Radiocentre statement on the BBC’s vision for the future

Following a keynote speech from BBC Director General Tim Davie (Tuesday 26th March) on the BBC’s vision for the future, Radiocentre released the statement below.

Radiocentre CEO Matt Payton said:

“Understandably the BBC will always need to keep its funding under review. However, given the significance of the BBC in the UK radio market it must not be able to leverage its privileged position to duplicate commercial radio services and siphon off vital advertising income. A future world where the BBC muscles in on a limited pool of audio advertising revenue would be to the detriment of listeners and licence fee payers alike.”

The speech was accompanied by the publication of a new 28 page policy document outlining details of the BBC’s future strategy, including plans to commercialise content. The BBC’s Annual Plan 2024/25 was also published on 28th March, which highlights plans to commercialise podcasts on third-party platforms in the UK for the first time.