TV chef Simon Rimmer announces that Greens, a Manchester-based vegetarian restaurant of which he is co-owner, is closing with immediate effect after 33 years.[3]
The running times of BBC Breakfast and Morning Live are extended. BBC Breakfast runs until 9.30 with Morning Live airtime extended to 75 minutes, giving that programme a transmission slot of 9.30 to 10.45.[4]
ITV criticises ex-footballer Joey Barton after he likened Eni Aluko and Lucy Ward, who were commentating on a football match the previous evening, to serial killers Fred and Rose West. ITV describes the remarks on X as "vindictive".[6]
The weekday editions of Sky News Breakfast are refreshed. The programme starts at the earlier time of 6am, and new presenters join the programme.[10]
9
Provisional viewing figures indicate that 9.2 million people have watched the ITV drama Mr Bates vs the Post Office, making it the most watched programme of 2024 so far.[11] Subsequent data, which includes catch-up, put the figure at 9.75m.[12]
11
The Liberal Democrats ask Ofcom to investigate GB News over alleged bias in its coverage of the Post Office scandal, including what the party's deputy leader, Daisy Cooper, describes as "a fictitious monologue" Nigel Farage delivered about leader Sir Ed Davey, which she says contained "a number of factual inaccuracies".[13]
13
Gladiators returns for its third run on BBC One and BBC iPlayer with Bradley Walsh and his son Barney presenting. The show was previously aired on ITV from 1992 to 2000 and Sky One from 2008 to 2009. The revival has attracted an audience of 6 million viewers, becoming the biggest entertainment launch for the BBC in seven years.[14][15]
Debut of Smooth Radio's new television advertising campaign featuring famous UK landmarks and its new strapline, "Always the best music", which launches in a commercial break during the opening edition of Dancing on Ice.[20]
15
Love Island returns with an "All Stars" series, with the launch show episode being broadcast simultaneously on ITV1 and ITV2, featuring former contestants from the past ten series.[21]
Rhodri Williams announces he has written to the UK government to ask them not to consider him for a second term as chairman of S4C following controversy at the TV channel.[23]
17
The BBC has agreed a deal with insurance company Axa to sell its Elstree Studios, which includes the EastEnders set. The set will be leased back from Axa so that filming can continue there.[24]
An error with the calculation of viewing figures that had given GB News a million viewers for its New Year's Eve coverage is corrected by BARB, and shows the channel actually had 33,000 viewers that evening.[25]
18
Kim Medcalf makes an unannounced departure from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, two years after returning to the soap as the character Sam Mitchell.[26]
22
The World launches on Sky News. The hour-long international news programme airs Monday to Thursday at 9pm and is part of Sky News' evening sequence of individually branded, and focussed, hour-long programmes.[27][28]
The UK government announces plans to give Ofcom more powers over the BBC's online content, including BBC News.[29]
The UK government rejects calls from Welsh MPs to add the Six Nations Championship to the list of guaranteed free-to-air sporting events on British television.[30]
24
The 2024 Brit Award nominees are announced. Raye received the most nominations with seven in total, breaking the record for the most nominations received by a single artist in a year.
