BBC Trust Service Review
BBC Local Radio and Local News and Current Affairs in England
Annex: Supporting performance analysis
March 2016
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Contents
1) Introduction ...... 2 2) BBC Local Radio ...... 3 3) BBC Regional News on TV ...... 9 4) BBC Regional Current Affairs on TV ...... 13 5) BBC Local News Online ...... 16
1) Introduction
This pack presents the performance analysis used to support the Trust’s service review of BBC Local Radio and local news and current affairs in England.
RQIV framework
The RQIV performance framework is a standard part of the Trust’s service reviews and is used as a basis for this performance analysis.
Reach: the extent to which BBC services are used by audiences Quality: measured in terms of audience perception of various aspects of the quality of programmes and services/channels Impact: the extent to which BBC content delivers the BBC’s public purposes. The audience research and public consultation are the primary evidence sources we use to assess delivery here. Value for money: a consideration of performance alongside cost to provide a perspective on cost-effectiveness.
This report is focused on reach and quality. Impact is mainly measured by the delivery of the public purposes, which we have assessed through bespoke research; value for money is assessed in the main report via a financial analysis of the services.
Metrics used
In this pack we use the following metrics:
Weekly reach – the number of people (or percentage of a population) that listen/watch/use a service in a given week. Hours per viewer/listener – the average number of hours each viewer or listener spends with the service each week. Appreciation Index (AI) – Scores based on a rating out of 100 from the BBC’s Pulse survey. Respondents are asked to rate the programme they have watched/listened to out of 10 which is averaged up to give a rating out of 100.
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2) BBC Local Radio
This section presents the performance of the BBC Local Radio in England. We consider its performance in serving audiences overall as well as by age, socio-economic status and ethnic background.
BBC Local Radio is made up of 39 radio stations serving local areas in England and the Channel Islands. It has a remit to provide a primarily speech-based service of news, information and debate to local communities across England. Speech output should be complemented by music and it should have a strong emphasis on interactivity and audience involvement. The target audience should be listeners aged 50 and over, who are not well- served elsewhere, although it may appeal to all those interested in local issues.
Reach
In the last full year for which we have data (2014-15) an average 15.5% of adults in England (or 6.7 million people) listened to BBC Local Radio each week, down from 17.3% in 2010-11 (7.2 million), equating to a decline of 10.5%. While there was a slight increase in reach in 2011-12, reach has since fallen. In the most recent quarters (Q3 and Q4 2015) reach has fallen further, to 15.2% and 14.8% respectively.
Compared with the BBC’s network radio stations in England, reach of BBC Local Radio is lower than Radio 2, Radio 4 and Radio 1, but higher than 5 live and Radio 3. The annual trends in reach of BBC radio services in England are shown below.
Figure 1: Annual trends in weekly reach (%) of BBC radio services in England
28.6% 28.0% 27.0% 27.2% 27.9% Radio 2 22.4% 22.0% 21.8% 21.8% 21.1% Radio 4 21.3% 21.6% Radio 1 20.5% 19.9% 18.9% 17.4% 17.3% 16.4% Local Radio 16.4% 15.5% 13.4% 12.7% 12.2% 12.0% 11.3% 5 live 4.3% 4.2% 4.3% 4.0% 3.9% Radio 3
2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15
Source: RAJAR, adults 15+ in BBC Local Radio transmission area
As set out in its service licence, the primary target audience of BBC Local Radio should be listeners aged 50 and over. Nearly a quarter of adults aged 50 and over listen to Local Radio each week. This makes it the BBC’s third highest reaching radio station among this age group, behind Radio 2 and Radio 4.
In the last five years reach of BBC Local Radio has also fallen among its target audience, down from 26.9% in 2010-11 to 23.9% in 2014-15. Since then, it has fallen slightly further, to
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23.8% in Q3 2015 and 22.9% in Q4 2015. Figure 2 shows the trends in reach of BBC radio services in England among BBC Local Radio’s target audience of adults aged 50+.
