The statement incorporates evidence gained from a consultation last year (which the PPA responded to) and makes recommendations for changes that the Government could make to the Charter Agreement, as well as proposals for alterations to Ofcom’s guidance on how the BBC can make changes to its services.

Ofcom acknowledged arguments made by the PPA and others, that the BBC’s immense digital presence is harming commercial publishers. BBC News Online encroaches on, and arguably duplicates content produced by commercial specialist media publishers, whilst the rapid growth of BBC Sounds demonstrates how the Corporation’s inbuilt advantages allow it to rapidly build capabilities, potentially ‘crowding out’ commercial competitors.

In its statement, Ofcom cited PPA’s calls for greater regulatory scrutiny of competition impacts in the podcast sector, and more formal processes for the BBC to garner views of changes to its service in the early stages of development. Whilst the regulator is proposing changes to the Charter Agreement that would allow some BBC change to be approved more quickly, the regulator proposes to balance this with effective stakeholder engagement and requirements for the Corporation to provide more detailed information about future changes, improving scrutiny.

PPA is in the process of feeding into the Mid-Term Charter Review, and will respond to a more detailed consultation on changes of Ofcom wishes to make to its regulation of changes to the BBC’s public services when it is published in the Autumn.