The BBC has lost almost a fifth of its youth audience following the axing of BBC Three earlier this year.
New research from TV marketing body Thinkbox shows that BBC TV viewing among 16-34 year olds declined by -18% between March and May, while overall BBC TV viewing was down -8%.
Commercial TV channels, however, are looking in good shape.
While overall TV viewing for 16-34 year olds dropped by an average of three minutes a day compared with 2015 to two hours 20 minutes, the figures suggest that BBC channels are entirely to blame. During the period, commercial TV viewing actually increased by one minute to an average of one hour 49 minutes a day.
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“TV is thriving on all screens, but the importance of TV channels on TV sets cannot be overlooked. They remain the first port of call for the majority of people of all ages,” said Thinkbox’s research and planning director, Matt Hill.
“The apparent boost that commercial TV has received from BBC Three’s disappearance from the schedules underlines this fact – a strategy that is in stark contrast to the imminent arrival of Viceland on commercial TV.”
Indeed, commercial TV channels that cater for 16-34s have clearly benefited since BBC Three’s closure, with ITV2 – home to Love Island and Family Guy – seeing a 27% yearly increase in time spent viewing across March to June, while E4 was up 4%.
However, a spokesperson for BBC Three said it was looking to move away from US shows such as Family Guy and instead focus on British content.
“Since the move BBC Three has increased its share of BBC iPlayer from 4% of all requests and now reaches as high as 11%, from fewer shows,” the spokesperson said.
“The most requested show on BBC iPlayer this year is BBC Three’s Thirteen and BBC Three has seven of the top 20 most requested programmes from the BBC.
“BBC Three has also doubled its YouTube subscribers and increased view time threefold and is also increasing its output on social media. Things People With Down’s Syndrome Are Tired Of Hearing accumulated 109,000 likes, 12 million views, 195,000 shares and 6.5k comments on Facebook alone. It’s a different ball game.”
A BBC spokesperson added: “We are proud of the service we offer young audiences across our portfolio, BBC One is the most popular TV channel in the UK with 16-34s and the only channel to reach more than half of this group every week.
“It is important to note that BBC Three is no longer a TV channel, but a youth brand on TV, online and social media, so it should be no surprise it’s not consumed like a traditional TV channel.”
Overall, total TV viewing (including BBC channels) decreased slightly year on year to three hours, 34 minutes a day – a decrease of two minutes a day. TV’s weekly reach remained stable, at 93.8% of the UK. On average 86% of Jan-Jun TV viewing was live.
