Britain’s lower-income viewers are less satisfied and engaged with the BBC’s content than those who earn more, according to a new report released today by UK media regulator Ofcom.

Its BBC Children’s Performance Tracker reveals that only 34% of ​three- to 16-year-olds in lower-income UK households said they would miss the BBC if it wasn’t on air anymore, compared to 62% of ​those from high-income households.

Ofcom releases a report on the pubcaster every year, and this one analyzed internal BBC data spanning from April 2021 to March 2022. It shows that the Beeb has some work to do when it comes to engaging a sizeable chunk of its audience, given that Ofcom classifies 25% of Brits as lower-income earners.

The report uses a social grade classification based on occupation that divides people into six categories: A, B, C1, C2, D and E. (The last two are defined as lower-income socio-economic groups.)

To better understand the disconnect, Ofcom is launching an in-depth review into how the BBC connects with this part of the population, according to a release.

Although the report notes that a majority of UK kids ages three to 16 overall watch BBC content weekly (68%), lower-income families were less likely to tune in and find the Beeb’s learning and news resources useful. The report also confirmed the ongoing shift of family audiences from linear to digital TV.

In 2021, the weekly audience reach of CBeebies hit 40% with the four to six demo and
43% with under-threes, down slightly from the previous year (42% and 48%, respectively). The CBBC’s reach also declined, from 18% to 14% with its target audience of kids ages six to 12.

Daily average viewing for CBeebies among kids under the age of six decreased to 13 minutes per day, after hovering in the 16- to 17-minute range for all of the previous three years.

BBC Bitesize, the online resource platform designed to support kids through learning and homework, saw a significant increase in usage during the pandemic, but has now returned to 2019 levels, with a weekly reach of 1.8 million users. More than half (52%) of kids ages four to 16 reported using Bitesize from March 2021 to April 2022, but again, fewer kids from lower-income families did so.

While the Beeb has more engagement with kids ages 12 to 15 than any other news organization, the report indicates that social media platforms like TikTok and news aggregators are becoming the dominant news source for this age group. Overall, the cohort’s consumption of BBC news fell to 39%, from 55% in 2018.

To adjust to this trend, the BBC launched a Newsround account on TikTok (17,100 followers) in March 2022 to provide kid-friendly news coverage. It has also shifted more news content from CBBC to platforms such as Newsround. Since these changes took place, six- to nine-year-olds have been using the website since more often, but looking at a broader eight-to-16 age range, the report again found that kids from lower-income homes are less likely than their counterparts to find the Newsround website useful.