How does Newsbeat appeal to a young / younger audience?

• I want to argue that BBC Newsbeat is attempting to stay relevant through appealing to younger audiences. This can be seen through a number of things; young presenters, active social media presence, and focus on stories that interest / affect young people.
• Statistics suggest that they are failing to do so.

Media Industries

BBC is a PSB. focus is on informing and educating.

BBC is a large company with over 22000 staff, offices.

Newsbeat is the BBC’s radio news programme broadcast on Radio 1, 1Xtra and Asian Network. 

The fifteen-minute Newsbeat programme is broadcast at 12:45 and 17:45 during the week on Radio 1

Newsbeat is a multi-platform media project. It can be accessed on their website, on twitter, and on Instagram.

BBC newsbeat – very active on social media – twitter and Instagram

Media Audiences

Newsbeat is produced by BBC News but differs from the BBC’s other news programmes in its remit to provide news tailored for a specifically younger audience of teenagers and early twentysomethings.

There was 9 million listeners in the first week of 2022 – shows how they reach a wide audience.

Even though their target audience is young, their average listener is 30 years old.

Newsbeat is broadcast on BBC Radio 1, targeting 15–30-year-olds who enjoy chart-based music

Majority of newsbeat hosts are in their 20s

Deliver news in fairly simple terms – easy to understand

Focus on celebrity content

Many news stories on things that affect young people:

for instance, on results day, they always run a story on the results

Plus, although the BBC is neutral, newsbeat covers things that might interest more left-leaning individuals, for instance, LGBT community.

Newsbeat bulletins are short – 2-3 minutes – assumption is that young people dont have the attention span for anything longer.