Media groups warn Culture Secretary over BBC bid to sell adverts on podcasts
A COALITION of media companies has warned ministers of their ‘deep concern’ over plans by the BBC to run adverts on its podcasts.
The group, which includes Sky, ITV and DMG Media, publisher of the Daily Mail, says the move risks having a ‘ significant adverse impact on fair and effective competition’.
In a letter, they call on Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer to review the situation ‘as a matter of urgency’ and highlight their ‘deep concern’.
The BBC is looking into ‘monetising’ its podcasts on third-party platforms such as Spotify and Apple by inserting adverts into them.
The phased implementation could begin late this year.
Other shows such as The Archers, In Our Time and Desert Island Discs could be included later on. The letter is backed by 20 companies and organisations, which also include Channel 4, News UK, Paramount and Radiocentre, the industry body for commercial radio.
They say the BBC’s plans ‘fundamentally undermine’ the ‘existing model’, where the corporation is funded by the licence fee and is ‘ provided free of advertising across all platforms’. And they warn: ‘ The impact of it extracting audio advertising funds from the nascent UK podcasting market would be disastrous, especially for the numerous small independent podcast producers.
‘ These changes are highly likely to have a significant adverse impact on fair and effective competition in the UK podcast market, while adding little to BBC budgets as a proportion of revenues guaranteed by the licence fee.’
The companies point out that total revenues generated by podcast advertising in 2022 were £76million, which is ‘dwarfed’ by the BBC’s £5.7billion total income.
They say that by running commercials the BBC would make it more difficult for producers, broadcasters and publishers to ‘generate a reasonable return on their investment’.
And they warn the plans would force listeners to ‘migrate’ to the corporation’s own BBC Sounds platform if they wanted to hear its content ‘ad-free’. Matt Payton, from Radiocentre, said: ‘The BBC receives significant funding from the licence fee and should not be seeking advertising in addition to this.
‘We urge the Government to act quickly and engage with Ofcom which has the power to intervene.’
A BBC spokesman said: ‘ We are exploring the opportunity to introduce some adverts on selected non-news podcasts on commercial platforms with the aim of delivering increased value to licence fee payers, our suppliers and our rightsholders.
‘There are no plans to introduce adverts on the BBC’s own audio platforms. The proposals are subject to an ongoing regulatory assessment and nothing has been confirmed. We will continue to engage with the industry as we shape our plans.’
‘Disastrous consequences’