Figure 2: Weekly reach (%) of BBC radio services in England, adults aged 50+
36.4% 35.8% 34.4% 34.5% 35.1% Radio 2
32.2% 32.7% 32.8% 32.9% 32.2% Radio 4
26.9% 26.9% Local Radio 25.6% 25.3% 23.9% 5 live 14.3% 14.0% 13.9% 14.3% 13.6% Radio 3 7.3% 7.2% 7.3% 6.7% 6.5% Radio 1 6.9% 7.1% 6.6% 6.5% 6.5%
2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15
Source: RAJAR, adults 50+ in BBC Local Radio transmission area
Looking at trends in reach of BBC Local Radio in the longer term shows that reach has fallen further, both among all adults, and among its target audience of adults aged 50+, as shown in Figure 3.
Figure 3: Long term trends in weekly reach (%) of BBC Local Radio, all adults and adults aged 50+
35% 30.3% 29.5% 28.2% 30% 26.7% 26.9% 26.9% 26.0% 25.6% 25.3% 23.9% 25% 19.5% 18.8% 20% 18.0% 17.1% 16.9% 17.3% 17.4% 16.4% 16.4% 15.5% 15%
10% All adults Adults aged 50+ 5%
0% 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15
Source: RAJAR, adults 15+ and adults 50+ in BBC Local Radio transmission area
Figure 4 shows BBC Local Radio’s reach by age. In 2014-15 it was listened to by 23.9% of adults aged 50+, while a much smaller proportion (9.1%) of 15-49 year olds listened. Average weekly reach increases steadily by age, and in 2014-15 it was listened to by 30% of over 70s.
Since 2010-11 reach of Local Radio has fallen fairly evenly among all age groups, it is down from 26.9% to 23.9% among adults 50+ (a decline of 11%), while it is down by 13% among 15-49 year olds.
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Figure 4: BBC Local Radio reach (%) by age, 2010-11 & 2014-15
17.3% 2010-11 All Adults 15.5% 2014-15 10.5% Age 15-49 9.1% 26.9% Age 50+ 23.9%
7.9% Age 15-29 7.1% 10.0% Age 30-39 8.7% 14.4% Age 40-49 12.3% 19.7% Age 50-59 17.8% 28.6% Age 60-69 24.8% 32.7% Age 70+ 29.7%
Source: RAJAR, adults 15+ in BBC Local Radio transmission area
By other demographics, reach is slightly higher than average among men (at 16%) and C2DE audiences (16%) and is much higher among white audiences (17%) compared with black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) audiences (at 9%). Since 2010-11 reach has fallen by slightly more than average among C2DE audiences (down by 13%) and BAME audiences (down by 14%), as shown in Figure 5.
Among BAME listeners aged over 50, there has been some growth in reach from 11.5% in 2010-11 to 12.7% in 2014-15, but the disparity with white listeners remains marked.
Figure 5: BBC local radio reach (%) by other demographic, 2010-11 & 2014-15
17.3% 2010-11 All Adults 15.5% 2014-15 18.2% Men 16.3% 16.5% Women 14.7%
16.4% ABC1 adults 15.0% 18.5% C2DE adults 16.1%
18.2% White adults 16.6% 10.8% BAME adults 9.3%
Source: RAJAR, adults 15+ in BBC Local Radio transmission area
Reach of individual BBC Local Radio stations
There are 39 BBC Local Radio stations, and there is a large variation in listening levels by station. Stations in rural areas tend to reach a higher proportion of people, but those in urban areas tend to serve larger populations, so the actual number of listeners is often higher. For
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instance while BBC Radio London has the lowest proportionate reach at 4.1% of adults in the transmission area, it reaches a higher number of listeners (478,000) than any other BBC Local station. The variation in reach (%) by station is shown in Figure 6.
Figure 6: Weekly Reach (%) of BBC Local Radio stations, 2014-15
Source: RAJAR, adults 15+ in BBC Local Radio transmission area. Note, the chart also includes reach of the West Dorset opt out of BBC Radio Solent, so shows reach figures for 40 stations.
Unique reach
BBC Local Radio has a high level of ‘unique reach’ – in 2014-15 an average 34% of listeners to BBC Local Radio listened to no other BBC radio station, equating to 2.3 million people. This
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proportion has remained fairly stable since 2010-11, although the actual number of ‘unique’ listeners has fallen just slightly, from 2.4 million.
In addition, 16% of listeners listen to no other radio at all (BBC or commercial), or 1.1 million adults. This has fallen just slightly, from 17% or 1.2 million listeners in 2010-11.1
Hours per listener
Hours of listening to BBC Local Radio have fallen in recent years. In 2014-15 listeners tuned in, on average, for 8.7 hours per week, down from 9.6 hours in 2010-11, and total hours of listening have fallen by around 15%. Hours per listener are higher among the target audience, with over 50s listening for 11 hours each week, although this has also fallen, from 12.1 hours in 2010-11.
