Rise in ethnic minorities employed in broadcasting

Published Thursday 9 October 2008 at 11:20 by Matthew Hemley

The number of people from ethnic minorities employed in the broadcasting sector is on the increase, a report published by media regulator Ofcom has found.

According to the regulating body, the percentage of all employees in both radio and television from ethnic backgrounds was 9.3% in 2007, compared with 9% the year before and 8.8% in 2005.

The report found that people from ethnic minorities accounted for 6.6% of all employees at senior level in the broadcasting sector, with people from ethnic minorities making up 9.5% of all those with top jobs in radio and 6.8% of total employees with senior roles in television.

Ofcom’s findings come after comments made earlier this year by Extras producer Charlie Hanson, who accused the BBC of failing ethnic minorities, and Lenny Henry, who called for the number of black and Asian people working as commissioners and directors at the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Five to be increased.

In its report, Ofcom also revealed the number of women working in broadcasting had dropped in 2007 compared with the year before.

In 2007, the proportion of women employed in broadcasting was 44.9%, compared with 45.2% in 2006.

The proportion of women at senior management and board levels was 31.8%, against 28.1% in 2006.

In television, women accounted for 40.7% of all those employed in production roles, compared with 34.3% of those with programming roles in radio.