Blog: BBC

Read our latest daily deep dives, hot takes, and exciting updates about the entertainment world. Check out the latest insight from your favourite analyst, or search by coverage areas - music, entertainment and fandom, creator economy and social.

Online culture is fragmenting: Why White Lotus spoilers are not flooding the internet

Cover image for Online culture is fragmenting: Why White Lotus spoilers are not flooding the internet

Hanna Kahlert

9 Apr 2025

Cultural trends

Key takeaways from this blog: Audience fragmentation is growing, with platforms like TikTok losing influence and shows like White Lotus thriving in niche, offline conversations Oversaturation of content is making it hard for entertainment to create shared cultural moments As MIDiA explores in our 'Analogue revival' report , Culture is moving offline, as people seek real-world connections and entertainment companies need to adapt to a fragmented digital landscape White Lotus is not the internet viral darling that shows like Tiger King or Game of Thrones (GoT) once were.

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Public Service Broadcasting in the digital age: why differentiation is non-negotiable

Cover image for Public Service Broadcasting in the digital age: why differentiation is non-negotiable

Laura Fisher

2 Apr 2025

Business Strategy

Key takeaways from this blog: Streaming platforms now dominate entertainment, resharping audience expectations for entertainment However, public service broadcasters still have an important role to play in the media landscape, offering trust in an era of misinformation MIDiA argues that, in order to remain essential, PSBs must lead with purpose and avoid trying to mimic commercial rivals The past decade has witnessed a fundamental realignment of the entertainment ecosystem.

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The BBC, Channel 4, and the risk of giving too much to YouTube

Cover image for The BBC, Channel 4, and the risk of giving too much to YouTube

Ben Woods

26 Mar 2025

Business Strategy

Key insights from this blog: As YouTube has skyrocketed in popularity, it has become an unexpected challenge for the UK's public service broadcasters These broadcasters are also facing challenges from streaming services, which can afford bigger budget productions and big-name talent MIDiA explores how public service broadcasters can avoid pitfalls and survive in an evolving television landscape The BBC, Channel 4, and ITV have made some great strides adapting to a world where YouTube is becoming front and centre of TV viewing.

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Tech’s failure to crack live audio could be radio’s opportunity

Cover image for Tech’s failure to crack live audio could be radio’s opportunity

Annie Langston

9 Oct 2023

Another live audio app bites the dust. A year after its launch, Amazon Amp is shutting down, being buried alongside Spotify Live and Clubhouse (at least in its original form). While Amp recruited major celebrities, like Nicki Minaj and Pusha T, to host shows, it was not immune to industry-wide layoffs that have hit other live audio divisions.

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BBC Radio 1’s Giant DJ Hunt shows what radio does right

Cover image for BBC Radio 1’s Giant DJ Hunt shows what radio does right

Annie Langston

26 Jul 2023

What would happen if one of the biggest radio stations in the world shut down? BBC Radio 1 turned off midday last Friday because Radio 1 host Greg James failed Radio 1’s Giant DJ Hunt. In this scavenger hunt, James had one week to find all the missing radio DJs that were hidden in various locations across England and Europe before the Friday deadline.

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BBC signals radio’s shift to the podcast market

Cover image for BBC signals radio’s shift to the podcast market

Annie Langston

31 May 2023

The BBC has traditionally stuck to public programming for its radio arm. However, BBC Radio is now shifting some of its programming to BBC Studios, meaning it can now be offered for global distribution on major podcast platforms, like Spotify.

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How radio broadcasters can become key players in the podcast market chessboard

Cover image for How radio broadcasters can become key players in the podcast market chessboard

Annie Langston

8 Feb 2023

Last week, Spotify announced an exclusive podcast deal with journalist Louis Theroux , one of BBC’s most notable personalities. Theroux is the latest radio talent to make the move to podcasting, which has become radio’s younger, cooler sibling.

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How (and why) Billie Eilish won Glastonbury

Cover image for How (and why) Billie Eilish won Glastonbury

Mark Mulligan

6 Jul 2022

fragmented fandom

Glastonbury returned to great fanfare after the pandemic-enforced break, which meant it was the first one since 2019. The music world has changed a lot since then, with streaming getting bigger than ever and TikTok now established as a cornerstone of the music business.

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The end of BBC Four and CBBC heralds the start of streaming realism for the BBC

Cover image for The end of BBC Four and CBBC heralds the start of streaming realism for the BBC

Tim Mulligan

1 Jun 2022

Business Strategy

Last week’s announcement by BBC’s director general Tim Davie that the BBC is scrapping its two linear TV channels, BBC Four and CBBC, was both bold and pragmatic. The BBC is arguably going through its most challenging period in its history as it approaches its centenary this coming October.

