Recommendation 16

The BBC told us that digital-first meant prioritising online delivery on both BBC owned services and major third party platforms, and said confusion arose where teams still produced for radio or TV alongside digital output. The BBC explained that it measured success by weekly reach, alongside audience demographics and the proportion of usage on BBC owned 29 C&AG’s Report, para 2.7 30 C&AG’s Report, paras 15, 3.6-3.7, 3.10 31 C&AG’s Report, paras 3.8-3.11 32 C&AG’s Report, paras 2.9, 2.15, 3.2, 3.10-3.11 11 services rather than third party platforms. But it accepted that some teams had been unsure “what good looks like” during the change period.33 The BBC said external factors affecting digital performance included social platforms deprioritising news and uneven digital readiness across markets (e.g., internet access and data costs), which complicated the timing of withdrawing from broadcast services in some regions. When asked whether assumptions on the pace of migration had been over optimistic in some regions, the BBC said that judgments could not always be exact and that it monitored indicators such as data costs and competitor behaviour, adapting or re-introducing traditional outputs where needed, for example, an Urdu TV bulletin in Pakistan.34 33 Qq 32-34; C&AG’s Report, para 2.15 34 Qq 33-34 12 2 The BBC’s approach to planning and implementing savings in the World Service Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office funding