Nearly 50% of people working in TV are now based outside of London but broadcasters still have considerable work to do when it comes to retaining staff from underrepresented backgrounds, according to research from Ofcom.  
 

The latest Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in TV and radio report marks the first time the watchdog has examined the geographic spread of the UK broadcasters. It covers 36, 270 UK-based employees across 47 broadcasters. 
 

It reveals that 44% of those working in TV and 54% of radio workers are based outside-of-London (OOL), with one in six based in the north of England. The BBC leads the charge with 54% of staff based OOL, followed by Sky with 51%, ITV with 46% and Channel 4 with 26%. Channel 5 owner Paramount has 0% of workers based in the nations and regions.  
 

The report also reveals that between April 2022 and March 2023, 5,577 people left the TV industry against the 6,371 who joined in the same period.  
 

It points out that while broadcasters are recruiting higher proportions of people form underrepresented groups, women, disabled people and people from minority ethnic backgrounds are leaving broadcasters “in disproportionate numbers”.  
 

A lack of diversity at senior levels also continues to be a problem. The numbers of women and those from minority ethnic groups working at broadcasters are either near or ahead of the national benchmark for their respective demographics. However they are underrepresented at senior management level, with 42% of managers in TV women and 13% in TV from ethnically diverse backgrounds – under the 48% and 14% working population averages. 
 

Ofcom also highlighted that disabled people “remain substantially underrepresented” at all job levels; 10% of all TV employees and just 8% of senior managers identify as disabled, compared to the national working benchmark of 16%.  
 

The number of people from working class backgrounds working in broadcasting also fails to match the national average of 39%, with 28% of employees across TV and radio coming from a lower socio-economic background.  
 

“There are significant opportunities for senior leaders to do more to drive change. Our new data set shows that many broadcasters have EDI leadership policies in place, but it also indicates there can be a disconnect between these policies and active senior buy in,” Ofcom states. 
 

“This may make it harder to genuinely embed EDI within broadcasters, which may be further compounded by a lack of diversity at senior levels.” 
 

Breaking the PSB figures down 

Among the different demographics examined by Ofcom, Channel 4 had the highest numbers in most categories.  
 

Its workforce is made up of 59% of women, with 52% in senior leadership positions, the highest of all the main broadcasters. ITV is second with 55% of women employees, followed by Paramount (51%) and Sky and the BBC (both 46%).   
 

C4 and Sky surpassed the 14% benchmark for people from minority ethnic backgrounds, with each reporting that 21% of their employees are from ethnically diverse backgrounds. However, Paramount topped the list with 24%, followed by ITV and the BBC on 16% each.  
 

All of the broadcasters comfortably exceeded the 3% benchmark for workers who identify as LGB+, with C4 topping the list (14%), followed by the BBC (11%), ITV (10%), Paramount (9%) and Sky (7%). C4 also had the youngest workforce, with 86% of staff under the age of 50, against the national benchmark of 68%. All of the other broadcasters comfortably surpassed the average, apart from the BBC which was in line with the national average.  
 

However, none of the broadcasters reported figures for disabled employees that were in line with the national working average of 16%. C4 was closest with 15%, followed by ITV and Paramount (both 12%), the BBC (10%) and Sky (8%). 
 

Alex Mahon, chief exec of C4, said: “I am incredibly proud Channel 4 has the highest percentage of women across our sector, the highest proportion of women and ethnically diverse staff at a senior management level, and the highest percentage of disabled employees. While there’s a great deal more to do, we’re excited about our progress and remain utterly committed to working with our industry partners to keep moving forwards to create further positive change.”

This article first appeared on our sister site, Broadcast.

Image: Channel 4 drama The Couple Next Door, filmed across Leeds and Bradford.