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

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

At management level, the figures are starker still, with just one in ten (10 per cent) senior TV roles held by disabled staff. Similarly, from the limited socio-economic data available, it appears that only a quarter (27 per cent) of employees are from a working-class background, against the UK benchmark of 39 per cent.

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. Ofcom added it will continue to facilitate cross-industry engagement and action in this area, and twants 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.

Further findings from the report include:

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

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Tags: disability cup, Ofcom, production, UK