4. Should the BBC’s output and services be provided to any greater or lesser degree/

[french frank]

Full question:

4. Should the BBC’s output and services be provided to any greater or lesser degree for particular audiences?

It seems to me that there is a huge bias towards music programmes for the (adult) under 35s (esp. on radio),. This is nevertheless a demographic which is still being furiously pursued with the provision of popular music. Radio 1, Radio 1Xtra, the Asian Network (primary target audience under 35), 6Music. And for the older audiences, popular music on Radio 2. So it's not just for the demographic but for the, admittedly vast, sprawling, genre of popular music. With the possible exception of 6 Music, much of it is easily available, and even 6 Music (as I understand ) is playing more newer music than was envisaged when its licence was granted for playing mainly archive 'pop'.

Radio 1 and 1Xtra cater for a similar demographic and spent £48.3m last year. The reasons for targeting this audience is strategic. They have BBC Three as well, though it isn't as if they don't watch Doctor Who, EastEnders &c on mainstream television.

Should the BBC target younger audiences particularly just because, strategically, they want to give them the 'BBC habit' while still young?

[Anna]

Should the BBC target younger audiences particularly just because, strategically, they want to give them the 'BBC habit' while still young?

Possibly on wrong thread, (please delete if you wish) but interesting article in the Telegraph about how people are abandoning computers to watch iplayer in favour of smartphones and tablets.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/mediatechnologyandtelecoms/digital-media/10401398/BBC-iPlayer-viewers-abandon-computers-for-smartphones-and-tablets.html

At the end of the article it says:

Director-general Lord Hall said this month the BBC would “reinvent” the iPlayer, extending availability to 30 days after broadcast and making more programmes available online before broadcast.
By 2022 the service will be “the front door to many people to the whole BBC”, he said.
The media analysts Enders estimate that iPlayer currently accounts for only 3pc of total viewing, rising to 7pc among 16 to 34-year-olds.
Explaining the focus on iPlayer in the BBC’s strategy, Lord Hall said: “Almost every teenager today has a mobile and it’s this device they value most, not the radio or the television.”

[french frank]

Actually, Lord Hall's final comment is very relevant. The question is about the balance of BBC provision between particular audiences. If you look at the preferences of Radio 2 audiences, for example, you see that they are - not surprisingly - very different according to age group, but it's the older audiences (including what one might call the 'Classic FM audience') which progressively loses out.