Radiocentre releases comment on BBC plans

 

Below is a statement from Radiocentre on the BBC’s plans to launch new brand extensions on DAB+ and BBC Sounds that were announced on Wednesday 7th February.

A Radiocentre spokesperson said:

These new proposals are an attempt to directly imitate the recent success of commercial stations that already provide these genre stations following years of significant investment made by our sector.

Despite the polished BBC press release, when one peels back the veneer, the BBC are, yet again, attempting to compete directly with commercial radio stations, interfering with the market and failing to provide distinct public value. UK audiences are very well catered for with more choice than ever, especially for music spin-off stations.

Senior leaders at the BBC – Tim Davie, Charlotte Moore, Jonathan Wall and Lorna Clarke – don’t seem to acknowledge that this is not what the BBC, with its taxpayer funding, are supposed to be doing. They are required to provide services that are truly additional, distinct and incremental to what is already provided by commercial operators, not duplicate it.

We would like to know where the money is coming from to fund these new services. The BBC often say that they need more funding to sustain current services and that they have already cut costs to the bone – including recently cutting back news and local radio funding. What are the BBC cutting to fund these new unnecessary services?

Ofcom should reject these proposed market interventions that would just offer duplicate services and not deliver against the BBC’s obligations, at the same time as harming commercial innovation.

https://www.radiocentre.org/bbc-radio-brand-extension-plans/

Radiocentre is the industry body for commercial radio in the UK. We work on behalf of more than 50 stakeholders who represent over 90 per cent of commercial radio in terms of listening and revenue. Our remit also encompasses all kinds of broadcaster-owned and operated audio, including podcasts and on-demand streaming services provided by commercial radio. 

Our mission is to get industry influencers and decision-makers to See Radio Differently.

https://www.radiocentre.org/about/

(Mike Terry/BDXC)

BBC Radio Cymru 2 is to become a fully-fledged public service radio station following a consultation by Ofcom

 

The move means more original Welsh-language hours will be broadcast on the station.

Under the BBC Framework Agreement, the introduction of a new UK Public Service is a material change and therefore subject to a competition assessment by Ofcom.

The assessment, and responses to Ofcom’s consultation, found that the BBC’s plans will likely deliver additional public value for Welsh-language listeners without having a significant adverse impact on competition.

Ofcom said: “We acknowledge that the plans could impact the commercial radio station, Capital Cymru, but we think this impact will likely be limited, given the substantial differences in their content offerings.”

BBC Radio Cymru 2 will have the following Operating Licence conditions on the service:

It must contribute to securing the delivery of content of interest and relevance to audiences in Wales

Play music of relevance to audiences in Wales.

It must provide daily and regular news bulletins Monday to Saturday, and daily news bulletins on Sunday.

BBC Radio Cymru 2 audio via BBC Sounds https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/live:bbc_radio_cymru_2

BBC Radio 4 adds new programming

 

Radio 4 is broadcasting an Archive on 4 program Tuning In this Friday (27 May) at 2100 BST originally broadcast in November 2012:

"The press fulminated, the enthusiasts were frustrated, and the radio manufacturers fumed. Despite the fact that Marconi had invented the radio before Queen Victoria had celebrated her Diamond Jubilee in 1897, radio in Britain took another 25 years to begin an official service to listeners. But when, on November 14th 1922 the British Broadcasting Company's station at Marconi House radiated to an awaiting nation "This is 2LO calling" for the first time under the company's name, it marked the start of the first and most distinguished public-service radio station in the world.

In the BBC's centenary year, historian Dominic Sandbrook explores the long and involved pre-BBC history of radio in Britain, how Britain's broadcaster got going and developed into an institution dedicated to entertainment, education, and information, discovers why Australian diva Dame Nellie Melba was involved, and how the improbably-named Captain Plugge made his first commercial broadcast to Britain, sponsored by Selfridges department store, from the Eiffel Tower. From Marconi to Savoy Hill via an old army hut in Essex, the story of the early radio in Britain."

It's been on BBC Sounds for some time and is now linked to on this week's Radio 4 schedules page.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/b01nnw8t

Tim Wander has just published a new limited edition book Writtle 1922-2022, The Centenary of British Radio Broadcasting with many new, previously published and colorized photographs. 

As well as the history of Writtle it covers the early history of radio broadcasting, equipment used by listeners and broadcasters, the careers of those involved with 2MT, and the birth of the BBC. Some text is from his earlier books. Details at: https://2mtwrittle100.co.uk/

M Barraclough/BDXC)