GWR Group Responds To BBC Funding Panel

UK commercial radio group, GWR, has spoken out against the BBC’s call for an increased subsidy for digital development. The group, which owns 37 local radio licences and Classic FM, has called on the BBC to use existing resources to fund its digital services.

Responding to the Independent Review Panel into the funding of the BBC, GWR has told the Department of Culture, Media and Sport that a digital subsidy for the BBC would create further imbalance between the public and commercial sectors.

GWR Group chief executive Ralph Bernard said: “The BBC receives massive sums of public funding – more than £2 billion from the licence fee and substantial sums from its commercial activities, including BBC Worldwide. These figures dwarf the commercial radio industry and yet commercial radio is required to pay licence fees and other payments for the use of radio spectrum which the BBC uses at no cost.”

In its own case, GWR, despite being a main player in the consortium Digital One, was recently required to fund a large increase in the licence fee paid by Classic FM (see Classic FM Gets New Licence As Radio Authority Increases Fees).

The group also calls for greater clarity from the BBC about its digital plans and claims the corporation is ‘telecentric’: “Digital radio in the BBC started well before the market was ready and to some extent this attempt to gain competitive advantage backfired with the early promises damaging the cause of digital radio by raising unrealistic expectations. BBC Digital Radio is now neglected compared to digital TV and BBC Online” said Bernard.

In practical terms the GWR Group recommends the sell-off of BBC Worldwide, a regular review of the BBC’s public service channels, and a clearer framework for analogue switchover. It said that the BBC should not be allowed to accept advertising or subscription income and should define its public service output.

GWR Group: 0171 284 3000