Higher proportion of NI adults use BBC News than rest of UK

A higher proportion of adults in Northern Ireland use the BBC for news than any other part of the UK, according to the communications regulator Ofcom.

In its latest report on the BBC, Ofcom said that half of adults in Northern Ireland “use the BBC for news about their nation”.

That compares to around 39% of adults in England, Scotland and Wales.

Under the BBC’s charter, Ofcom is responsible for overseeing the corporations performance.

The regulator said that, despite “funding pressures, and against the backdrop of a rapidly changing media landscape”, the BBC had performed strongly for audiences.

For instance, although BBC radio audiences across the UK had declined, BBC Radio Ulster and BBC Radio Foyle had “the highest reach of the BBC’s local radio services, with 28% of adults listening each week”.

The average weekly audience for BBC TV in Northern Ireland was also slightly higher in Northern Ireland than in England and Scotland, and similar to Wales.

Almost three-quarters of adults in Northern Ireland used BBC Online, though that was slightly lower than other parts of the UK.

However, weekly use of the BBC Sounds app was lower in Northern Ireland than the UK average.

Ofcom mentioned the success in particular of the TV dramas Blue Lights and Hope Street.

Blue Lights, which follows a batch of newly-qualified officers navigating policing in a post-conflict Northern Ireland, won best drama at the Bafta TV awards in 2025.

The BBC’s own economic impact report had said the series had generated £17.5m for the Northern Ireland economy, while Hope Street had generated £20m.

However, Ofcom found the BBC had “missed its own commitments for Irish and Ulster-Scots programming on BBC Two Northern Ireland”.

It said that it would “follow up” with the BBC on that.

The BBC’s delivery of non-news and current affairs programmes in Northern Ireland in 2025 was also “lower than expected,” according to the regulator, and it missed its commitment for programmes representing and portraying audiences in Northern Ireland.

The corporation blamed delays in delivery and scheduling of some programmes.