Industry News

Ofcom publishes final BBC Operating Licence

The final BBC Operating Licence was published (here) by Ofcom on Friday 13 October.

The Operating Licence is an important document as it sets out the remit of all BBC services and the measures that Ofcom will use to determine distinctiveness. The new regime will start to come into force from January 2018.

During Ofcom’s consultation process Radiocentre and other stakeholders highlighted concerns with the approach taken by Ofcom as it proposed dropping a number of important requirements from the old service licences including age targets for Radio 1, Radio 2 and BBC Local Radio as well as numerous public service obligations.

The final Operating Licence appears to be largely unchanged.  The notable changes for radio in the final version are the inclusion of two social action campaigns on Radio 1 (the same as required by the BBC Trust) and the reversal of the proposed increase in Radio 1’s quota for new music in daytime from 45% (to 50%).

As a result Radiocentre estimates that the total number of conditions for BBC network radio has been reduced from 59 under the BBC Trust to 39 under Ofcom (a reduction of 34%). Radiocentre has told Ofcom and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) that it believes this Operating Licence falls short of the requirements on distinctiveness laid out in the BBC Charter and Framework Agreement (laid down by Government and approved by Parliament).

Specifically the Framework Agreement directed Ofcom to:

  • increase the current range of regulatory requirements
  • have a presumption against the removal of existing requirements.

It also directed Ofcom to set requirements for BBC radio to:

  • improve focus on promoting UK talent, particularly new UK acts, on Radio 1 and Radio 2;
  • ensure Radio 1 and Radio 2 music output in particular is more distinct from other broadcasters
  • increase news, information, current affairs and social action issues on Radio 1 and Radio 2 at peak
  • broaden sports coverage
  • consider clearer average age targets for the mainstream radio services.

We await to see how the new governance system plays out in practice.