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This is taken from the FT:
BBC chief denies 'crowding out' commercial rivals
By Emiko Terazono, Media Correspondent
Published: May 4 2006 03:00
The BBC is not "crowding out" its commercial rivals with its expansion into new media, according to Mark Thompson, the corporation's director-general.
Responding to the criticism at the BBC's plans for new websites and other uses of digital technology, Mr Thompson suggested yesterday that other media companies should look at their own investment and business models before blaming the BBC for their problems.
He said there had been three independent reports commissioned by the government looking in general terms at whether the BBC's expansion curbed the growth of commercial media companies.
"In all three cases they couldn't find any evidence. There has been no documented evidence of crowding-out of commercial activity," Mr Thompson said.
Commercial services, many of which are facing a tough environment as consumers make more use of multi-channel digital TV and the internet, needed to be "careful about accusing the BBC" for their fortunes, he added.
"To what extent have [the commercial companies] in-vested in content? To what extent have they thought about their business model?"
He insisted that the BBC was not competing in the same marketplace as advertiser-funded media companies.
"The BBC is exogenous to the market," he said.
Speaking to reporters at the Broadcasting Press Guild, Mr Thompson re-jected allegations that the corporation was responding to an institutional need to expand its operations and funding, rather than res-ponding to the public's need for new services.
He said the BBC was ready to listen to what the public wanted, and to meet all the requirements for new services laid out by the government in its recent white paper on the corporation's future.
All new services must be subjected to "public value tests" by the BBC's new regulatory trust, and "market impact assessments" by Ofcom, the media regulator.
However, Mr Thompson remained vague on what he thought would constitute a "significant change" in an existing service that would require scrutiny by the trust and by Ofcom.
For example, he has said he wants to create a new BBC brand for teenagers. He suggested yesterday that the creation of such a brand would not need to be subject to the reviews by the trust and by Ofcom, as the BBC already offered internet sites and programmes targeted at teenagers.
The corporation's bid to move into digital distribution, including a broadband- based video-on-demand service, and to feature more user-generated content on the BBC's website, have raised questions about the public value of such operations.
Mike Darcey, British Sky Broadcasting's group commercial and strategy director, said: "If they don't already, new media companies will come to understand the severe problems that arise when a well-funded BBC decides that its remit now needs to extend to include their fledgling line of business."
Mr Thompson's comments come ahead of a government-hosted debate tomorrow about the corporation's licence fee demand.
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