As shown in Figure 7, hours per listener of BBC Local Radio are also higher among women, C2DE adults and white adults. They are also highest among adults aged 70+, who listen for an average of 14.4 hours per week.
Figure 7: Local radio hours per listener by demographic, 2010-11 & 2014-15
9.6 All Adults 8.7 2010-11 2014-15 3.6 Age 15-29 3.7 5.1 Age 30-39 4.0 6.1 Age 40-49 4.8 8.3 Age 50-59 7.4 11.6 Age 60-69 10.0 14.9 Age 70+ 14.4
8.6 Men 7.7 10.7 Women 9.8
7.7 ABC1 adults 7.1 11.7 C2DE adults 10.6
9.9 White adults 9.0 5.8 BAME adults 5.5
Source: RAJAR, adults 15+ in BBC Local Radio transmission area
Audience Profile
Due to the BBC Local Radio’s higher reach among its target audience of adults aged 50+, the audience profile is heavily skewed towards an older audience. 67% of listeners are aged 50+ (vs. the population average of 43%), and more than a quarter are over 70, as shown in the chart below.
1 Source: RAJAR, adults 15+ in BBC Local Radio transmission area
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Figure 8: Age profile of BBC Local Radio vs. England population, 2014-15
15 to 29 30 to 39 40 to 49 50 to 59 60 to 69 70+
Population 22.9% 16.7% 17.1% 15.1% 14.7% 13.4%
Local Radio 10.5% 9.3% 13.6% 17.4% 23.5% 25.7%
Source: RAJAR, adults 15+ in BBC Local Radio transmission area.
Quality
The majority of listeners of BBC Local Radio are ‘high approvers’ of the service. In 2014-15 an average 62% of listeners were ‘high approvers’ (i.e. rating 8 or more out of 10 when asked their general impression of the service) and this has increased on the previous year (although is down slightly from 2011-12 and 2012-13), as shown in Figure 9.
Figure 9: Proportion of ‘High Approvers’ of BBC Local Radio
65.2% 63.2% 59.6% 61.9%
2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15
Source: BBC Accountability and Reputation Tracker, adults 16+ in England who have listened to BBC Local Radio in the past week.
In 2014-15 the average audience appreciation index (AI) score for BBC Local Radio was 81.3, which is higher than Radio 1, Radio 4 and 5 live, but just behind that of Radio 2 and Radio 3. BBC Local Radio’s AI score has remained broadly stable in recent years, as shown below.
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Figure 10: BBC Local Radio average AI score
81.8 81.3 80.0 81.1 81.3
2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15
Source: BBC Pulse Survey, adults 16+
3) BBC Regional News on TV
The BBC broadcasts regional news bulletins on BBC One for 12 regions in England. It provides three main programmes on weekdays: a bulletin following the 1pm network news, a half hour programme at 6.30pm, and a late bulletin following the 10pm news. It also provides regional news bulletins during BBC Breakfast and some bulletins at weekends.
Reach
Viewing of the BBC’s regional TV news has fallen in recent years, but remains high. In 2014- 15 an average 47.1% of UK adults watched the BBC’s regional news on TV each week. This has fallen from 54.0% in 2010-11, equating to a decline of 13%.
This decline is slightly larger than the loss in reach of BBC Network news. The average weekly reach of the BBC’s network news has fallen from 68.5% to 63.6% between 2010-11 and 2014-15, which equates to a decline of 7%.
Figure 11: Trends in weekly reach (%) of BBC regional and network news on TV BBC network news BBC regional news 80 68.5 68.1 67.5 65.5 70 63.6 60 54.0 52.7 52.2 49.7 47.1 50
40
30
20
10
0 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15
Source: BARB / TRP / BBC management data, 3+ minute reach, adults 16+ in England
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The BBC’s 6.30pm evening programme reaches 26.8% of adults in England each week. Its reach is higher than the BBC’s 6pm network news programme (24.5% of adults in England) but below the 10pm programme (30.0%).2
The late (post 10pm) regional bulletin is watched by 21.3% of adults in England each week, while the lunchtime bulletin reaches 12.5%, as shown in Figure 12. The chart also illustrates the trend in weekly reach of the weekday regional news bulletins, showing that reach has fallen to all three programmes since 2010-11: proportionally it has fallen the most to the late bulletin, down by 17%, while it has fallen by 11% and 13% respectively to the evening and lunchtime programmes.
