Public Service Broadcasting in the digital age: why differentiation is non-negotiable

The past decade has witnessed a fundamental realignment of the entertainment ecosystem. Where public service broadcasters (PSBs) like the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, and Channel 5 once set the cultural agenda, they now react to it. Meanwhile, streaming platforms now dominate entertainment attention with their vast content libraries and algorithmically driven personalisation.

These streaming platforms have irreversibly reshaped audience expectations, creating a digital-driven world where linear broadcasting feels increasingly antiquated.

The symptoms of this shift are plain to see. The BBC’s recent £24 million in cuts (part of a £700 million annual savings target) highlights these channels’ financial strain. A recent MIDiA blog explored how the BBC’s acclaimed drama Wolf Hall faced creative challenges due to budget constraints, which big streamers like Netflix are more immune to. Then, just last week Netflix’s Adolescence broke records by becoming the first programme on a streaming platform to top the weekly audience charts (per The Guardian).

Yet, while streaming services may eclipse PSBs in entertainment spending, one area of the PSB playbook feels distinctively non-replicable by commercial streamers: public service journalism.

This is the strategic imperative. In an era of fragmented attention and AI-generated content, public service journalism represents both moral purpose and competitive differentiation. The challenge is not matching streamers' content budgets but leveraging what sets PSBs apart.

Speaking truth to power

One of the more shocking casualties of the BBC’s £24 million cut was the long-running, long-form interview programme HARDtalk, which came to an end last week after an almost 30-year tenure.

Many viewers felt perplexed by the cancellation, none more so than the host himself, Stephen Sackur, who admitted that he could have stepped down, if a refresh was needed but balked at the idea of getting rid of the programme entirely (via The Guardian). The show’s production cost £1.2million per year – a significant figure, but hardly enough to solve the BBC’s ills.

The cancellation of HARDtalk represents more than just another budget cut. It signals a misunderstanding of what makes PSBs indispensable in a digital-first age. This, alongside the BBC shortening Newsnight to 30 minutes, and threats to the BBC World Service language services in 2028, reveals an institution increasingly judging its worth by commercial success over its value as a public service.

The BBC World Service's potential cuts exemplify this myopia. Its soft power is incalculable, so much so that it receives funding from the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO).

Yet in all these instances, the BBC appears to be prioritising short-term savings over its long-term mission. This is a category error: PSBs cannot be judged by the same metrics as the likes of streaming services, but look at why it differentiated, if it wants to be protected then it must act as a service worth protecting. The BBC’s value lies in providing the public with what the need not necessarily what they want.

The corporation's financial pressures are real, but the solution is not imitation. If the BBC measures success purely by ratings and profit margins, it becomes indistinguishable from commercial rivals and thus vulnerable to the same existential threats. Threats that it would struggle to defeat. If the PSBs want to be protected by the taxpayer, then they must justify this cost to the taxpayer. These cuts could mean the BBC turns into just another broadcaster and susceptible to be judged by the same measures of success.

PSBs must lead, not follow

The BBC’s ethos to inform, educate, and entertain feels more salient now than ever. But there is currently more focus on the latter than the former. In an era of increasing polarisation and disenfranchisement, when no one knows who or what to trust, the need for accountable non-partisan news services feels more vital.

As dis- and misinformation proliferates and trust erodes, PSBs can bulwark against this tide. The BBC must stop reacting to trends and start setting them by returning to its founding principles.

The way forward for PSBs is clear: stop competing with the big hitters, but take pride in your exceptionalism, and play to what makes you different, not the same.