BBC News viewers reached quarterly in the United Kingdom (UK) Q1 2012-Q2 2019

The BBC News TV channel has seen a decline in reach over recent years in the United Kingdom. In the second quarter of 2019, there were just over 18 million viewers. Five years previously, the number of viewers stood at 25 million.

Number one for news?

According to a 2019 survey, a quarter of adults in England use the BBC News channel for news. However, it’s not the most commonly used news source. BBC One was used by 58 percent of respondents, and 38 percent used ITV. The third most used news source in England in 2019 was the social media service Facebook. 

What about the most popular TV channel generally?

The most popular television channel in the UK, as of September 2019, was Channel 4 with a 77 percent positivity rating. The second most popular channel was BBC One with 76 percent, and then ITV came in third with 70 percent.