Complaints vs breaches: An analysis of how often BBC and Ofcom find broadcasters have broken rules on impartiality

Complaints vs breaches:  An analysis of how often BBC and Ofcom find broadcasters have broken rules on impartiality

On 25 September 2025, the BBC’s Executive Complaints Unit (ECU) published its ruling on the livestream of a Glastonbury performance by punk-rap duo Bob Vylan that featured alleged hate speech. The broadcast generated more than 5,000 complaints, which were considered under the BBC’s editorial guidelines on harm and offence, incitement, and—crucially for our project—impartiality.

The ECU ruled that the broadcast breached standards on harm and offence but not impartiality, noting:

“coverage of a music festival is clearly not on the same footing as coverage of news and current affairs; […] a wide tolerance for expressions of opinion by performers or audiences would be in keeping with audience expectations for events it does cover.”

This decision reignited a familiar debate : what does impartiality mean in practice, and how do regulators decide when a breach has occurred? In this blog, we explore these questions by comparing the tens of thousands of complaints made to Ofcom and the BBC about impartiality, accuracy, and bias between January and August 2025.

Tracking Ofcom complaints: What audiences complain about most

Between January and August 2025, Ofcom received 33,108 complaints about all UK broadcasters. Nearly three-quarters related to ITV (71.7%, n=23,736) with most related to entertainment shows. Channel 5 was the second most complained about channel (6.7%, n=2,224). By comparison, news-focused services such as GB News (5.1%, n=1,697) – which often attracts headlines for breaches rules on impartiality – and Sky News (4.7%, n=1,555) received fewer complaints about their programming.

Half of all complaints about ITV related to Love Island (50.8%, n=13,864), amid public concern around allegations of gaslighting and bullying in the latest series. Other entertainment series drew similarly high volumes of complaints, including Celebrity Big Brother (4.4%, n=1,200) and Britain’s Got Talent (3.93%, n=1,302). Political discussion programmes were less complained about but still attracted substantial attention, such as: Sky News’ Today with Samantha Washington (3.9%, n=1,302) and GB News’ Patrick Christys Tonight (2.1%, n=682).

The most common complaint category was about “generally accepted standards”, an Ofcom complaint category designed to protect the public from harmful or offensive material, including offensive language, discrimination, and sexual or violent content. More than half (55.9%, n=18,507) of all complaints fell into this bracket. By contrast, there were far fewer complaints related to the impartiality of broadcasters: due accuracy (4.5%, n=1,502), due impartiality/bias (3.3%, n=1,077), and due impartiality (just four cases). Despite news headlines often reporting on broadcasters breaking rules on impartiality, this type of editorial breach makes up a small fraction of complaints submitted to Ofcom.

What BBC data reveals about audience priorities

Unlike other UK broadcasters, the BBC operates its own complaints process—BBC First. Under this system, concerns must be raised with the BBC directly before they can be escalated to Ofcom. The BBC is expected to respond within 10 working days, though only complaints raising significant issues receive a public response, such as a statement on September 3 about the broadcaster’s prominent coverage of Reform UK. Dissatisfied complainants can then appeal to the Executive Complaints Unit (ECU), and only after this stage can a complaint be referred to Ofcom.

Between January and August 2025, the BBC received 9,602 complaints [1].  More than half concerned BBC iPlayer (52.5%, n=5,041), followed by BBC One (19.6%, n=1,878), BBC Radio 4 (12.6%, n=1,209), and BBC News (8.7%, n=836). Radio services collectively accounted for a smaller share (12.7%, n=1,222), though a range of stations, including BBC Radio 2 and Radio 6 Music, featured.

As with Ofcom, entertainment and music were the biggest drivers of complaints for the BBC (45.3%, n=3,396), dominated by Glastonbury and Bob Vylan’s performance (52.0% of complaints, n=5,041). News and current affairs followed (32.5%, n=2,446), with BBC News (n=1,224) and Today (n=1,202) among the frequently complained about. Documentaries also attracted notable attention (14.8%, n=1,114), while morning shows (3.6%, n=270) and political discussion programmes (3.8%, n=285) were less frequently the subject of complaints.

Our analysis reveals there is a major difference in the type of complaints the BBC receives about its output compared to complaints made to Ofcom about broadcasters more generally. For the BBC, impartiality overwhelmingly dominated, accounting for 72.9% (n=5,482) of all complaints. By comparison, fairness (6.2%, n= 468), gender discrimination/offence (5.7%, n=428), and accuracy (5.7%, n=426) were far less prominent. This suggests audiences strongly associate the BBC with impartiality and possible breaches of favouring one party or political issue over another.

Complaint outcomes: what regulators decide

Despite differences in what audiences complain about to the BBC and Ofcom, the outcome of their complaints was broadly similar across both organisations. Almost all complaints to of Ofcom were not pursued further (n=32, 715, 99.97% of complaints), while the vast majority were not by the BBC either (n=7,095, 93.% of complaints). At the BBC, 68.9% (n=6,684) did not progress beyond the initial stage. Upheld cases were rare in both systems, though the proportions differ. At Ofcom, only nine complaints were upheld (0.03%). At the BBC, 4.6% (n=350) were upheld and 0.2% (n=13) upheld in part. However, outcomes for 21.9% (n=2,124) of BBC complaints remain unknown, as the organisation does not always publish full details online.

Examining the specifics of upheld complaints reveals they often concern concrete, provable breaches. For Ofcom, this included offensive language likely to be heard by children and undue product prominence. At the BBC, upheld complaints were most often about accuracy (45.5%, 5 cases), such as the misrepresentation of political figures.

When it comes to impartiality specifically , the majority of complaints were halted early. Complaints dealt with by Ofcom, show 97.9% related to due accuracy, 100% related to due impartiality, and 77.4% related to due impartiality/bias were not pursued. At the BBC, 98.8% of impartiality complaints, 99.5% of bias complaints, and 83.4% of accuracy complaints were resolved at the initial stage. A small number of cases did progress: impartiality complaints at the BBC were upheld in 6.2% of cases (n=341), compared with 0.7% for accuracy (n=3).

Our systematic examination of complaints and whether they were upheld by the BBC and Ofcom reveals a clear distinction between the importance of impartiality in the public’s perception of broadcasters and actual regulatory outcomes; audience concerns rarely result in breaches of broadcasting standards.

Conclusion & implications

The BBC’s decision regarding Bob Vylan’s Glastonbury performance highlights a broader truth: impartiality often dominates headlines. It fuels thousands of audience complaints, especially about the BBC, yet it rarely results in a regulatory breach for broadcasters. This contrast demonstrates a crucial gap between how the public perceives impartiality and how it is defined and applied by regulators.

Our analysis of both BBC and Ofcom complaints reveals that impartiality, accuracy, and bias were often a cause of concern by audiences, but complaints only upheld in exceptional cases. By contrast, categories such as “harm and offence” or “generally accepted standards” more often lead to upheld cases. Impartiality thus emerges as one of the most contested and the most resilient of broadcasting standards: constantly challenged, seldom breached.

As the impartiality of broadcasters continues to dominate media attention and generate public debate, analysing complaint patterns offers important insights—not only into how regulators work, but also how the public think about the TV and radio they spend hours watching and listening each day.

Footnotes

[1] Unlike Ofcom, the BBC does not consistently publish the full volume of complaints it receives. Instead, the BBC releases fortnightly PDF summaries that collate and categorise complaints. Only those issues judged to be of “wide audience concern” or those generating significant numbers of submission are included. In such analysis, such cases have been classified as “not applicable” and recorded with a zero value, since no reliable information is available.