25
Campaigners for myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) have criticised BBC One's Dragons' Den for promoting a product with "unfounded" claims after a businesswoman appeared on the show promoting a product she claimed had helped improve her ME.[31] The episode is subsequently edited to include an onscreen message during the businesswoman's appearance.[32]
Kate Garraway returns to her presenting role on Good Morning Britain, presenting alongside Ben Shephard.[40][41]
TalkTV airs the final edition of Piers Morgan Uncensored to be shown regularly on the channel. In a subsequent interview with The Times, Morgan announces he is moving the show to his YouTube channel, where he can conduct longer and more in-depth interviews without the "unnecessary straitjacket" of television, and build a global following. TalkTV says some of Morgan's shows will continue to air on the channel.[42]
ITV announces that 25 James Bond films will be made available through the ITVX platform from March.[43]
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak appears on an hour long GB News People's Forum, where a selected audience of undecided voters are invited to ask him questions. The programme is presented by Stephen Dixon.[45]
13
The BBC announces the closure of the BBC iPlayer downloads service for desktop and laptop computers from 8 April; downloads will still be available for users of the BBC iPlayer app on mobile and tablet, and streaming remains possible on all devices.[46]
The US entertainment website Deadline Hollywood reports that Gavin & Stacey will be returning for a 2024 Christmas special, five years after the last one. But there is some official announcement from BBC Studios.[47][48]
15
The BBC confirms that Asif Munaf, a contestant on The Apprentice, will not appear on the spin-off show, The Apprentice: You're Fired, when he exits the show after posting antisemitic comments on social media.[49]
16
BBC Four airs four editions of Top of the Pops that were presented by Steve Wright as a tribute to the disc jockey following the announcement of his death a few days earlier.[50]
Ofcom launches an impartiality investigation into GB News's Q&A session with prime minister Rishi Sunak.[53]
Piers Morgan Uncensored begins airing regularly on Morgan's YouTube channel.[42]
Molly Smith and Tom Clare win the first series of Love Island All Stars. Overnight viewing figures from BARB estimate the finale, aired on ITV2, is viewed by an audience of just over a million, while ITV says that with catch-up viewing the total figure is 1.3 million.[54]
20
The BBC announces plans to reshape the BBC Scotland TV channel, including axing the hour-long news programme The Nine and replacing it with a 30-minute programme.[55]
The Metropolitan Police says it would take further action over allegations that Dan Wootton offered to pay colleagues for sexually explicit pictures of themselves.[60]
23
Ben Shephard presents his final edition of Good Morning Britain ahead of his new role co-presenting This Morning.[61]
24
Lee Anderson is suspended from the Conservative Party after "refusing to apologise" for claiming "Islamists" had "got control" of London Mayor Sadiq Khan during an edition of his GB News show the previous day.[62]
27
The BBC apologises for the way it dealt with a complaint about the newsreader Huw Edwards, saying the issue was not escalated quickly enough.[63]
The final day of recording of Doctors takes place at the BBC's Birmingham & West Midland studios; the series along with Classic Doctors is scheduled to end in December after nearly 5,000 episodes.[65]
4
Following its investigation into the episode of GB News's Dan Wootton Tonight during which Laurence Fox made comments about journalist Ava Evans, Ofcom concludes that the programme was in breach of its regulations. The watchdog says the comments "constituted a highly personal attack on Ms Evans and were potentially highly offensive to viewers", and says that it has "significant concerns about GB News' editorial control of its live output" and is requiring it "provide further detailed information about its compliance practices in this area".[66]
Former Conservative MP Guto Bebb is appointed interim chair of S4C.[75]
15
Sir Lenny Henry presents the BBC's Comic Relief telethon for the last time, having previously announced he felt it was time for "new faces" to succeed him.[76] Sir Lenny was part of the team which had founded Comic Relief in the mid-1980s. Red Nose Day 2024 raises over £40m for charity.[77]
Ofcom finds that five episodes of GB News shows, presented by Jacob Rees Mogg, Esther McVey and Phillip Davies, broke their rules, and warns the channel about its use of Conservative MPs to host news content.[79]
21