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The sensationalisation of news comes head-to-head with Euro 2020

Cover image for The sensationalisation of news comes head-to-head with Euro 2020

Hanna Kahlert

17 Jun 2021

Less than a week in, and the coverage of Euro 2020 is off to a problematic start. Any big sports event taking place after a year of pandemic-induced lockdowns was bound to have its hitches. Yet few could have predicted the live coverage of an on-field cardiac arrest of a 29-year-old player.

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Discovery enters streaming race with discovery+ and Olympics offering

Cover image for Discovery enters streaming race with discovery+ and Olympics offering

Alistair Taylor

9 Dec 2020

Last week , Discovery announced it will launch discovery+, ‘the definitive non-fiction’ subscription-video-on-demand (SVOD), on January 4th, 2021. Consumers in the US can expect the largest-ever content library for a new streaming service from launch, with more than 55,000 episodes from Discovery’s iconic brands such as the BBC’s Natural History collection, A&E Networks, Group Nine and more.

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COVID fallout: BBC no longer considers UK Athletics value for money

Cover image for COVID fallout: BBC no longer considers UK Athletics value for money

Alistair Taylor

19 Aug 2020

COVID-19 exposed live entertainment as a vulnerable asset class , specifically following the pandemic-enforced postponement of live sports . One of the hardest hit during this hiatus and ensuing uncertainty has been athletics, which saw its largest engagement driver and the ‘greatest show on earth’ in the Olympic games postponed till 2021 .

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NBCUniversal hopes to draw level with Premier League move

Cover image for NBCUniversal hopes to draw level with Premier League move

Alistair Taylor

15 Jul 2020

With Comcast’s NBCUniversal-owned Peacock launching today (July 15th), sports fans will be excited ahead of NBCU’s repositioning of its English Premier League (EPL) rights, giving paying subscribers access to 175 fixtures for the 2020/2021 season on its over-the-top (OTT) streaming service.

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Innovation via Free-to-air Highlights Missed Opportunity to date for the EPL

Cover image for Innovation via Free-to-air Highlights Missed Opportunity to date for the EPL

Alistair Taylor

24 Jun 2020

Sporting rights

Following live sports’ hiatus due to the coronavirus pandemic, the English Premier League (EPL) saw two of the top three most-watched matches in league history occur last weekend. The previous record of 4.

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BBC Kids to LADbible: Video Providers Expand Their Reach

Amanda Stears

18 Oct 2019

In the streaming era, having international reach is just as important as being an established local brand. This week (October 14) sees TV players Tubi, Facebook Watch and Youku each expanding content reach and territory.

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BBC iPlayer to Lead Catch-up TV

Amanda Stears

7 Aug 2019

On 1 August, UK media regulator Ofcom announced that BBC can now extend its catch-up shows’ validity on BBC iPlayer for up to 12 months, as compared to the previous 30-day period. Apart from being able to watch shows longer than the standard 30-day period, viewers can also expect more than 50 shows to be added on BBC iPlayer.

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Is Pay-TV killing off Niche Sports?

Cover image for Is Pay-TV killing off Niche Sports?

Alistair Taylor

4 Jul 2019

With both the ICC Cricket World Cup and FIFA Women’s World Cup approaching their climaxes, the stark difference in audience engagement raises the question, is pay-TV killing off niche sports? Deciding the medium through which to distribute live sports has never been more crucial.

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The BBC Confronts the Reality of Planet (Digital) Earth

Tim Mulligan

20 Mar 2019

Yesterday the chairman of the British Broadcasting Corporation, David Clementi, gave a talk at the Oxford Media Conventionwhich starkly addressed the reality which the world’s oldest and arguably most iconic public service broadcaster (PSB) now finds itself confronting.

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Knockout Blow For Eleven Sports?

Alistair Taylor

13 Dec 2018

additive service

Audience behaviour

Eleven Sports, the insurgent subscription video on demand (SVOD) service, is considering closing its operations in the UK and Ireland after failing to secure distribution via traditional TV operators. Failure to attract enough subscribers onto its platform since its launch has only increased doubts over the financial viability of the service.

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Has the BBC Cured Streaming Latency?

Alistair Taylor

21 Sep 2018

2018 FIFA World Cup

2022 FIFA World Cup

Two weeks ago , the NFL warned subscription video on demand (SVOD) services to up their content delivery game if they are to be taken seriously when bidding for premium rights. It must therefore come as good news for streaming services as it appears the BBC may have potentially broken through the latency problem facing streamers of live sporting events.

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