Written Evidence Feb. 19 2024
Committee: Public Accounts CommitteeFound: In October 2022, the BBC announced cuts to local radio, and the creation of 11 investigative reporting
Asked by: Stephanie Peacock (Labour - Barnsley East)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to the draft Media Bill, what recent assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of proposals to remove requirements on local analogue radio services to feature local music on (a) up and coming artists, and (b) the music industry.
Answered by John Whittingdale
Provisions in the Media Bill will update the regulatory framework for commercial radio, to reflect the significant evolution in the radio sector over recent years. In particular, the changes will make it easier for local commercial stations holding analogue licences to adapt their services in response to listener preferences, while ensuring that protections for local news and information remain, recognising that these services are fundamental to the public value of radio.
The provisions also reflect the huge growth in the radio sector over the last twenty years. In that time, the Government has put in place funding and legislation to support the development of digital radio, including enabling the rollout of small-scale DAB across the UK, and this has provided opportunities for a number of new local services to broadcast - many of which regularly feature local music. Community radio has also grown significantly since its inception in 2005, with more than 300 stations providing hyperlocal services to communities throughout the UK.
Jun. 23 2008
Source Page: Interim report of the Digital Radio Working Group. 13 p.Found: Interim report of the Digital Radio Working Group. 13 p.
Special Report Jan. 22 2024
Committee: Welsh Affairs Committee (Department: Wales Office)Found: Ofcom’s remit with regard to localness, will help to reduce the burdens on commercial radio whilst ensuring
Mentions:
1: Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay (Con - Life peer) We have heard from public service broadcasters, commercial broadcasters, the radio and news media, radio - Speech Link
2: Lord Bassam of Brighton (Lab - Life peer) radio have a new regulatory framework. - Speech Link
3: Lord Storey (LD - Life peer) That is not local radio; that is the big providers taking over local radio and using it as a national - Speech Link
Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Penrith and The Border)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to support local journalism.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government is committed to supporting local and regional newspapers and other news outlets as vital pillars of communities and local democracy. They play an essential role in holding power to account, keeping the public informed of local issues and providing reliable, high-quality information.
Amid an evolving media landscape and changes in consumer behaviour, we are working to support journalism and local newsrooms to ensure the sustainability of this important industry. We are introducing a new, pro-competition regime for digital markets. The regime, which aims to address the far-reaching power of the biggest tech firms, will help rebalance the relationship between publishers and the online platforms on which they increasingly rely. This will make an important contribution to the sustainability of the press.
Additionally, our support for the sector has included the delivery of a £2 million Future News Fund, the extension of a 2017 business rates relief on local newspaper office space until 2025; the publication of the Online Media Literacy Strategy; and our work through the Mid-Term Review of the BBC Charter to encourage greater collaboration and transparency from the BBC in the local news market and other markets in which it operates. The BBC also supports the sector directly, through the £8m it spends each year on the Local News Partnership, including the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.
We are also reducing regulatory burdens on commercial radio providers, and strengthening requirements on the provision of local news through the Media Bill to ensure commercial radio continues to provide high quality local journalism.
We continue to consider all possible options in the interests of promoting and sustaining news journalism.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will make an assessment of the adequacy of the level of competition between the BBC and the commercial radio sector.
Answered by John Whittingdale
The BBC has responsibilities set out in its Charter to avoid unnecessary adverse impacts on the market, including on the commercial radio sector. It is for Ofcom, as the independent regulator of the BBC, to hold the BBC to account on this.
However, commercial radio now represents a majority (54% as of Q3 2023, according to RAJAR data) of radio listening in the UK, with BBC stations accounting for 44%.
The Government is currently undertaking the Mid-Term Review of the BBC’s Charter, which will look at how the BBC and Ofcom assess the market impact of the BBC in an evolving marketplace, and how that relates to the wider UK media ecology, including the commercial radio sector. We will publish the results of the review in due course.
Mentions:
1: Stephanie Peacock (Lab - Barnsley East) The digital radio and audio review has confirmed that FM spectrum will be needed for BBC, commercial - Speech Link
2: John Whittingdale (Con - Maldon) Actually, radio is going from strength to strength, particularly in the commercial radio sector, at which - Speech Link
3: Andy Carter (Con - Warrington South) I set up the first commercial radio station in Rutland. - Speech Link
4: Stephanie Peacock (Lab - Barnsley East) Radiocentre, which represents the commercial radio sector, has said that it is sensible to introduce - Speech Link
5: John Whittingdale (Con - Maldon) , commercial radio services and audio production. - Speech Link
Nov. 17 2023
Source Page: I. Media Bill: memorandum from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport to the Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committee. 53p. II. ECHR memorandum for the Media Bill as introduced into the House of Commons. 15p. III. Media Bill: Overarching Impact Assessment. Incl. Annexes A (Governance and Regulatory Reform), B (Repeal of Section 40 of the Crime and Courts Act 2013) and C (Commercial radio de-regulation De Minimis Assessment) (4 docs.) IV. A principles-based framework for a new prominence regime for PSB online services. 59p. V. Modernising the UK’s system of public service broadcasting: Impact Assessment. 59p. VI. Regulation of radio services across voice assistant platforms: Impact Assessment. 91p. VII. Video-on-Demand Regulation and Accessibility Impact Assessments. (2 docs.) VIII. Assessment of Impacts: The removal of Channel 4 Television Corporation (C4C)’s publisher-broadcaster restriction and accompanying mitigations. 33p. IX. Letter dated 08/11/2023 from Lucy Frazer MP to the Deposited Papers Clerk regarding documents relating to the Media Bill to be deposited in the House libraries. 1p.Found: Governance and Regulatory Reform), B (Repeal of Section 40 of the Crime and Courts Act 2013) and C (Commercial
Mentions:
1: None , that was a record of £5.7 billion: £3.7 billion from the licence fee but also £2 billion from our commercial - Speech Link
2: None The commercial side of the business, which is growing—it has surpassed £2 billion for the very first - Speech Link
3: None It is true to say that a relatively small percentage of the £2 billion commercial income that the BBC - Speech Link
4: None That is double the contribution of Sky News, and it is more than the main commercial radio stations put - Speech Link