BBC remains popular but “must take a firmer grip” in crises, says Ofcom

Publishing its annual report on the corporation, Ofcom said the BBC has strong levels of overall audience satisfaction, which stood at 60% in 2024/25. It also found that there are early signs that engagement with younger audiences is improving.

The positive conclusion to the annual report comes after a difficult month for the corporation, which saw Tim Davie, Director General of the BBC, and Deborah Turness, CEO of BBC News, resign in the wake of a misleading edit of President Donald Trump in a Panorama news programme.

Despite the scandal, Ofcom’s audience research showed that the BBC has remained the most popular source of news in the UK during the current Charter period since 2017.

Ofcom’s most recent figures from May 2025 showed that 70% of regular BBC TV news viewers rated the BBC highly for accuracy, and 68% rated the organisation highly for trust.

However, the regulator noted that the BBC “has recently faced a significant crisis involving editorial decision-making at the heart of its news and current affairs output.”

Ofcom has previously warned – and stressed again in its annual report – that the BBC Board and Executive “must take a firmer grip and act swiftly and transparently when controversies or failures arise.”

Ofcom added: “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.”

Alongside this, Ofcom recommended that the BBC deepen its engagement with less satisfied audiences – including those on lower incomes. It suggested that the organisation should innovate and take risks to excite and engage, making content available where people want to watch it, such as on third-party platforms.

The BBC recently responded to President Trump’s legal team, saying that while the corporation "sincerely regrets the manner in which the video clip was edited" it "strongly disagree[s] there is a basis for a defamation claim." Discover more here.