PSB, 10 Key Points

The PSBs (BBC, ITV/STV, C4, C5, S4C) are – unlike most news and entertainment media – universally available and free at the point of use. They are a big part of almost everyone’s life in the UK – far more than any other media – but even more so for older, poorer people living alone, especially those without pay TV and broadband.

The PSBs, including their portfolio channels and online services, account for the great majority of UK TV viewing, bringing the country together through shared values and experiences when there are many issues and other media – especially social media – dividing us.

The British public trusts broadcast news far more than other news media. The UK’s ‘due impartiality’ broadcasting rules ensure that political debate in Britain is largely based on shared facts, helping us avoid the extreme divisions we’ve seen in the US and elsewhere. ¹ This is especially important in today’s world of growing disinformation. For instance, it is probably the main reason why we have the lowest level of Covid-19 vaccine hesitancy in the developed world. ²

The British public trusts broadcast news far more than other news media. The UK’s ‘due impartiality’ broadcasting rules ensure that political debate in Britain is largely based on shared facts, helping us avoid the extreme divisions we’ve seen in the US and elsewhere. ¹ This is especially important in today’s world of growing disinformation. For instance, it is probably the main reason why we have the lowest level of Covid-19 vaccine hesitancy in the developed world. ²

The PSBs compete against each other (and against the non-PSBs and, increasingly, the deep-pocketed streaming services) for talent, ideas, audiences and critical acclaim. The commercial PSBs also compete against each other – and, now, Google and Facebook – for advertising revenue. But part of the strength of our PSB system is that the BBC has a different funding source and does not compete for revenue against either the commercial PSBs or the pay TV and streaming services.

The PSBs still account for the great majority of investment in original British TV programmes, excluding sport, ensuring that most UK viewing is still of UK content.

Largely thanks to commissioning by the PSBs, the UK is the world’s second biggest exporter of TV programmes after the US, and the biggest exporter of TV formats, ³ contributing significantly to the country’s high global soft power ranking.

The UK’s soft power is further reinforced by BBC News, with a global weekly reach of 468 million, and growing, outside the UK – more than any other international news service. This reflects its high trust level around the world. ⁴ Because it provides impartial information to people in countries with little or no independent journalism, authoritarian governments (eg in Russia, China and Iran) actively harass it and seek to prevent their citizens from being accessing it. ⁵

The PSBs have driven the growth of the UK’s world-class independent production sector and are at the heart of many of our successful wider creative industries.

The commercial PSBs’ regulated content and universal reach, combined with the ASA’s self-regulation, provide a crucial way for advertisers to reach British consumers without excessive ‘clutter’ and repetition, while avoiding the numerous problems associated with social media advertising.