Commercial groups question BBC digital promotion

by Mark Banham Brand Republic 18-May-06, 09:00

LONDON - The BBC has come under fire from a raft of media owners and trade bodies to curtail its march into digital media, with Associated Newspapers, the Commercial Radio Companies Association, The Newspaper Society, News International and the Telegraph Group all attacking the corporation.

The submission is in response to the BBC White Paper entitled 'The BBC in the Digital Age' and the draft of the BBC Royal Charter.

Representatives of the bodies have signed a joint submission to the government, stating that it is giving the publicly funded BBC an unfair advantage in the digital sector allowing the corporation to promote its digital services to its audience.

The submission raises concerns that there is a lack of safeguards to protect the commercial media sector and stop the BBC "abusing that position at the expense of commercial operators."

Commercial companies are worried that under the BBC's current remit there is no restriction to the amount of web-based services that can be launched under the BBC online banner.

The BBC is currently seeking an increase in its funding through the licence fee. The corporation wants an increase in the new charter period from 2007 of inflation plus 2.3%.

An investigation by the House of Lords predicted that the licence fee would rise to £180 in eight years' time -- which would raise over £4.25bn a year a figure that the commercial sector has deemed "excessive".

If you have an opinion on this or any other issue raised on Brand Republic, join the debate in the Forum.