BBC Faces First Public Value Test For Online Streaming

The BBC will face its first public value test (PVT) with the launch of MyBBCPlayer, its online streaming and catch-up service, with Ofcom and the new BBC Trust examining its effects on the wider broadcasting industry.

The PVT is required by the BBC’s new charter, and is intended to guard against overtly commercial competition and ensure a consensual relationship with other media operators (see White Paper Puts Viewers’ Interests First For The BBC).

Under the Corporation’s new govenance, the BBC Trust is responsible for issuing licences to the Executive Board for the running of each BBC service. The Trust is also charged with applying public value tests to all new BBC services, or significant changes to existing operations.

The MyBBCPlayer software, first announced by BBC director general Mark Thompson last year (see Thompson Announces On Demand Programming From BBC), will allow users access to live streams of BBC One and Two via the internet, as well as on-demand access to the last seven days of broadcast material.

The software behind the venture will be culled from the recent interactive Media Player (iMP) trials, which saw 5,000 users given access to programmes at the end of last year (see BBC Enters Second Phase Of Web TV Trial).

The new PVT will mean that the system comes under close scrutiny from Ofcom, however, which is charged with determining its likely impact on the BBC’s commercial rivals.

Speaking at the Mix06 conference in Las Vegas, BBC director of new media and technology, Ashley Highfield, moved to allay fears of a clash with commercial competitors however, outlining plans for “strategic partnerships” with fellow media and computing firms such as Microsoft, Apple, Sony, HomeChoice, NTL and Telewest.

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