Trends

It would be good to have the evidence that leads Fran Unsworth to predict a dimming future for tv news bulletins over the next ten years. 

In the latest BARB Top 30s, BBC News bulletins take ten of the top 15 most viewed programmes on BBC1, in a range from 3.5m to 4.5m.  

In the same week a year ago, four editions of the Six O'Clock News reached 3.8m, putting them in the Top 30 for BBC1, alongside the two weekend late bulletins. 

In 2010, the Sunday late bulletin on BBC1 scored 4.8m, three editions of the 10pm News and three editions of 6pm News scored around 4m.

The 'threats' have been around for some time. BBC News 24 started in 1997. By 2010, it's weekly reach was 9.6m; now it claims a four-week reach of 13m. BBC News Online also started, formally, in 1997. By 2010, it was claiming 2 billion monthly page views.  Lord knows how many it's got now. 

In 2013, when Ofcom started its series of surveys on news consumption, BBC1 was the main source of news for 57% of the population. This year's figure: 56%. 

One element that Fran might have missed. Relatively, BBC News programmes are cheaper output for BBC1.