Channel 4 chief executive Alex Mahon apologises to a member of the television channel's staff after a report finds that Channel 4 failed to investigate a complaint made against Russell Brand in 2009.[80]
The UK government appoints a panel of nine experts from the world of radio, television and business to advise on the future funding of the BBC.[81]
The BBC confirms that Freddie Flintoff, who was injured in 2022 while filming an episode of Top Gear, will return to television with a BBC One documentary about cricket titled Field of Dreams.[85]
GB News hires Steven Edgington as its North America correspondent, making him the channel's first international correspondent.[90]
5
The BBC confirms it will broadcast a celebrity special of Gladiators,[91] having previously announced that the show will return for a second series.[92]
The Metropolitan Police says it will partly reinvestigate its decision to charge late television presenter Caroline Flack with assaulting her boyfriend because "new witness evidence may be available".[94]
Sky News reports that hedge fund manager Sir Paul Marshall is to relinquish his seat on the board of All Perspectives Ltd, the company that owns GB News, as the television channel faces a major restructuring process.[95]
Boom Radio announces the launch of a £500,000 advertising campaign on ITV1, its first on the channel. Jo Brand has also been hired to present a series of programmes in which she interviews prominent television personalities, including Michael Grade.[97]
Disney is reportedly planning to add linear cable-style streaming channels to Disney+. According to The Information, the company wants subscribers to spend more time in the app and, by offering more viewing options, it may entice users to stick around. In addition, by running ads on these channels, Disney could boost its bottom line.[99]
GB News chief executive Angelos Frangopoulos announces 40 redundancies at the channel after it previously posted heavy financial losses.[102]
20
BBC Two celebrates 60 years of broadcasting with several special programmes shown in the days surrounding the anniversary.[103][104]
22
Newsreader Huw Edwards resigns from the BBC, nine months after being suspended following allegations of sexual misconduct and being admitted to hospital with "serious mental health issues".[105]
Brenda Blethyn announces the next series of Vera will be her last after she decides to leave the show.[106]
Ofcom warns radio and television stations with programmes hosted by politicians that they could be fined if they break impartiality rules in the run up to the next general election.[109]
26
Newsreader Rageh Omaar is taken ill while presenting News at Ten and subsequently receives medical treatment.[110]
29
Talk switches from television to online streaming format.[111] The cessation of linear broadcasting sees the channel drop the letters TV from its name. The Local TV network, which adopted the Talk name in October 2023, reverts to using the Local TV name.[112]
30
BritBox shuts down its standalone service in the UK with all of its content moving over to both BBC iPlayer and ITVX.
May
Date
Event
1
Television news presenters Martine Croxall, Annita McVeigh, Karin Giannone and Kasia Madera launch legal action against the BBC on the grounds of sex and age discrimination and equal pay.[113] Their case for equal pay is subsequently rejected, but the sex and age discrimination cases will be heard by a tribunal.[114]
2
Don Gilet is named as the next lead detective in Death in Paradise; he will join the next series of the show as Detective Inspector Mervin Wilson.[115]
Welsh language broadcaster S4C announces that it will broadcast a Welsh language version of ITV programme The Voice. The show, titled Y Llais, will be hosted by BBC Radio 1 DJ Sian Eleri and will be broadcast in 2025.[116]
3
The BBC announces that Joanna Lumley will reveal the UK jury's results at the Eurovision Song Contest.[117]
10
Doctor Who returns for its 14th series, beginning with a two episode premiere on BBC iPlayer in the UK, and Disney+ internationally on the same evening, before airing in its normal Saturday night slot on BBC One the following day for the first time.[118]
The Rise of Race Hatred, a BBC Spotlight documentary exploring the rise in race hate attacks in Northern Ireland wins the nations and regions category at the Amnesty UK Media Awards.[119]
James Ward Anderson, boss of plumbing firm Depher, complains to Ofcom over a BBC News investigation alleging his company faked stories of good deeds.[122]
20
Ofcom says it is considering imposing a statutory sanction against GB News after concluding its programme People's Forum: The Prime Minister, a Q&A session with prime minister Rishi Sunak that aired in February, broke impartiality rules.[123]
A spokesperson for Eamonn Holmes and Ruth Langsford confirms the presenting couple are to divorce after 14 years of marriage.[127]
