On this week’s episode of The Screen Podcast, the CEO of the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC), David Austin, discusses new research into how audiences view horror, tiered fees, and working with streamers. 

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Senior reporter Ben Dalton chats to Austin about the latest BBFC polling which delved into how horror films should be rated in 2026.

“Sexual violence was the number one issue and people want us to classify that in a very strict way,” Austin revealed. “We always have done but they want us to continue to classify it strictly. The second issue that people were most concerned about was suicide and self-harm.”

The duo then discussed how classification works, why streamers operate independently and the BBFC tiered fee system. 

“The idea of having that tiered fee structure is that it encourages more smaller releases, independent releases,” Austin explained. “So the UK public has its widest possible choice of films that it can go and see.”

To download or subscribe to future episodes, search for ‘The Screen Podcast’, which is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Acast and YouTube.

The Screen Podcast is produced by Ellie Calnan, with Wendy Mitchell serving as editorial director. New episodes every Thursday.

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