Study: Half UK broadcast staff based outside London
December 15, 2023
Around half of TV and radio broadcasters’ employees are now based outside of London, but more needs to be done to increase diversity in senior roles, according to regulator Ofcom’s latest study on the make-up of the industry.
Ofcom’s seventh annual equity, diversity and inclusion in broadcasting report also shows that women, disabled workers and people from minority ethnic backgrounds are continuing to leave the industry in disproportionate numbers.
For the first time, thanks to a new approach to data collection, Ofcom is reporting on the diversity of a range of broadcasters by geographic area, giving it the clearest picture to date of who is working in the UK broadcast industry and where.
Data from the UK’s broadcasters, which includes the BBC, Sky and Global, shows that almost half (44 per cent) of TV employees in the UK and over half (54 per cent) of radio employees are now based outside London. One in six (17 per cent) broadcasting employees are based in the north of England.
Women and people from minority ethnic groups are well represented in broadcasting as a whole. However, this is not the case at senior levels, where the numbers of women (TV 42 per cent, radio 36 per cent) and people from minority ethnic groups (TV 13 per cent, radio 7 per cent) are below the working population averages of 48 per cent and 14 per cent respectively.
Despite recruiting higher proportions of people from underrepresented groups, broadcasters continue to struggle to retain these staff, who are disproportionately likely to leave their jobs.
Employees with disabilities are still underrepresented at all job levels across the industry. At just 10 per cent in TV and 8 per cent in radio, both are well below the UK average of 16 per cent. At senior levels, people with disabilities make up just 8 per cent of senior managers in both TV and radio.
People from working-class backgrounds are also underrepresented in the whole broadcasting sector. Across TV and radio, just over a quarter (28 per cent) of employees are from a working-class background, below the population average of four in ten (39 per cent).
Ofcom notes that while many broadcasters have a wide range of initiatives to support diversity across their organisations, without ample influence from senior leadership, it is harder for them to genuinely drive meaningful change. A lack of diversity at senior levels may also compound this.
Additionally, data collection must remain a top priority for broadcasters. Ofcom’s findings show that those organisations with advanced data collection practices tend to have more representative workforces.