BBC One should be "contemporary and modern"

BBC One controller Jay Hunt has cautioned that the channel must be careful to maintain mass appeal across all age groups and not be perceived as being too old-fashioned.

Speaking at the Edinburgh International Television Festival, Hunt noted that the average BBC One viewer is 52 years old and that a mass appeal public service channel must remain relevant to, for example, "a 40 year old mum of two".

"I'm not suggesting that we fundamentally change the mix of programming," she said, ruling out a "massive recalibration" of the channel's output in favour of bringing "contemporary and modern" feel to the output to "renew" how the channel serves its "heartland audience".

Hunt denied that talent shows are overexposed on the BBC One schedule. "I think talent shows play an incredibly important part of what we do," she said.

Adding that she considers BBC One to be "in rude health", she plans to focus on developing family drama for early evening on Saturdays, and pointed to the 10:35pm slot as one where that is open to taking "creative risk". She confirmed that a popular science magazine show is being developed for 7:30pm, but flatly denied that Tomorrow's World would return.

Among the key decisions she said she has taken since joining the channel, she cited the decisions to extend the Panorama Primark special to 60 minutes and to take the recent Kennel Club investigation from BBC Four, as examples of her commitment to current affairs as a key part of BBC One's output.