BBC Two service licence to change after review finds international coverage lacking
Trust review expresses concern that the impact of current affairs programming 'has not been sufficient' in key areas
– 2 min read
This article was migrated from an old version of our website in 2025. As a result, it might have some low-quality images or non-functioning links - if there's any issues you'd like to see fixed, get in touch with us at info@journalism.co.uk.
There used to be something here that couldn't be migrated - please contact us at info@journalism.co.uk if you'd like to see this updated!
The BBC Trust will amend BBC Two's service licence to strengthen the channel's contribution to international affairs coverage, according to the trust's service review, published today.
The trust's review of the licences for BBC One, BBC Two and BBC Four - its largest yet - attempts to assess how well each channel is performing against the commitments set out in the licences and to consider any necessary changes.
The findings reported today follow a public consultation last year which received around 9,000 responses from licence fee payers, as well as submissions from the four audience councils in Britain. As part of its service licence, BBC Two has a specific commitment to covering international issues through its current affairs output.
"While performance measures appear to be broadly healthy, we have expressed some concern that the impact of its programming has not been sufficient in key areas such as foreign affairs and business, economics and finance," the review report says.
"Since we published our interim finding for this review, BBC management has developed plans for current affairs output on BBC Two. It has outlined its broad approach as being to offer a portfolio of output from both current affairs and documentaries and including landmark series, Newsnight and the This World strand."
BBC management has also proposed changes to documentary strand This World, such as an increase in coverage from around nine or 10 hours a year to 12, the report adds.
"Our aspiration for BBC Two is that it provides the most prominent, comprehensive and authoritative international current affairs programming of any UK channel, either BBC or commercial. We are satisfied that BBC management is committed to meeting this aspiration," the report adds.
The Trust's audience research, carried out by Kantar Media UK, found that 60 per cent of BBC Two viewers felt that the service 'provides high quality independent news'.
But with 66 per cent of viewers highlighting the importance of this priority being delivered by BBC Two, a negative performance gap of six per cent was recorded.
The research also found that news received the highest percentage of viewers on BBC One (78 per cent), while BBC Two had a much lower share of the news audience at 39 per cent, which the Trust attributed to the absence of regular bulletins.
Public consultation
Alongside the review's performance measures, a public consultation was carried out on the BBC's television news.
The findings, which were published today , found that two fifths of respondents criticised news coverage, citing reasons including political or geographical bias and a lack of in-depth reporting.
"They're OK, nothing much to complain about. Nothing to rave about either. They also appear more and more biased towards certain subjects and topics. Rather than report the news, they often subtly appear to report their own opinions and agendas. A dangerous development, and I am all too aware of it. BBC, you really need to regain your impartiality to regain my respect for your news reports," one respondent from the male 25 to 34 category answered.
Others felt that the BBC's news is becoming too 'tabloid' and celebrity based.
"BBC News seems to have dumbed down recently. There is now less foreign news and more celebrity news. It seems the BBC is now trying to gain viewers rather than inform people," another response said.
The Trust's report adds that the role of both BBC One and BBC Two in delivering "high impact" current affairs to audiences is vital and as a result the Trust will be tracking the impact of this output on audiences.
