WIREDGOV

Disabled people remain significantly under-represented across TV and radio and data on class representation remains poor, according to Ofcom’s latest study on the make-up of the broadcasting industry workforce.

Ofcom’s ninth annual equity, diversity and inclusion in broadcasting report shows that disabled people continue to be woefully underrepresented across the industry, accounting for 12% of TV employees and 9% of radio employees in 2025. Despite representation increasing slightly year on year, it still falls well below the working population average of 18%.

At management level, the figures are starker still, with just one in ten (10%) senior TV roles held by disabled staff.

Similarly, from the limited socio-economic data available, it appears that only a quarter (27%) of employees are from a working-class background, against the UK benchmark of 39%.

Ofcom is calling on broadcasters to redouble their efforts, building on the sector-wide initiatives already in place, to drive improvements in disability representation in the coming year. We will continue to facilitate cross-industry engagement and action in this area.

We also want to see the significant gaps in socio-economic data collection addressed. Ofcom will convene an industry roundtable to agree comparable metrics and how they should be collected and used.

Other notable findings from the report include:

• there has been a steady growth of broadcast jobs outside of the capital, with nearly half (49%) of the UK’s TV and radio workforce is now based outside of London in the Nations and Regions - up from 48% last year.
• representation of women (44%) and people from minority ethnic groups (9%) across senior management roles remains below UK workforce benchmarks.