BBC spends less on arts as quotas for ‘at risk’ genres dropped

The BBC spent £34m on public broadcasting of arts and music in 2023/24, a 12% reduction from £39m the previous year, the corporation’s annual report has revealed.

Spending on all public service genres, except children’s, was down this year, reflecting a 3.5% drop in overall content spend due to the freezing of the licence fee paid.

Despite the drop, spending on arts and music broadcasting was higher than in 2021/22, when it was £31m, but continues to be allocated the lowest expenditure by genre.

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The latest BBC report is the first covering the period since the regulator Ofcom reformed the BBC's operating licence, which came into effect on 1 April 2023 with quotas for arts and music broadcasting removed.

Previously, the operating licence set regulatory conditions that specified the number of hours dedicated to "at-risk" genres.

In 2022/23, the quota for new arts and music programming was one of only two that the BBC failed to meet, falling short of a 175-hour target for new arts and music programmes on BBC Four by 44 hours.

The former licence also stipulated 175 hours of arts and music programming on BBC Two, including repeats and acquisitions.

At the time, the corporation said it did not expect Ofcom to take action because the hours reflected its plans to refocus BBC Four as “the home of archive and performance” by reducing the volume of new arts and music hours on the channel and doubling its spend on the genre for BBC Two.

'A broader audience'

Under the new licence, the BBC is under no specific requirement to broadcast arts and music but must provide a broad range of output that covers different genres and content types “including music, arts, religion, ethics and other specialist factual content” and “explain any significant changes it makes, or plans to make, in relation to this type of content”.

Previously, 75% of all arts and music programming on BBC Four was required to be original. Under the new Ofcom conditions, that has reduced to 65%, which is 5% more than the BBC had requested.

During the licence renewal consultation, some stakeholders raised concerns about lower investment in "niche" subjects on BBC Four as a result of the changes, with the screen sector trade body Pact, the Writers Guild of Great Britain and Directors UK emphasising the importance of the BBC in the development of new talent across at-risk genres.

In its statement published last year, Ofcom acknowledged the strategy “may lead to a reduction in hours of new arts and music content overall as it increases spending on these genres on BBC Two” but added that the strategy was designed to help it deliver “this type of content” to a “broader audience”.

“Our research has consistently shown that the BBC struggles to meet the needs of some audiences, including those in lower socio-economic groups, and this is a priority area for improvement," said Ofcom.

The regulator added: "It is important that the BBC has committed to the continued provision of arts and music content, including showcasing new performances alongside distinctive content from its archive on BBC Four.

“We believe that carefully chosen acquisitions can contribute to the distinctiveness of BBC Four. For example, acquisitions of live performances through partnerships with UK arts and music institutions reflect UK cultural content as well as supporting the UK creative economy and production sector.”