Statement: Changes to the BBC’s Operating Licence

Statement published 18 December 2025

We have today, following a consultation, decided to approve the BBC’s request to make three changes to the BBC’s Operating Licence.

The BBC’s request

Faced with significant financial pressures, the BBC aims to deliver a target of £700 million in savings by March 2028. In order to help it progress its savings and reinvestment plans, the BBC requested that Ofcom make changes to certain Operating Licence conditions that relate to network current affairs, BBC Local Radio, and BBC Radio 5 Live.

Our decision

In summary, we have decided:

• in relation to the network current affairs quota, to set a new condition requiring the BBC to deliver at least 70 hours of first-run UK original current affairs programming during peak viewing time across BBC One and BBC Two. This replaces the previous joint quota of 106 hours, which included repeats. The overall annual quota of 450 hours of current affairs programming remains unchanged. The new quota would for the first time, guarantee a minimum number of hours of first-run UK original current affairs programming on the BBC’s main channels at the time most people watch. We have also clarified that programmes first made available on BBC iPlayer can count towards this quota only if they are broadcast on BBC One or BBC Two within 24 hours of their online release;
• in relation to BBC Local Radio shared programming, to amend the condition so shared programming cannot count towards the locally-made programming quota if broadcast between 6am and 2pm on weekdays, protecting the most valuable listening hours for local audiences. The overall annual quota for locally-made programming and the requirement for local news bulletins remain unchanged; and
• in relation to the BBC Radio 5 Live reporting condition, to remove the annual requirement for the BBC to report the number of hours of live commentary for each sport on BBC Radio 5 Live. The BBC will continue to be required to cover at least 20 different sports annually and to publish a list of those sports, ensuring continued transparency and distinctiveness.

We consider that the revised Operating Licence conditions are appropriate for requiring the BBC to fulfil its Mission and promote its Public Purposes. In making these changes, we expect the BBC to be transparent about how it is delivering for audiences and to monitor the impact of the changes to ensure that, where necessary, it continues to adapt to better serve audiences.

We will continue to hold the BBC to account through our compliance and performance assessments. This will include monitoring the BBC’s delivery of current affairs across BBC One and Two; how the BBC is delivering for local audiences; and the distinctiveness of BBC radio, including 5 Live. We will report on these areas as part of our Annual Reports on the BBC and will intervene if we identify concerns.