Ofcom statement on regulating the BBC’s impact on competition

Ofcom is today introducing a new requirement and supplementary guidance which will help to ensure the BBC communicates more openly and consistently with its competitors about planned changes to its public services.

The new, enforceable requirement applies to any planned changes to the BBC’s public service activities which are likely to be subject to a “materiality assessment” under the operating framework. It will ensure that the BBC’s competitors are informed about such plans in advance, so that they have fair opportunity to comment during the process.

We are also introducing additional guidance setting out our expectations on how the BBC should communicate and engage with stakeholders in relation to such changes. This includes measures to ensure greater transparency and consistency in its dialogue with them.

These are some of a number of changes, announced today, concerning how we will regulate the BBC’s impact on competition going forward. All new requirements and guidance, and the reasons for them – including those which respond to concerns raised in our review of BBC Studios – are set out in full in our statement.