The BBC has pledged the biggest investment in homegrown children’s content in a generation to keep up with the shift to online viewing, and fight the influence of shows backed by US rivals such as Netflix and Amazon.
Spending on British-made children’s programming by UK broadcasters such as the BBC, ITV and Channel 4 has plummeted in the past 15 years, while services such as Netflix have plugged the hole by funding increasing numbers of original commissions for children.
The BBC, which in March was asked by the regulator Ofcom to produce more UK-commissioned programming for children, is to announce a £34m budget increase over the next three years.
“Investment in British content, particularly for the young, is vital – unless we want more of our culture shaped and defined by the rise of west coast American companies,” a BBC source said.
The BBC director general, Tony Hall, and chairman, David Clementi, will announce the new children’s strategy on Tuesday with a much greater focus on online content.
The broadcaster’s annual children’s budget will rise from £110m to £124.4m by 2019-20, with a commitment to spend about a quarter (£31.4m) of that online. The aim is to keep pace with the dramatic shift in viewing, especially by younger audiences, to digital devices.
“Tony Hall has set a clear challenge: to reinvent the BBC for a new generation,” the BBC source said. “The way children and young people are watching and consuming programmes and other content is changing fast, and the BBC needs to respond. We are exploring how new technologies can enhance how children and adults can access services and discover new content.”
Money will be invested in creating an enhanced online offering with new forms of content and interactivity.
The corporation said multimedia content would include video, live online programme extensions as well as clips, pictures, blogs, video blogs, podcasts, quizzes, guides games and apps. The new digital content will sit alongside the existing children’s TV channels, CBBC and CBeebies.
Last year the corporation scrapped the youth-focused BBC3 TV channel in favour of an online-only offering, which saved £30m annually.
Hall will also say the BBC must embrace new and developing technologies such as virtual reality, voice activation and artificial intelligence to remain at the cutting edge and relevant to viewers.
“We are exploring how new technologies can enhance how children and adults can access services and discover new content,” the BBC source said.
According to Ofcom, £77m was spent on first-run UK-originated children’s programming in 2015, down from £140m in 2005.
Between 1998 and 2015, ITV’s original children’s programming fell from 424 hours a year to just 42; Channel 5’s fell from 353 hours to 30. Channel 4’s production of children’s television has fallen from 49 hours to zero. The BBC is responsible for 97% of original UK-produced children’s programming.
In March, Ofcom, which has taken over governance of the BBC from the BBC Trust, said it would require CBBC to broadcast at least 400 hours, and CBeebies at least 100 hours, of new UK-commissioned programming each year.