Channel profile
BBC Two
What BBC Two chose to cover, what it left out, and how its agenda compares with the rest of the roster.
How much the agenda changed
This channel changes its topic mix sharply from day to day, often moving quickly between categories.
Stories this channel missed
Number of times this broadcaster did not cover stories that several other channels covered.
Time spent on news stories
40h 6m 14s of this channel's 47h 20m analysed was identified news stories — ad breaks, weather, sport and trails count as “not news”.
Recent broadcasts
The latest broadcasts behind this channel's analysis — open one to see its annotated timeline.
Newsnight, followed by Weather
The Prime Minister Andy Burnham said it was possible Labour's next manifesto could promise a new in-out referendum on the EU. In the discussion, Andrew Neil said Burnham wants Britain to rejoin and that the issue pleases his party and could support a progressive alliance, but he warned it could revive the debilitating Brexit period and derail other priorities. Chris Curtis said polling shows a wide consensus that Brexit has not worked and argued it would be naive to rule out options including rejoining, while Andrew Neil said the Europe the UK left is not the one it would rejoin, that negotiations would be difficult over Schengen, the euro, the budget and the rebate, and that a referendum and political consensus would likely be needed.
Politics Live
Andy Burnham delivered his first speech as Prime Minister to the Labour conference, which the programme described as personal and emotional after his father died two weeks earlier. Delegates in Liverpool gave it a strong reception, and Alex Forsyth reported that he had set political dividing lines on public ownership, the triple lock, a national care service, Brexit and changing the voting system. His proposed change to the triple lock after 2030 would break its annual link with earnings, so the state pension would rise by 2.5% or prices, with earnings adjustments over time, to help fund a national care service. The programme noted hesitation in the hall when he explained how it would be funded, and criticism from Unite’s Sharon Graham and some Labour backbenchers, who argued pensioners should not fund care and the wealthy should be looked to instead.
Newsnight, followed by Weather
Tuesday's Newsnight, live from Broadcasting House and the Labour Party Conference in Liverpool, led on Prime Minister Andy Burnham's conference speech. The programme said Burnham described where Britain had gone wrong, presented his vision, and drew dividing lines for the next election, including a promise of electoral reform and options for getting closer to the EU. It focused on his announcement that Labour would scrap the state pension triple lock by 2030 to help pay for a universal national care service in England. Under the plan, from April 2030 the state pension would rise by whichever is highest of inflation or 2.5%; the earnings link would not be guaranteed yearly, though the pension would hold its value to earnings over time. The state would pay for personal care at home or in a residential care home, while bed and board in a care home would remain subject to a means-tested council contribution.
Politics Live
Politics Live began with Andy Burnham's first Labour Conference speech as Prime Minister. In a post before the speech, he said Britain could not carry on as it was, that politics as usual had taken the country backwards, and that he would set out a different path, including an honest conversation on social care, youth unemployment and giving people more control over energy, water and housing, adding that hope comes from honesty. The panel discussed whether he would change the triple lock to fund free social care, with Alice Denby saying it would be courageous if he committed to scrapping it but warning that savings could simply be spent elsewhere, while Paul McNamee said the issue was intergenerational and cited potential annual savings. Stephen Kinnock, Secretary of State for Wales, said hope had to be realistic, pointed to more than £100 billion a year in debt interest and difficult public finances, and said he could not reveal the speech contents. He spoke of intergenerational solidarity, investments in Wylfa, Welsh rail and Port Talbot steel, a brought-forward Casey review reporting next year on a national care service, and the aim of cross-party agreement. Political editor Chris Mason said Burnham faced the challenge of matching a promise of large-scale change with a credible plan, with a direction of travel on the triple lock and social care but not necessarily specifics.
On screen
Stills are sampled automatically at 60-second intervals. Where shown, the still is the nearest available frame from the relevant broadcast segment and is included to show what was on screen during that part of the broadcast. A still may not correspond to the exact second of a quoted phrase.
Category trend (last 30 days)
How this channel's coverage changed by category over the past month.
Flagged quotes over time
Contested and charged quotes per hour of analysed airtime. Flagged quotes reflect the language this broadcaster aired, not a judgement of its accuracy.
Distinctive vocabulary
Words and phrases this channel used far more often than the rest of UK TV news over the last 30 days. Distinctive vocabulary describes word choice relative to other channels, not accuracy or bias — terms reflect the stories a channel covered as much as how it framed them.
- panel 5.3× more often · 59 uses
“including all of us on this panel,” Newsnight, followed by Weather · Wednesday 30 September 2026
- guests 4.2× more often · 26 uses
“Thank you to all my guests.” Politics Live · Wednesday 30 September 2026
- insight 4.0× more often · 12 uses
“But we have a prediction from a very reliable forecaster, Cornwall Insight, that says on top of that,” Politics Live · Wednesday 30 September 2026
- interestingly 3.9× more often · 12 uses
“And interestingly Vic” Newsnight, followed by Weather · Tuesday 29 September 2026
- presumably 3.5× more often · 17 uses
“Delegates presumably loved what they heard, did they?” Politics Live · Wednesday 30 September 2026
- democratic 3.3× more often · 26 uses
“It has to be shown through a democratic process,” Newsnight, followed by Weather · Wednesday 30 September 2026
- uncomfortable 3.3× more often · 16 uses
“Although this is an uncomfortable history, it is part of our national story.” Newsnight, followed by Weather · Wednesday 30 September 2026
News agenda by category
How this channel divided its coverage compared with the cross-channel average.
Timeline
This channel's topic coverage day by day — what it ran, and how much time each story got.
Thursday 1 October 2026
Topics covered
No topics recorded for this channel on this date.
Stories missed
No coverage gaps for this channel on this date.