RadioCentre claims BBC 'must do more to educate and inform

BBC Radio 1 and 2 must do more to educate and inform audiences, providing services not offered by the commercial market, according to trade body RadioCentre.

The commercial radio trade body commissioned market researchers BDRC Continental to survey 2,000 BBC Radio listeners in September.

It found there was little awareness that R1 and R2 had a public service remit, while around two thirds of listeners believed they failed to carry out these duties. But the BBC disputed the research, claiming it did not match its own findings.

According to those surveyed, R1 is not delivering content which is sufficiently distinct from its commercial rivals, with 46% claiming the station was “the same, or only slightly different” to Capital FM.

Just 6% of those polled associated R1 with social action and documentaries, and a quarter with programming for teenagers. The youth station is still largely failing to reach its target audience of those aged under 29 years old, the research said, after 30% of 35-44 year olds believed that they were its target audience.

Radio 2 findings

R2’s musical output was found to be too mainstream, with 63% of those questioned associating it with Magic FM and 52% with Heart FM. Over a third of R2 listeners wanted to hear less mainstream chart music, while around a quarter wanted more blues, soul and country music.

Only 21% of listeners associated R2 with extending musical tastes, while 11% associated the station with original comedy and 17% with arts programming.

RadioCentre chief executive Siobhan Kenny said the research would be submitted to the BBC Trust and Department of Culture, Media and Sport.

“The BBC remains a phenomenal national asset but the fact is that its most valuable radio content is just not cutting through. While nobody suggests that certain bands should be ‘off-limits’ to mainstream output like R2, there is a balance to be struck and one that more specifically fulfils the criteria laid out for both R1 and R2,” she said.

Kenny added that the BBC Trust “should have more power to police this blend and mix more conscientiously” in order to “enhance the BBC’s reputation, allow commercial radio a level playing field, and most importantly enhance listener choice”.

A BBC spokesman disputed the findings.

“These claims bear absolutely no resemblance to our own regular research, our audience feedback or the behaviour of millions of listeners who tune into R1 and 2’s news, documentaries, speech programming and unique music mix every week - programmes that simply are not available on commercial radio,” the spokesman said.

“Our research shows R1 and 2 are utterly unique – for example, R1 broadcasts around twenty times more specialist music than Capital, while 80% of the songs played in daytime on R2 not played on any competitor station - and have been focussed on becoming even more distinctive in recent years.”