News Release

Embargo: not for publication or broadcast before 00:01 am 5 December

Public 'Well Served' by Religious Broadcasting

Reports of the demise of religious broadcasting are premature, according to the latest issue of arts and media journal Cultural Trends.

Despite concerns expressed earlier this year at the Church of England General Synod, religious broadcasting is thriving on the terrestrial TV networks and the public on the whole is being as well served today as it ever has been.

Religious programming currently occupies about six and a half hours of broadcast time each week across the five main TV channels, an increase on recent years. And viewers for religious programmes are highly diverse, far from the stereotypical image of elderly audiences unable to get to church.

The research, by Rachel Viney, is published today in the latest issue of arts and media journal Cultural Trends. It contains new figures that enable a comparison of the reach of religious broadcasting on the five main TV channels between 1988 and 1998.

Main findings were that:

• In one month in 1998, a majority of adults (54%) saw at least one religious programme, down only slightly from the 62% registered a decade earlier;
• There has been a shift away from broadcast church services towards a more varied schedule of programming, appealing to different audiences;
• Reach had held up better among viewers aged between 16 and 44 than amongst those aged over 45;
• Viewers aged 16 - 24 and 25 - 34 saw the same number of religious programmes in February1998 as they had ten years before;
• The average weekly amount of religion broadcast on ITV and BBC 1 has remained static since 1988;
• The overall amount of religion broadcast on networked channels has increased since the launch of Channel 5.

Far from becoming a minority interest, religious broadcasting has maintained its appeal. The variety of programmes now on offer has helped to broaden the audience demographics and encouraged younger people to tune in.

However, the author concludes that the diversity of programming is largely a 'happy accident' and that the fortunes of religious programmes depend very much on the enthusiasm and vision of those individuals responsible for commissioning them.

'This research shows that today's religious broadcasting is far removed from the popular image of ladies in hats singing hymns. Unfortunately that outdated perception still persists in many people's minds, including some broadcasters' said author Rachel Viney. 'It is time that religious broadcasting was regarded as having a positive contribution to make to the health of multi-cultural Britain.'

Contact: Neil Churchill on 07769 971851

Notes to Editors

1. Cultural Trends is published quarterly by the Policy Studies Institute, part of the University of Westminster.
2. The controversy over religious broadcasting was most recently sparked by a private member's motion in the General Synod in February 2000, which was highly critical of BBC religion.
3. Rachel Viney is a freelance media consultant. From 1990 to 1999 she was Religious Broadcasting Officer at the Independent Television Commission.
4. Press review copies of Cultural Trends are available from PSI on 020 7468 2319.
5. Copies of Cultural Trends 36, ISBN 0 85374 7741, can be purchased from Carfax Publishing Ltd on 01235 401 000, priced £30.00.