BBC Rips Up The Rulebook To Lure Young Listeners

Louisa Compton

Louisa Compton at BBC Radio 1’s Newsbeat has been charged with capturing the attention of a generation who “live life through their phone”.

The Guardian reports Compton has been tasked with spearheading the BBC’s switch to digital-first, using video, mobile and online to reach a 15 to 24-year-old audience who are switching off the radio in their droves.

“We are looking at ideas for the general election that involve telling some of the stories through a series of games, that kind of thing,” says Compton. “Newsbeat really should be pushing at the boundaries in a way that the rest of BBC News can’t necessarily do.”

Compton’s 15-minute lunchtime and teatime bulletins have a combined weekly reach of around 3.3 million listeners (compared to an overall Radio 1 audience of just under 11 million). More 15 to 24-year-olds (34% of them) get their news from Newsbeat than from any other BBC TV or radio outlet. Compton says it’s a myth that young people are not interested in news; the challenge is how to reach them.

Resources have been switched from the Newsbeat radio programme (“still very important”) to online and social media, with less polished, “super-produced” content and more immersive videos to reflect what its audience watches on YouTube.

As well as bending the rules governing traditional video news packages, Compton has cut the typical number of items on Newsbeat from nine to three, telling stories more creatively and packing them with information.

“We know our audience is more excited by news and consumes more news than any other generation,” she says.

“When I was at school and wanted to find out what was going on in the world, I had to wait until the 9 O’Clock News. Now they live their life through their phones and news is constantly reaching them and they are empowered to find out more. The world is so much smaller — they are talking on social media to people on the other side of the world.”

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