BBC’s iPlayer Plans Criticised By The RadioCentre
The BBC’s plans for delivery of on-demand content have been criticised by the RadioCentre, the commercial radio industry’s representative body.
Whilst accepting that the BBC should play a role in introducing consumers to new means of receiving content, the RadioCentre has cautioned against gifting the BBC a blank canvas with which to dominate the future of content delivery.
The body agrees that consumers should be able to download content on a range of platforms, but it has called for a debate about the viability of opening up the internet based iPlayer to commercial broadcasters (see BBC Plans On-Demand Drive To Catch ‘Lost Generation’). This echoes recent calls by the British Internet Publisher’s Alliance (BIPA) for commercial broadcasters to have access to the iPlayer’s Electronic Programme Guide, in order to ensure that consumers are not locked into a BBC-only world.
The RadioCentre has also warned that the iPlayer is likely to adversely affect commercial broadcasters’ ability to monetise their own content. It proposes that the availability of free on-demand content be limited, with access beyond a seven-day window granted on a paid-for basis only.
The commercial radio body is additionally concerned that by allowing the BBC to aggregate content within genre, the iPlayer could lead to the creation of pseudo channels, generating unfair competition for specialist commercial radio services.
“It is accepted by government, parliament, regulators and industry that a pluralistic broadcasting ecology is essential to any democracy,” said RadioCentre chief executive Andrew Harrison.
“Whilst the iPlayer represents a tremendous opportunity for enhanced access to BBC content, it could lead to some consumers accessing little else. They would be better served by an iPlayer which opened a world of ideas and views beyond just that of the BBC.”
He continued: “We believe that further work needs to be done to ensure that the BBC’s financial strength and ability to develop services across a range of complementary platforms does not give it an unfair advantage as broadcasters explore alternatives to traditional linear programming.”
Harrison has also written to BBC chairman Michael Grade with his thoughts about the way in which the inaugural Public Value Test (PVT) has been conducted (see BBC Announces First Public Value Test).
The PVT process was designed to improve transparency and accountability about new service proposals, but Harrison has expressed his concern that the lack of detail provided by BBC management had made the submission of meaningful and evidence-based responses more difficult. In addition, he has recommended that stakeholders be given more time to respond to future PVT consultations.
RadioCentre: www.radiocentre.org BBC: 020 8743 8000 www.bbc.co.uk