27
Newsnight relaunches as a half-hour "interview, debate and discussion" programme, ditching its special reporting team. The change is part of cost-cutting measures across the BBC.[128][129][130]
The first 2024 general election leaders debate takes place in Scotland, with the leaders of Scotland's four main political parties taking part in a debate on STV.[137]
4
ITV1 airs Sunak vs Starmer: The ITV Debate, a head-to-head election debate between Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer presented by Julie Etchingham.[138]
ITV announces that Helen Worth has decided to leave Coronation Street after 50 years of portraying Gail Platt, with the character making her departure from the soap later in the year.[140]
6
A search is under way for television presenter Michael Mosley, who has disappeared while on holiday in the Greek island of Symi.[141]
7
Mishal Husain moderates the first of the BBC's election debates featuring representatives from seven of the UK's political parties.[142]
8
Katie Piper is forced to pull out of presenting her usual Saturday morning ITV Breakfast programme due to an "unexpected medical procedure". The programme is instead presented by Charlotte Hawkins.[143]
Around 20,000 motorbikers celebrate "Dave Day" by riding from London to Barrow-in-Furness in memory of Hairy BikerDave Myers, who died in February.[144]
9
The body of Michael Mosley is found on a hillside near Agia Marina beach on Symi.[145]
10
An initial post-mortem concludes that Michael Mosley died from natural causes.[146]
The BBC publishes the line up of dancers to appear on the 2024 series of Strictly Come Dancing. The list includes Amy Dowden, who is scheduled to return following cancer treatment, while Giovanni Pernice will not return.[147]
11
Sophie Raworth pulls out of presenting the BBC's The Prime Ministerial Debate, scheduled to air on 26 June, after fracturing her ankle; Mishal Husain will present instead.[148]
ITV holds a debate featuring senior figures from the UK's seven main political parties and moderated by Julie Etchingham.[151]
14
A coalition of commercial media and content businesses write to Labour to urge them not to introduce advertising on the BBC, fearing it could have a negative impact on consumers, licence fee payers and creative industries.[152]
BBC One airs the tribute programme Michael Mosley – The Doctor Who Changed Britain following Mosley's recent death.[153]
The BBC says its presenters are "regularly reminded" of its guidelines relating to clothing after Gary Lineker appeared to breach those rules by wearing an outfit from his own fashion range during England's opening Euro 2024 match against Serbia.[158]
20
BBC One airs a Question Time election special featuring the leaders of the UK's four main political parties.[142]
Professional dancer Robin Windsor, who appeared on Strictly Come Dancing, is given a special posthumous award at the 2024 LGBT Awards.[160]
26
Mishal Husain moderates The Prime Ministerial Debate, the BBC's head-to-head debate between Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer.[148]
27
The final televised debate of the 2024 general election takes place on BBC One Northern Ireland and features representatives from Northern Ireland's five main parties.[161]
30
The Box Plus Network's five channels – The Box, Magic, Kiss TV, 4Music and Kerrang! TV – close.[162] The closures come after Channel 4 had announced that they are among the "small linear channels ...[that] no longer deliver[ed] revenues or public value at scale".[163][164]
July
Date
Event
1
Steve Carson is to step down as Head of Multi-Platform Commissioning at BBC Scotland in September, in order to take up a senior role at Irish broadcaster RTÉ.[165]
2
Eamonn Holmes is forced to leave his GB News breakfast show halfway through the programme due to ill health.[166]
A week after his election to Parliament, GB News announces that Nigel Farage is returning to his show on the channel, presenting on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 16 July.[173]
12
Following his guilty verdict on 4 July, Gavin Plumb is sentenced to life imprisonment, with a minimum term of 15 years.[174]
BBC One and ITV1 both air the UEFA Euro 2024 final, which is watched by an average audience of 17.9m, peaking at 19.3m.[176]
16
Launch date for UKTV rebranding of its free-to-air channels under the name of "U", for example, Dave becomes "U&Dave" and W becomes "U&W".[177][178]
The BBC says it will put a member of Strictly Come Dancing production staff in all future rehearsals following complaints about the behaviour of two of its professional dancers.[179]
18
Following the previous day's 2024 State Opening of Parliament, BBC News ends its temporary UK only feed established to cover the general election.
