The BBC is emailing its users to ask them what they want from the BBC both now and in the future. It’s the biggest public engagement exercise the Corporation has ever undertaken.
- “Our BBC, Our Future” questionnaire comes ahead of the Government’s review of the BBC Royal Charter.
- The BBC in its current form is only guaranteed until 2027.
- First stage of audience research could exclude certain audience groups.
BBC account holders across the UK have started to receive an online questionnaire to help identify what they want from the BBC now, and what they want from it in the future.
The “Our BBC, Our Future” questionnaire kicks off a conversation with the public about the future of the BBC, ahead of the forthcoming review of the Corporation’s Royal Charter which sets the BBC’s mission and public purposes.
It will ensure the people who watch, listen, and use the BBC help drive the debate about its future.
The questionnaire is part of the biggest ever public engagement exercise run by the BBC with the aim of seeking up to one million responses.
It is open to anyone with a BBC account and email invites to fill in the questionnaire will be emailed out to all current account holders over the course of the coming weeks.
However, the questionnaire dodges the contentious issue of the licence fee or potential alternative funding models for the broadcaster. Government officials are already examining alternatives which have been floated in the media in the past few months.
BBC status only guaranteed for two more years
The current BBC Charter runs out at the end of 2027. The BBC wants to use the views of the public to help shape what comes next. It says the questionnaire to account holders is the first part of this engagement and the BBC will conduct a range of audience research and polling in 2025 and 2026.
What are the questions?
Providing multiple choice answers the questionnaire asks:
- what you/your family watch, listen to or use?
- what programmes/content you want from the BBC?
- what the BBC should provide overall?
- what kind of organisation you want the BBC to be in the future?
- how you feel the BBC is doing now?
- what the BBC should stand for in the future?
There is also a free text box for audiences to share anything else important that the BBC could offer or improve in the future.
Findings will be shared later in the year.
Excluded audiences
However, this first public engagement won’t be open to viewers and listeners who currently don’t consume BBC services online (iPlayer/Sounds).
These include some of the audiences that the BBC has a specific role to serve as a public broadcaster, including the elderly, disabled and vulnerable, including groups that commercial services find unviable to reach.
The BBC currently has a remit to make its services available across a range of platforms. Its digital terrestrial television (DTT) network reaches 98.5% of UK homes, allowing viewers to freely access its services. The DTT network is disproportionately used by viewers who are excluded from the BBC questionnaire. Yet these viewers are set to be most affected by a wider industry push to digital streaming-based TV platforms and won’t have a chance to comment on what the BBC should be providing for them in the future.
BBC comment
Tim Davie BBC Director-General says:
“The BBC belongs to all of us and we all have a say in its future. By taking part in this short questionnaire, people will be able to tell us what they want the BBC to offer, what we do well, what we could do better, and what they want us to focus on in years to come.
I hope as many people as possible take a few minutes to tell us what really matters to them and how we can best play our part.”
By: Marc Thornham | Image: BBC