Figure 12: Weekly reach (%) of BBC regional news programmes
30.2 29.0 29.3 28.0 26.8 6.30pm programme
25.6 24.8 24.6 23.1 21.3 Late (post 10pm) bulletin
Lunchtime bulletin 14.4 13.7 14.2 13.3 12.5
2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15
Source: BARB / TRP, 3+ minute reach, adults 16+ in England
Average audience
The BBC’s 6.30pm regional news programme also has the highest audience of any BBC News programme. In 2014-15 the programme had an average audience of 4.2 million adults in England, greater than the BBC’s 6pm network news programme on BBC One, watched by an average 3.8 million adults in England, and the 10pm programme, watched by an average 3.6 million.
As shown in the chart below, the lunchtime regional bulletin is watched by an average 1.9 million, while the late regional bulletin is watched by 3.3 million.
2 Source: BARB, 2014-15, 3+ minute reach, adults 16+ in England
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Figure 13: Average audience (millions) of BBC regional and network news programmes, 2014-15
13:00 Network 2.0 13:30 Regional 1.9
18:00 Network 3.8 18:30 Regional 4.2
22:00 Network 3.6 22:25 Regional 3.3
Source: BARB, adults 16+ in England, based on timeslot analysis
Reach by demographic
Reach of the BBC’s Regional News increases with age, as 17.9% of 16-24 and 24.3% of 25- 34s watch each week, while 65.3% and 76.1% of 55-64s and 65+’s watch, as shown in Figure 14. By other demographics, there is little variation in reach by gender and socio-economic groups: reach is slightly higher among women and ABC1 audiences.
Figure 14: Reach (%) of BBC regional TV news by demographic, 2014-15
Adults 47.1
Adults 16-24 17.9 Adults 25-34 24.3 Adults 35-44 36.5 Adults 45-54 51.1 Adults 55-64 65.3 Adults 65+ 76.1
Men 46.0 Women 48.2
ABC1 adults 48.4 C2DE adults 45.5
White adults 49.1 BAME adults 31.4
Source: BARB / TRP, 3+ minute reach, adults 16+ in England
Reach is much lower among black, Asian and minority audiences and has fallen slightly more than average. In 2014-15 an average 31.4% of BAME adults watched BBC regional news each week, down from 36.6% in 2010-11, a decline of 14%.
There is also a disparity in reach by age: among over 55s only, BBC regional news reaches 55.2% of BAME 55+ adults, compared with 72.7% of white 55+ adults. By younger audiences the difference is smaller; it reaches 19.2% of BAME 16-34 year olds, compared with 21.8% of white 16-34 year olds.
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Among all adults, weekly reach is lowest among Asian viewers at 27.4%, down from 34.2% in 2010-11, compared with 38.6% among black audiences, which has fallen only slightly, from 39.9% in 2010-11.
Reach by region
Reach of BBC Regional News shows some variation by region. In 2014-15 it was highest in East Yorkshire & Lincolnshire (at 56.8%), followed by South West (56.3%) and West (52.2%). Reach was lowest in London (42.8%), West Midlands (45.4%) and South (46.3%) as shown in Figure 15. Since 2010-11 reach has fallen in all regions, and has declined the most in the South (down 18%) and South East (down 18%).
Figure 15: Reach (%) of BBC regional TV news by region, 2014-15 North (East Yorks & Lincs)* 56.8 South West 56.3 West 52.2 North East 49.2 South East 48.6 East 48.3 North (Yorkshire)* 48.0 East Midlands 47.4 North West 47.1 South 46.3 West Midlands 45.4 London 42.8
Source: BARB / TRP, 3+ minute reach, adults 16+ in England. * Sample sizes for North (East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire) and North (Yorkshire) are small so these figures are indicative only.
Time spent and share of viewing
In 2014-15 the average viewer of BBC regional news watched for 47 minutes per week. This is largely unchanged since 2010-11, as shown in the chart below.
