BBC has 'responsibility' to produce home-grown UK children's programmes

Hannah Furness
Updated
Hacker T Dog and Katie Thistleton attend the BAFTA Children's Awards - Getty Images Europe
Hacker T Dog and Katie Thistleton attend the BAFTA Children's Awards - Getty Images Europe

The BBC has a “responsibility” to give children access to British television programmes, amid concerns over the dominance of US giants Netflix and YouTube, its head of children’s television has said.

Alice Webb said the BBC could still compete with streaming services, despite their difference in budgets, as she vowed to keep “innovating” to give young people in Britain home-grown television shows.

Earlier this year, Lord Hall, the director-general, suggested the culture of Britain’s youth faces being “shaped and defined” by Facebook, Amazon and Netflix, as he announced major investment in children's television.

Then, the BBC confirmed it will invest £34 million in expanding digital programming for children, as it attempts to win their attention in a changing online world.

CBeebies Bedtime Story, read by Tom Hardy - Credit: BBC
CBeebies Bedtime Story, read by Tom Hardy Credit: BBC

In a speech to staff, Lord Hall, the director-general, detailed how the BBC must “reinvent” its offering to its youngest audience in the coming years, moving beyond television programmes to become a serious rival to “global media giants”.

According to a report in April, the BBC is now responsible for 97 per cent of original children's programming in the UK on its two children's channels, CBeebies and CBBC.

Webb told the Guardian that British-made programmes were in the “DNA” of the BBC,  insisting “an absolutely core principle for us that we are serving kids and that they are enjoying distinctive UK content”.

iPlayer Kids aims to rival US streaming services
iPlayer Kids aims to rival US streaming services

“I think that we have all got a responsibility to make sure that children have got a choice of UK content.”

Later this year, she will host a summit about children’s programming, saying it was aimed partly at “finding a way to make sure that we are delivering unique content that helps children make sense of the world around them as they are growing up”.

On Sunday night, the Bafta Children’s Awards saw online streaming channels Amazon and Netflix up for their first nominations, two apiece.

TrueTube, the online educational platform, received seven nominations, with CBeebies receiving its 11th consecutive nomination for Channel of the Year. CBBC was also nominated.