When Boris Johnson presented a sketch of his decontainment plan on Sunday May 10, 27 million Britons watched it on television. Of those, while the Prime Minister’s speech was broadcast on almost all channels, 20 million did so on the BBC.
Since the start of the pandemic, the public audiovisual group has regained its central role in the United Kingdom. In the midst of a crisis, it was to the "Beeb" that the British instinctively turned en masse to get information, but also to find cooking recipes, provide children with educational content or follow sports lessons.
Even Peter Bazalgette, president of ITV, the leading private channel, applauds. "Televisions, ITV, but especially the BBC, did a good job during the pandemic, and the general public has found what they cannot find on the Internet. " The hearings jumped. The time spent in front of the Corporation's various television channels increased by 44% compared to the same period in 2019. For 16-34 year olds, who moved away from the BBC before the crisis, it increased by 67% . As for the most-watched 6:00 p.m. newspaper, it has returned to its former high-mass role, with more than 7 million daily viewers. 26 million Britons watch, listen to or read news from the public group every day, compared to 16 million in normal times.
Fiercely independent
The year had started off badly for the BBC, however. Furious at what he perceived to be an anti-Brexit and anti-conservative bias, Boris Johnson openly threatened to abolish the levy and had begun to seriously cut his budget. At the same time, his government boycotted "Today", the flagship morning radio show.
As soon as the confinement was profiled, he completely changed his attitude. Ministers are now parading on "Today" If, in normal times, a strategy of circumvention by social networks and competing chains seemed possible, it proved to be impossible in the urgency of the moment. Opposite, the star interviewers, usually ferocious, dropped in tone. "We felt like we were part of the nation's effort," says Sarah Sands, the editor of “Today”. At first, she said smiling, "Even the weather presenters were worried: if the weather was nice, should we say it at the risk of encouraging people to go outside?" "
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