News story about the 'iPlayer' proposal by UK broadcaster BBC requiring the first Public Value Test and Market Impact Assessment, written by Grant Goddard in September 2006 for The Radio Magazine.

1. NEWS: BBC 'IPLAYER'
PROPOSAL WILL REQUIRE
FIRST PUBLIC VALUE TEST AND
MARKET IMPACT ASSESSMENT
BEFORE CONSUMER LAUNCH
by
GRANT GODDARD
www.grantgoddard.co.uk
September 2006

2. The BBC’s new 'iPlayer' software, which can provide internet users with on-
demand radio and TV streams, will be the subject of the first Public Value Test
[PVT] used to determine the impact of any new Corporation service on the
marketplace. BBC governors have received a formal application from
management who want to introduce the new technology next year, offering
users a seven-day catch-up service for radio and TV shows. The iPlayer, using
Windows Media technology, will replace and unify existing software such as
the 'BBC RadioPlayer' that presently uses RealAudio software.
The PVT principle will come into effect when the new BBC Charter &
Agreement starts on 1 January 2007 and is intended to measure any new
major service-related investment proposal in terms of its net public value
created and its market impact. The BBC’s new Governance Unit will conduct
the market impact assessment, while Ofcom will measure the impact on the
commercial sector, with the final decision made by the governors.
Hugo Drayton, chairman of the British Interactive Publishers Association, said:
"The most important thing is that the BBC gets used to the process of PVTs as
a lot of the other [new service launches] in the past haven't stood up to
scrutiny. The iPlayer is an interesting development and, as it is funded by
licence payers' money, it needs to be ascertained that every person will benefit
from it. The biggest problem in the past is that there hasn't been a rigorous
enough approval process – now it is about a better, more transparent regime
that is under the spotlight."
The next PVT could be concerned with BBC plans to launch ultra-local news
services [see issue #751], for which a pilot scheme in the West Midlands has
caused concern amongst local commercial radio stations and local
newspapers.
Replying to issues raised by the Society of Editors about this BBC initiative,
culture secretary Tessa Jowell wrote: "I should make clear that, under the
current arrangements, the Secretary of State's approval is required for the
implementation of any new service. However, in their published response to
the Green Paper, the BBC has said that 'full roll-out of a new local news
service will not be approved until a full Public Value Test has been carried out.'
As part of this, an assessment of market impact will also be made. The new
arrangements we will set out for the BBC in the new Charter, to begin in 2007,
will lay out an even more rigorous approval process for new services launched
by the BBC, requiring that a Public Value Test, including a Market Impact
Assessment conducted by Ofcom, be carried out on all proposed new
services, while still allowing the Secretary of State to intervene via procedural
veto. Also, for the first time, the Charter & Agreement will set a duty on the
BBC to have regard to the wider market."
[First published in 'The Radio Magazine' as 'Public Value Test For BBC iPlayer', #752, 6 September 2006]
News: BBC 'iPlayer' Proposal Will Require First Public Value Test And Market Impact Assessment Before Consumer
Launch page 2
©2006 Grant Goddard

3. News: BBC 'iPlayer' Proposal Will Require First Public Value Test And Market Impact Assessment Before Consumer
Launch page 3
©2006 Grant Goddard
Grant Goddard is a media analyst / radio specialist / radio consultant with thirty years of
experience in the broadcasting industry, having held senior management and consultancy
roles within the commercial media sector in the United Kingdom, Europe and Asia. Details at
http://www.grantgoddard.co.uk