BBC ads plan ‘catastrophic for media industry’

THE BBC is facing a backlash over its “catastrophic” plans to introduce adverts on its radio and podcast output.

The public service broadcaster is exploring proposals to place advertisings around some of its programmes when they are streamed via platforms such as Spotify and Apple in the UK.

The Archers, Desert Island Discs and In Our Time are among the shows that could be selected for advertisments as the corporation looks tries to plug a £500m black hole in its finances.

However, the plans have drawn criticism, with rivals warning that the publicly funded broadcaster was attempting win a slice of the lucrative commercial advertising market.

Owen Meredith, chief executive of the News Media Association, which represents local and national publishers, branded the move “very alarming”. He said: “Such an intervention will profoundly distort competition, wreaking havoc on commercial players right across the media and advertising sector.

“The BBC must not be allowed to use the might of its licence fee-powered services in the advertising marketplace, otherwise the consequences for our media could be catastrophic.

“This would set an extremely dangerous precedent … These plans must be stopped immediately.”

Mans Ulvestam, co-founder of podcasting company Acast, said: “The impact will be that fewer ads will be sold on commercial podcasts, since more people sharing will mean smaller percentages of what is available of advertising revenue.”

A BBC spokesman said: “As many of our podcasts are available on commercial platforms … where adverts are the norm, we look to carry them in some of our content to generate more revenue.”

‘It will profoundly distort competition, wreaking havoc on commercial players’