Figure 16: Average time spent per viewer per week with BBC regional news
00:47 00:47 00:46 00:45 00:46
2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15
Source: BARB / TRP, adults 16+ in England
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The share of viewing to the BBC’s regional news has also remained broadly stable since 2010- 11. Across all of its programmes and bulletins, in 2014-15 it accounted for 31% of viewing at its times of broadcast.3
Quality
The BBC’s regular tracking surveys show that perceptions of the BBC’s regional news are high. Some 62% of people who watch news/current affairs on TV state the BBC is best for regional news, while 76% of people who state they ever use BBC News agree that the BBC provides high-quality regional news.4
4) BBC Regional Current Affairs on TV
The BBC broadcasts regional current affairs programming on BBC One for 11 regions in England. The main programme strands are Inside Out and a regional ‘opt’ in Sunday Politics, and there are some one-off regional programmes covering local stories. Inside Out is broadcast for two series per year, while Sunday Politics is year round with a short break in the summer
Inside Out
Reach and average audience
In 2014-15 Inside Out was watched by an average 8.7% of adults in England in weeks the programme was broadcast. This is down slightly from 10.2% in 2010-11, as shown in Figure 17.
By series, reach of Inside Out tends to fluctuate. The latest series for which full data is available (broadcast September to November 2015) was watched each week by an average of 8.5% of adults in England. Since 2010, average weekly reach has fluctuated between 8% and 11%, but overall has fallen slightly, in line with overall audience declines on BBC One.
Figure 17: Trends in average reach (%) of Inside Out
10 10.2 9.7 8 9.4 9.5 8.7 6
4
2
0 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15
Source: BARB, 3+ minute reach, adults 16+ in England. Data is based on weeks when Inside Out was broadcast.
3 Source: BARB / TRP, adults 16+ in England 4 Source: BBC Accountability and Reputation Tracker 2014-15, adults 16+ in England
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The latest series of Inside Out was watched by an average audience of 2.7 million adults. This has fallen just slightly over the last few years, but it continues to achieve the highest average audience of any BBC current affairs programme.5
Reach by region
In 2014-15 reach of Inside Out was highest in the South West, as, on average, 13.6% of adults watched each week the programme was broadcast. This is followed by South East (11.3%) and South (10.1%). Reach was slightly lower in East Midlands, North and North West, as shown below:
Figure 18: Average weekly reach (%) of Inside Out by region, 2014-15
England 8.7
South West 13.6 South East 11.3 South 10.1 North East 9.9 East 9.8 West 8.9 London 8.0 Midlands West 7.9 Midlands East 7.4 North 7.4 North West 7.3
Source: BARB, 3+ minute reach, adults 16+ in England. Data is based on weeks when Inside Out was broadcast.
Reach by demographic
By demographic reach of Inside Out is highest among older audiences. In 2014-15 it was watched by 12.2% of 55-64 year olds each week it was on air and 15.6% of adults aged 65+ and reach is slightly higher among women (watched by 9.5% each week compared with 7.9% among men). By social grade, reach is equal among ABC1 and C2DE audiences.
Reach is much lower than average among black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) viewers. Inside Out was watched by an average 4.6% of BAME adults each week in 2014-15, much lower than the 8.7% average, as shown in Figure 19.
5 Source: BARB / TRP / BBC management data.
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Figure 19: Average weekly reach (%) of Inside Out by demographic, 2014-15
Source: BARB, 3+ minute reach, adults 16+ in England. Based on weeks when Inside Out was broadcast
Sunday Politics
Reach and average audience
In 2014-15 Sunday Politics was watched by an average audience of 572,000 adults in England. The audience to the regional ‘opt-out’ slot within the programme is similar. While this had increased slightly on the previous year, in the longer term viewing has fallen significantly, down from 797,000 in 2010-11, a decline of 28%.
Figure 20: Trends in average audience (000s) of Sunday Politics in England
Source: BARB, adults 16+ in England
The ‘opt-out’ slot of the programme reaches around 1.7% of adults in England each week it is on air, down from 2.4% in 2010-11, equating to a decline of 29%.6
Reach by demographic
6 Source: BARB / TRP / BBC management data, 3+ minute weekly reach, adults 16+ in England. Based on weeks when Sunday Politics was broadcast
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By demographic, reach of Sunday Politics is higher among viewers aged over 55, C2DE viewers and men. It is also slightly higher among white audiences than it is amongst black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) audiences, as shown in Figure 21.