A spokesman for Graziano Di Prima confirms he kicked dance partner Zara McDermott during training and was removed from the programme as a result.[180]
Speaking to The Sun on Sunday, former Strictly contestant Amanda Abbington, who withdrew from the last series in October 2023, alleges dance partner Giovanni Pernice behaved unreasonably towards her, describing it as "unnecessary, abusive, cruel and mean".[184]
22
Paralympian Will Bayley, who appeared on Strictly Come Dancing in 2019, says that performing a jump routine with dance partner Janette Manrara left him in "horrific pain" and with "injuries that still affect me to this day".[185]
It is announced that the BBC News channel's 11pm UK-produced bulletin, which featured during the election campaign, will be made permanent. This means that the news channel will have its first exclusively-produced bulletin for its UK stream since its merger into a global news service last year.[186]
23
BBC Director-GeneralTim Davie apologises to contestants on Strictly Come Dancing after complaints about abusive behaviour, which he describes as "unacceptable". Davie also confirms the show will return later in the year.[187]
Former BBC newsreader Huw Edwards pleads guilty to three counts of making indecent images of children at a hearing at Westminster Magistrates' Court.[195]
Ofcom's annual Media Nations survey is published, revealing that for the first time less than half of 16-to-24-year-olds (48%) are regularly watching traditional television.[196]
August
Date
Event
2
The Doctor Who episode "Fear Her" featuring Huw Edwards is removed from BBC iPlayer after Edwards pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent images of children. The BBC confirms that the episode will be reinstated after Edwards had been re-dubbed.[197]
BAFTA announces the creation of a new category for children's and family films, with those rated U, PG or 12A being eligible.[198]
The Observer reports that the BBC has started removing content that includes Huw Edwards from its website, beginning with family entertainment programming on BBC iPlayer.[200]
5
Comedian Chris McCausland is officially announced as the first celebrity contestant for the 22nd series of Strictly Come Dancing, becoming the show's first ever blind contestant in the process.[201]
6
Ofcom approves planned changes to the BBC Scotland television channel that will see cutbacks to its news, with its hour-long 9pm weekday programme The Nine replaced by a 30 minute programme at 7pm.[202]
7
Further allegations of abuse emerge against Strictly Come Dancing as a number of junior members of staff allege a toxic culture behind the scenes of the programme.[203]
Sky launches Sky Sports+, its new streaming service for its sports customers. The launch coincides with the start of the 2024/2025 football season.[205]
9
The BBC asks Huw Edwards to repay over £200,000 that he received from the corporation after being arrested on child abuse image charges in November 2023.[206]
Viewing data indicates that programming from the 2024 Summer Olympics was streamed 218 million times during the 19 days of sporting events. Overall, 36 million people watched some Olympic content for fifteen minutes or longer, with a peak audience of 6 million on several days.[208]
It is reported that Paramount Networks UK & Australia is planning a rebrand of Channel 5 to occur in early-2025, which would see its name shortened to "5". In addition, catch-up platform My5 will also be consolidated under the "5" branding to unify its linear and streaming outlets, following the lead of Channel 4. In addition, plans to consolidate Pluto TV with My5 are shelved.[209]
21
Radio and television presenter Lauren Laverne reveals that she is being treated in hospital for cancer.[210]
22
Former footballer and presenter Jermaine Jenas is sacked by the BBC following allegations of inappropriate behaviour.[211]
The BBC announces plans to produce a celebrity version of its reality show, The Traitors, with a date to be confirmed.[212]
23
Jermaine Jenas tells The Sun newspaper he is "ashamed" and has "let everybody down" after sending "inappropriate messages" to two colleagues on The One Show.[213]
Ofcom discontinues five impartiality investigations into GB News's "Don't Kill Cash" campaign as the channel had already been reprimanded over the campaign.[217]
10
An inquest into the death of Steve Dymond, who committed suicide in 2019, shortly after appearing on The Jeremy Kyle Show, rules that the show was a "possible" factor in his death, but not the "probable" cause.[218]
The UK government confirms that a ban on junk food advertising on British television before 9.00pm is scheduled to come into force on 1 October 2025.[220]
13
Jay Blades, presenter of BBC One's The Repair Shop, is charged with coercive behaviour towards his estranged wife.[221] The BBC pulls all episodes featuring Blades from its schedule.[222]
