Ofcom’s Public Service Broadcasting (PSB) Annual Research Report for 2017 assessed the performance of the designated public service broadcasters – the BBC, ITV, STV, UTV, Channel 4, S4C and Channel 5. It found that viewing to the five main PSB channels accounted for just over half (51%) of all broadcast TV viewing, unchanged from the previous year and that audiences were clearly happy with what they were getting. Just more than three-quarters (78%) of viewers said they were satisfied or very satisfied with their programmes, a yearly rise of five percentage points. More than four-fifths (83%) of people aged over 4 watched any of the main five PSB channels in a typical week.

However, the average individual in the UK watched three hours and 32 minutes of TV per day, a decline of four minutes in the last year. Younger people aged between 16-24, and children aged 4-15 watched a third less TV than they did in 2010.

The Ofcom’s Public Service Broadcasting (PSB) Annual Research Report also found that the UK PSB channels spent £2.6 billion on new programmes, and increased spending on factual, sports and children’s programmes. They reduced spending on comedy programmes, which is now at its lowest level in ten years. Spending on original UK programmes for viewers in the nations and regions increased 2% in real terms, reaching £276 million in 2016.

UK adults’ opinion of the quality of television programmes has remained unchanged since 2015, with more than half (54%) feeling that the quality of programmes has stayed the same; three in ten (29%) adults felt that programme quality had worsened, also the same as a year ago.