This is a House of Commons Committee report, with recommendations to government. The Government has two months to respond.
This is the report summary, read the full report.
The BBC is increasingly investing in digital products. As of September 2022, 88% of the time that BBC audiences spent with its services was through traditional television and radio broadcasting. But more people are moving towards digital services year-on-year and the BBC considers that it needs to plan for a future where TV and radio distribution is only provided through the internet. We welcome the BBC’s continued commitment to its universal service obligation and note that it is not actively putting a date on switchover (it expects this transition to take place through the 2030s). We caution that the BBC must not move too quickly towards digital only, leaving behind those with poor access to digital services. Maintaining universal service will depend on sufficient broadband coverage across the UK and the BBC will need to work with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, which is also responsible for broadband roll-out, to address digital exclusion issues.
The BBC is operating in a very competitive environment across multiple genres and competing against different types of organisations including traditional broadcasters, streamers and audio services. Despite this the BBC has the advantages of its breadth of content, including live coverage, and its support for older technology for longer than its rivals. The BBC’s key digital products are performing well when compared with its rivals. This is despite it only spending £98 million in 2021–22 on digital product development compared with £1.7 billion spent by Netflix on technology and development.
However, we are not convinced that the BBC currently knows the detail of the resources needed to achieve its digital plans and whether the £500 million to be invested annually by 2025 will be sufficient to also allow it to plan for an internet only future. It will need to develop clearer financial plans including which services it will close and what happens if it does not make the savings required elsewhere to allow it to reinvest in digital development.
The BBC wants to provide a more personalised service for its audiences but, unlike many of its rivals, it will need to develop a personalisation strategy that is consistent with public service obligations. It will need to move more quickly on this and in parallel develop its data security policies to ensure they are fit for purpose as the BBC collects more user data.