The National Audit Office says the BBC’s key digital products are performing well, but needs to consider whether it has sufficient resources to deliver its vision.
In its annual report, the NAO identifies the BBC’s overall spend on digital products has fallen fallen from £109 million in 2018-19 to £98 million in 2021-22 in real terms. In contrast Netflix spent £1.7 billion on technology and development in 2021.
Gareth Davies, the head of the NAO, said: “The BBC faces a number of challenges in developing its digital offering, and its products are performing well compared to other, better-funded, media organisations. Stronger digital leadership structures in particular will enable the BBC to make the improvements it needs to its approach, if it is to maintain this success in a fast moving, global media market.”
Despite the challenges, the BBC’s digital products are performing well against better-funded media organisations. In 2021-22, most of the BBC’s digital products achieved their targets. The BBC now plans for its digital services to be within at least the top three for market share in the UK in five years’ time. To achieve this, it needs to continue to attract audiences in a fast-moving global media environment, where new technology and competitors can emerge quickly.
It also criticised the BBC for a lack of detail for the £50 million additional funding it intends to spend each year on digital product development by 2025. While the BBC has set itself a target for greater personalisation of its services, with 72% of digital product views coming from signed-in users by 2023, the NAO said the BBC has not yet produced an overall plan for what personalisation means in practice.
