Entertainment

BBC quotas on original programming rise under new Ofcom rules

The regulator will require more music by emerging UK artists on Radio 1 and Radio 2, it said.
The regulator will require more music by emerging UK artists on Radio 1 and Radio 2, it said. The regulator will require more music by emerging UK artists on Radio 1 and Radio 2, it said.

BBC1 and BBC2 will be required to broadcast original content in 90% of peak evening hours, in new rules set out by regulator Ofcom.

The regulator also said it will require “more music from new and emerging UK artists” on Radio 1 and Radio 2.

The rules are part of a new operating licence for the broadcaster, the first since Ofcom took over regulating the BBC.

The BBC already exceeds the targets for BBC1 and BBC2 but it has now been set new rules by Ofcom.

Ofcom said that the BBC “must broadcast more original UK programmes” to offer “high-quality, distinctive programmes for its entire audience”.

Ofcom sign
Ofcom sign
Ofcom (Yui Mok/PA)

From next year, it will require at least 75% of all programme hours on the BBC’s most popular TV channels to be original productions, “commissioned by the BBC for UK audiences”.

That quota will reach 90% during peak evening hours on BBC1 and BBC2.

There will be new requirements on Radio 1 and Radio 2 to play a broader range of music than commercial stations, and more music from new and emerging UK artists.

Children’s channels CBBC and CBeebies must show at least 400 and 100 hours, respectively, of new, UK-commissioned programmes each year.