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BBC Trust receives Ofcom's Market Impact Assessment of iPlayer
23 January 2007
The BBC Trust has received Ofcom's Market Impact Assessment (MIA) of the BBC executive's new on-demand proposals, including BBC iPlayer. This forms one part of the Trust's first Public Value Test (PVT).
Speaking on behalf of the Trust, Diane Coyle, Trustee and Chair of the Public Value Test Steering Group, said:
"Ofcom's MIA provides us with a thorough analysis of the market implications of the proposed new services, and highlights important factors for the Trust to consider.
"The MIA forms only one part of the PVT process. In reaching our eventual decision, we must also consider the potential public value created by the on-demand proposals. This will be published in the Public Value Assessment (PVA) of the on-demand proposals, carried out by the Trust with the support and assistance of the Trust Unit.
"It is the Trust's responsibility to examine both the MIA and PVA, and our decision will be based on an informed judgement of all the evidence, in the best interests of licence fee payers.
"Once this process is completed the Trust will publish its interim decision for consultation, along with the evidence on which it is based. We will ensure all stakeholders have adequate time to respond before reaching our final judgement."
ENDS
Notes to editors
1). The BBC Trust is the BBC's new, independent governing body.
2). The Trust will consider the BBC executive's on-demand proposals, including BBC iPlayer, at its meeting on 24th January 2007. The Trust may hold further discussions or delegate any outstanding issues for consideration to its PVT Steering Group. Once the process is completed, the Trust will publish its interim decision for consultation, along with the MIA and PVA. At the start of the consultation period the Trust will hold a stakeholder briefing.
3). Diane Coyle is a BBC Trustee. She chairs the BBC Trust's Public Value Test Steering Group. She is an economic consultant specialising in new technologies and globalisation and has been a member of the Competition Commission since 2001. Diane is a frequent commentator on radio and television and has written many books and articles on economics including the forthcoming The Soulful Science, and Sex, Drugs and Economics. She was the Economics Editor of The Independent newspaper (UK) from 1993 to 2001 and has a PhD from Harvard.
4). Other members of the BBC Trust's PVT Steering Group:-
- Alison Hastings (Trustee for England) is a former editor of the Newcastle Evening Chronicle. She served on the Press Complaints Commission from 1999 to 2002 and is a member of the Society of Editors.
- Patricia Hodgson is Principal of Newnham College, Cambridge. She is a non-executive director of the Competition Commission, a member of the Higher Education Council for England and a member of the Committee on Standards in Public Life. Formerly, she was Chief Executive of the Independent Television Commission (ITC).
- Jeremy Peat (Trustee for Scotland) is a member of the Competition Commission, former Group Chief Economist at the Royal Bank of Scotland and former economic adviser to the Government of Botswana, HM Treasury and the Scottish Office.
- Richard Tait is Professor of Journalism and Director of the Centre for Journalism Studies, Cardiff University. He was Editor-in-Chief of ITN from 1995 to 2002.
5). The MIA can be found at http://www.ofcom.org.uk/
6). The Public Value Test (PVT) is one of the key tools underpinning the radical change in the BBC's system of governance, which took effect with the new Charter and Agreement on 1 January 2007.
The test must be applied by the BBC Trust to provide a consistent and evidence-based framework to inform their decisions about significant service-related investment proposals from BBC management.
All major service-related investment proposals will be subject to a PVT to assess the net public value created once measured against market impact.
More information about the PVT process is available at http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbctrust/framework/public_value_test/index.html
7). The BBC's on-demand proposals (including BBC iPlayer) are services to unify the BBC's provision of audio and video content on-demand and to make it available to UK audiences over the internet and cable. The application proposes a service that would consist of:
- Seven day TV catch-up over the internet
- Simulcast TV over the internet
- Non-time limited audio downloads over the internet
- Seven day TV catch-up over cable.
More information about the proposals is available at http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbctrust/research/iplayer_public_value_test.html
