A coalition of commercial media and content businesses, including broadcasters, audio producers and publishers, has written to Democratic Labor Party It warns that the UK’s creative industries and content for viewers will be damaged if the BBC is allowed to launch an advertising scheme around its audio content in the UK for the first time.
On Thursday 13 June, Labor launched its election manifesto, highlighting the huge potential for creative industries to grow, benefiting every corner of the UK. In a letter to Thangam Debbonaire, shadow secretary of state at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, 15 signatories, including small businesses and some of the UK’s most important brands, highlighted the devastating impact the change will have on consumers. and the creative economy.
The BBC’s services are currently funded by licensing fee revenue of £3.8 billion. Commercial enterprises rely mainly on advertising revenue, which would be severely eroded if the BBC also sought advertising revenue. This will inevitably reduce the ability of commercial operations (including radio, news, television and podcasts) to invest in audience content and services.
Last month, commercial broadcast industry body Radiocentre joined a broad coalition of media and content businesses that wrote to Lucy Frazer, secretary of state at the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, highlighting concerns about the BBC’s plans. And asked Ofcom to conduct an urgent review of the audio and podcast market.
“Our creative division is a success story, delivering world-leading content and services to British audiences. If they have paid for BBC content through licensing fees, all of this could be at risk. We hope that once the parliamentary elections are over, This issue can be resolved quickly and Ofcom will exercise its powers to prevent the BBC from introducing such damaging changes.
