'Time bomb' of fewer viewers watching the television news

The man in charge of BBC news said that growing numbers of the public were not watching news bulletins on television.

He said it was a "time bomb" which would mean big changes in the way that the BBC and its rivals covered the news – particularly politics.

Richard Sambrook, who became director of news at the BBC earlier this year, told a meeting of the Royal Television Society in London that research showed 40 per cent of the audience felt alienated by the way politics was presented on television.

The BBC is currently conducting a review into its political coverage. Mr Sambrook, who is also head of current affairs programming, emphasised the benefit of different styles of bulletins for different age groups, including youth-orientated short bulletins which the BBC will launch on its new digital channels.

"One statistic keeps me awake at night," he said. "We've been talking for a long time about the problem of getting people under 25 to watch more news. Then it became those under 35 who weren't watching.

"Now news viewing across all channels is down 25 per cent for the under 45s. There's a generation, growing older which just doesn't sit down and watch news as their parents did.

"I see that as a time bomb. A demographic wave sweeping through all of our audiences."

BBC research, he said, had revealed a new political divide. "It's now 'us and them' with 'them' being politicians, the establishment, broadcasters and media," he said.

The solution, said Mr Sambrook, involved breaking some familiar formats. "I think the BBC has a duty to innovate, to create something new, particularly when we sense public attitudes shifting."