Figure 21: Sunday Politics average weekly reach (%) by demographic, 2014-15 All Adults 3.1
Men 3.5 Women 2.8
Age 16-34 1.1 Age 35-54 2.2 Age 55+ 5.2
ABC1 Adults 2.8 C2DE Adults 3.6
BAME adults 2.6 White adults 3.2
Source: BARB 3+ minute reach among adults 16+ in England. Based on weeks when Sunday Politics was broadcast
Quality
The average AI score for Inside Out has fluctuated between 80 and 83 between in recent years. In 2014-15, Inside Out had an average AI score of 80 compared to 82 in 2011-12. On average around a third of viewers strongly agree Inside Out feels fresh and new, unchanged on 2011-12. Sunday Politics had an average AI score of 80 in 2014-15, marginally higher than the 2011-12 score of 78.7
5) BBC Local News Online
Reach
BBC local news stories sit on the local news “index” pages (e.g. www.bbc.co.uk/news/ england/merseyside) and, depending on the scale or relevance of the story, they will also sit elsewhere on BBC News Online, for instance under the domains of /UK, /Health, /Business etc. Users of BBC local news are therefore a mixture of those who seek out any stories for their local area, and those who read a local story if it appears on other parts of BBC News online. In 2014-15 an average 9.3 million “unique browsers” used the BBC local news pages, up slightly from 9.1 million in 2013-14, and from 5.9 million in 2011-12. As shown in Figure 22, usage was increasing strongly up until the start of 2014. Since then growth in usage has slowed, as it increased by 2% between 2013-14 and 2014-15, compared with growth of 31% the year before, and it has been broadly stable during 2015. Overall usage of BBC News online has continued to grow strongly and reached an average of around 25 million unique browsers each week in 2014-15.
7 Source: BBC Pulse Survey
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Figure 22: Average weekly unique browsers (millions) of BBC local news online
Source: BBC iStats / BBC management data
‘People reach’
Measuring the number of people (as opposed to “unique browsers”) using the BBC’s local news pages is more challenging, as the BBC measures online “people reach” based on survey respondents recalling web pages they have used. As users are often unaware that they have navigated to the BBC’s local news pages it is hard to be certain about the number of people that are using the pages. Survey results indicate (although sample sizes are low) that “people reach” of the BBC’s local news online pages tends to be higher among men and ABC1 audiences, and that there is a fairly even split in reach by age.
Usage by device
The majority of usage of BBC local news online now comes via mobile devices. In 2014-15 some 58% of visits accessing BBC local news online were via mobile or tablet devices, and this has increased further in the first six months of 2015-16, to 63%. In addition, an increasing proportion of use is through the BBC News app – in 2014-15 an average 56% of mobile browser use was through the app, up from 53% in 2013-14 and 30% in 2012-13. The trend in use by device is shown in Figure 23.
Figure 23: Average weekly unique browsers (millions) of BBC local news online by device Computer Mobile Tablet TV 18.1 24.8 24.5
6.6 1.8 34.5 17.2 40.0 45.9 9.2
52.1 56.4 54.6 46.1 40.5
2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 H1
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Source: BBC iStats / BBC management data Note this refers to the number of visits per month rather than weekly unique browsers and also includes usage of the BBC News England page, so differs from figures referred to above. TV usage figures are all <0.2m
Local Live
The BBC has developed new ‘Local Live’ online streams, which provide a more dynamic and up to date local news offer, by combining short news updates with links to longer form BBC and external content. The streams are linked to from the local news “index” pages as well as from individual local news stories.
Overall use of Local Live is low but increasing fast: an average of around 351,000 each week in Q4 2015, up from around 200,000 in Q3 2015. It is growing as the Live offer rolls out across regions.
Weekly use of Local Live varies considerably but appears to be growing strongly across all regions. Visits to live pages peak when a major story breaks, such as the floods in winter 2015, as shown in Figure 24. Figure 24: Weekly Unique Browsers (millions) to England Live Pages
Source: BBC iStats / BBC management data
External ‘clickthroughs’ from BBC local news pages
BBC Online has a service licence commitment to increase the volume of click-throughs to external sites from all parts of BBC Online each year. The number of external ‘click-throughs’ from BBC local news pages has increased – in the first half of 2015-16 average click-throughs were up to an average of 3.19 million per month, from 2.63 million per month in 2014-15, which had grown only slightly from 2.57 million per month in 2013-14.8
8 Source: BBC iStats / BBC management data
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