Huw Edwards, formerly the BBC's most senior news presenter, is given a six-month suspended jail sentence for child abuse image offences. He is placed on the sex offenders' register for seven years and is required to complete a rehabilitation programme.[224]
Having had its weekly number of episodes reduced from five to three the previous week, the plotline of Hollyoaks jumps forward a year in order to facilitate the exit of 20 characters, who have been axed due to budget cuts on the show.[225]
17
The BBC announces that the children's television series Balamory will return on CBeebies with the original cast, 20 years after it was last filmed.[226]
18
Ofcom announces it will not investigate Ed Balls' interview with his wife, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, on Good Morning Britain on 5 August despite receiving over 16,000 viewer complaints. ITV chief executive Dame Carolyn McCall defends the interview's impartiality, but says the broadcaster would not do it again.[227]
Channel 5 announces that Phillip Schofield will take part in Cast Away, a new three-part show airing over three consecutive nights from 30 September in which he is stranded on a deserted island in Madagascar for 10 days without food, water or a filming crew. It is Schofield's first television project since resigning in disgrace from ITV in May 2023 following revelations over his personal life.[232]
30
The BBC apologises to Amanda Abbington after upholding some of her complaints against the behaviour of her Strictly dance partner Giovanni Pernice, but the broadcaster does not uphold her allegations of physical abuse.[233]
October
Date
Event
3
BBC One airs the documentary The Search for Nicola Bulley about the 2023 disappearance of Nicola Bulley. The programme receives criticism from viewers for the amount of time spent discussing the involvement of social media amateur sleuths.[234]
BBC presenter Laura Kuenssberg cancels a scheduled televised interview with Boris Johnson after accidentally sending him her briefing notes.[235]
4
ITV confirms that Freddie Flintoff will present a rebooted special edition of the quiz show Bullseye at Christmas.[236]
GB News loses a High Court challenge against Ofcom in which it hoped to temporarily block the regulator from sanctioning it over its People's Forum programme featuring Rishi Sunak in February, while Sunak was prime minister. GB News is given permission to challenge the ruling, with Ofcom agreeing to hold off publication of its findings until the case is heard.[237]
5
For the first time in Strictly's 20-year history, a dancing couple on the show perform to a traditional Bollywood song.[238]
8
Channel 4 announces that it will be showing coverage of the 2024 United States presidential election on Tuesday 5 November. The coverage will be titled America Decides: The US Election results, and will be produced by ITN Productions, and will be the broadcaster's first live overnight US election coverage since 1992.
11
The BBC launches a review into its workplace culture, focusing on "preventing abuse of power and ensuring everyone at the BBC conducts themselves in line with our values".[239]
14
Detectives from Bedfordshire Police use the BBC's Crimewatch Live programme to appeal for information that may lead to the identity of a hitman who killed Carol Morgan on 13 August 1981 at the shop she ran with her husband, Allen Morgan, in Leighton Buzzard. Allen Morgan was convicted of hiring the hitman to kill his wife at Luton Crown Court in June 2024.[240]
BBC One airs the first episode of EastEnders to be directed by a wheelchair user.[241]
16
Welsh-language soap opera Pobol y Cwm celebrates the 50th anniversary of its first episode being broadcast.[242]
17
BBC One programme Crimewatch Live makes a fresh appeal for information leading to the discovery of the remains of Suzanne Pilley, who was murdered by her ex-partner in 2010.[243]
Conservative Party leadership candidates Robert Jenrick and Kemi Badenoch take part in a leadership debate on GB News, but Badenoch has turned down an invitation to take part in a Question Time special on BBC One, and a planned online debate organised by The Sun.[244]
24
It emerges that ITV have edited out a pro-Palestine symbol from an episode of Big Brother after a contestant wore a t-shirt displaying the symbol.[245]
Professional dancer Lauren Oakley steps in to partner Strictly contestant JB Gill following Amy Dowden's backstage collapse on the previous Saturday's edition of the show.[247]
29
Former GB News presenter Mark Steyn is ordered to pay £50,000 in legal costs after losing a case against Ofcom in which he alleged the regulator had "killed" his career with two rulings about COVID-19 content in his shows during 2022.[248]
31
