Ofcom has today published a major study of diversity in the UK-based radio industry and it makes for quite interesting reading.
The report, Diversity and Equal Opportunities in Radio, reveals for the first time the scale of the diversity challenge facing the sector. It covers almost 9,000 staff across 16 radio organisations, with particular focus on three of the main radio broadcasters – the BBC, Bauer and Global.
The report finds that certain groups are under-represented in the radio industry:
- ethnic minority employees make up 6% of the radio workforce;
- 5% of radio roles go to people who consider themselves disabled; and
- women occupy 37% of senior management roles.
The study also shows that many broadcasters collect too little or no diversity data, and so are unaware of the wider make-up of their workforce.
These headline stats don’t really give a full picture so please click above to see the full report which follows a similar analysis of diversity in UK television, which will be updated in the autumn. Both are part of Ofcom’s monitoring programme to ensure that UK broadcasters are held to account on their equal opportunities obligations.
A news release summarising the radio report’s findings is available.