Ofcom yesterday published its annual report on the BBC, assessing the corporation’s performance in meeting the needs of viewers and listeners during the period April 2024 to March 2025. But it observed the high trust enjoyed by the broadcaster should be worked upon and maintained.

The report also includes the findings of Ofcom’s second ‘Periodic Review’ of the BBC.

According to a statement put out by the regulator yesterday, the report draws on extensive audience research, industry data and stakeholder information to provide an evidence base, which the UK government can draw on as it undertakes its BBC’s Charter review.

Against a backdrop of funding pressures and a rapidly changing media landscape, the report finds that the BBC remains popular with audiences, with 83 percent  of the United Kingdom adults using its services weekly in 2024/25.

The BBC has also achieved strong levels of overall audience satisfaction (60 percent in 2024/25), while there were early signs that engagement with younger audiences is improving, the report asserted.

“Our audience research shows that the BBC has remained the most popular source of news during the current Charter period (since 2017). Ofcom’s most recent figures from May 2025 showed that 70 percent of regular BBC TV news viewers rated the BBC highly for accuracy, with a similar proportion for trust (68 percent), “ Ofcom said.

However, the regulator took note of the controversies recently courted by the BBC — editing a Donald Trump interview in the past to convey a different meaning and perspective — and said  the BBC has refaced a significant crisis involving editorial decision-making at the heart of its news and current affairs output.

Ofcom stated it had previously warned — “and today we reaffirm”– that the BBC Board and Executive must take a firmer grip and act swiftly and transparently when controversies or failures arise.

Addressing audience concerns about impartiality and holding itself to account when things go wrong is critical for the BBC to uphold and maintain audience trust. “This must be a firm focus for the BBC as it resets to deliver for audiences in the next Charter period and beyond’” Ofcom observed.

To provide an external lens, the regulator said it would undertake work looking at the drivers of audience trust in the BBC and will publish a Terms of Reference early next year.

To meet the challenges and to remain relevant in the future, Ofcom pointed out, the BBC,  which sits at the heart of the PSM (public service media) system, should play to its strengths, while continuing to address areas where it needs to further improve, including the following:

• deepening its engagement with less satisfied audiences – including those on lower incomes.
• innovating and taking risks to excite and engage, making content available where people want to watch it, such as on third party platforms.
• building on the successes of its ‘Across the UK’ strategy to deliver a range of content made in and made for the diverse communities of the UK’s nations and regions, while supporting their creative economies.
• investing in media literacy to help audiences to critically engage with news and online services.