. recommendation In its response to this report, the BBC should set out its approach to ensuring that teams know what good looks like with regards to the World Service’s digital transformation and what it is doing to address its uneven digital performance to date and accelerate digital transformation of its services.
Government Response
Response Pending
HM Government
Response Pending
The BBC agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Service, with formal annual and quarterly business reviews running globally and in the regions. The need for accelerated digital transformation is being consistently communicated to teams - including in the setting and communication of digital targets. The dashboard for digital reporting has been redesigned. The three-year plan has clearly articulated the strategic goals around digital transformation and migration of audiences from traditional TV and radio audiences to digital platforms in all regions. A cross-organisational initiative has been developed to significantly improve the BBC’s reach amongst women on digital platforms. This has shown strong results, with 11 million more women consuming the World Service since the formal launch of the initiative in November 2026. More comprehensive market reviews are being carried out to ensure digital maturity and readiness, ensuring that in markets of greatest need, digital transformation does not come at the cost of being able to reach key audiences. Digital platform and format training and expertise sharing are continuing apace. In the latest fiscal period (following the start of the new regional governance structure, and after the period examined by the NAO), digital performance has strengthened substantially. The latest available digital data estimate for financial year 2025-26 shows a significant 36% increase in World Service global digital growth. As per the Global Audience Measure (2025), World Service digital reach (131 million) is greater than that of either TV (103 million) or radio (127 million). The full implementation of the regional governance model, along with the planning cycle and communication improvements, will ensure that digital performance is equally strong in each of the six regions.