GB News is fined £100,000 by Ofcom for breaking impartiality rules with a programme featuring the former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.[249]
November
Date
Event
2
A joint investigation carried out by Channel 4's Dispatches and The Sunday Times reveals the extent of rent received by the Royal Estate from schools, the National Health Service and the armed forces.[250]
BBC News reports that Gary Lineker will step down from presenting Match of the Day at the end of the 2024–25 football season.[255] The BBC confirms Lineker's departure from Match of the Day the following day, but says he will host BBC Sport's coverage of the 2026 World Cup.[256]
12
Geraint Evans is appointed as the new chief executive of S4C.[257]
13
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) announces a change in its rules that will strip awards from anyone convicted of a serious crime, but the rules will not be applied retrospectively, meaning for example, that Huw Edwards will keep the awards he won.[258]
Medical soap Doctors broadcasts its final ever episode after 24 years on air.[260]
15
BBC One airs the BBC's annual Children in Need appeal, with £39m raised for charities by the end of the show.[261]
Television presenter Davina McCall reveals that she has been diagnosed with a benign brain tumour known as a colloid cyst, and has undergone surgery to remove the growth.[262]
Ali Bromley, a forensic psychologist from Leicester, wins the twenty-first series of ITV's Big Brother. She becomes the first lesbian to win the series as well as the oldest female winner in the show's history.[263]
21
Rosie Millard resigns as chair of the BBC's Children in Need charity following reports she protested about the awarding of a grant to an LGBTQ youth charity whose former chief executive had been involved in a child abuse scandal.[264]
26
Publication of "The Future of News", a House of Lords report which warns of the emergence of a "two-tier" news system, where large organisations and niche outlets are the only news providers that will be financially viable. The report also warns that BBC News risks losing viewers to "alternative" outlets such as GB News if it does not reform its coverage.[265]
The UK government announces that the cost of a TV licence will increase by £5 from April 2025 to £174.50.[269]
December
Date
Event
2
MasterChef presenter Gregg Wallace apologises for suggesting allegations against him came from "a handful of middle-class women of a certain age".[270]
The BBC announces it has pulled the MasterChef Christmas Special following allegations made against Gregg Wallace.[272]
4
BBC newsreader and presenter Clive Myrie apologises for failing to declare at least £145,000 of non-BBC earnings to his employer.[273]
Research from Barb Audiences indicates viewing figures for GB News surpassed those for Sky News for the first time during November, with an average audience of 70,430 for GB News over a 20 hour period from 6am to 2am, compared to 67,670 for Sky News.[274]
A report by the Centre for Media Monitoring indicates that GB News accounted for half of all news stories about Muslims over a two year period, much of them negative, something the report describes as a "excessive" focus bordering on "obsession".[279]
Strictly Come Dancing confirms that Amy Dowden will return for the series' live tour in 2025.[281]
17
BBC Studios is to team up with Disney to produce a film based on the children's television series Bluey, due for release in 2027.[282]
Ofcom apologises after campaigners criticised the watchdog for "trivialising" violence against women and girls over a LinkedIn post in which a senior member of staff jokingly promote a job supervising the porn industry, describing the joke as "ill-judged".[283]
Channel 4 and Disney Entertainment sign a new contract to air The Simpsons that will see new seasons of the series premiere on Disney before showing on E4 and becoming available through Channel 4's streaming service. The programme will also move from its weeknight slot on Channel 4 to E4 from January 2025, with Season 32 airing on E4 from January, and Season 36 airing on Disney from Spring 2025.[284]
The final ever episode of Gavin & Stacey airs as part of BBC One's Christmas Day schedule.[295] It attracts 12.3 million viewers (on overnight figures) – the largest Christmas Day audience in more than a decade, and the year's highest non-sport overnight figure.[296] By early 2025, viewing figures reach 19.3 million, the UK’s most-watched scripted show across all broadcasters and streamers since comparable records began in 2002.[297]Barb-produced figures give the programme an audience of 19.11 million in the first week following its transmission.[298]
The Christmas Day edition of Strictly Come Dancing becomes the first to feature a dance competition involving drag queens.[299] The contest is won by Welsh drag queen Tayce.[300]