UK terrestrial broadcasters sees ratings dip

All five British terrestrial broadcasters saw their audience share drop in 2010 as a result of multichannel fragmentation, with BBC2 the worst hit. The channel, operated by the British public broadcaster, saw its annual average share fall from 7.5% in 2009 to 6.9% in 2010. Channel 4, the ad-supported public broadcaster, also saw its share fall from 7.4% to 7%, overtaking BBC2 in the process, although this figure includes Channel 4’s timeshifted channel Channel 4 +1.

The BBC’s main channel BBC1 saw its share remain relatively stable, dropping slightly from 20.9% to 20.8%, while commercial broadcaster ITV saw its share fall from 17.8% to 17% and Richard Desmond-owned Channel 5 dropped to 4.5% from 4.9%. All terrestrial channels have lost audience share every year since 2005 as a result of the growth of digital terrestrial television channels and pay TV broadcasters.