BBC Local news boosts online traffic
October 17, 2023
Audience figures show that online traffic to BBC Local news stories in England has increased by over a fifth. That means that the number of unique browsers accessing the BBC’s local news stories each week has seen a 21 per cent increase over the last 3 months compared to the same period last year.
In the period July-September 2023, an average 14.8 million unique browsers each week accessed BBC Local stories in England – up 2.6 million on the same period last year (21 per cent), and 1.4 million (10 per cent) on the previous quarter.
The figures also show that an additional 745,000 unique browsers each day are accessing local stories on the BBC News site/app each day, up 23 per cent compared to the same period last year (13 per cent quarter-on-quarter).
BBC says the growth is being driven by a number of key factors, including some big local stories, but there is the additional investment in local online journalism across the week and the more frequent updating of stories across many areas. There have been more use of live pages for the biggest stories across local communities greater prominence on the BBC News app.
Jason Horton, Director of Production – BBC Local, said: “These figures are testament to the hard work and dedication of our news teams across BBC Local. We talk about delivering great local value for all and now we are really showing how we can deliver it. As we continue to roll out with new Local Story Teams and our Investigative Teams the early signs of growth are really encouraging and there is more positive news to come.”
In Local Radio, new schedules have launched on 20 of the BBC’s 39 Local Radio Stations with Humberside and Lincolnshire next to go on October 23rd and the East Midlands, South East and Yorkshire to follow early in November.