RadioCentre boss lambastes BBC local video service

Andrew Harrison, the chief executive of the RadioCentre, has attacked the BBC's plans for a nationwide local video news service, warning it would be "highly damaging to local media markets".

Harrison said local media providers are already taking account of the changing consumer demands and that a new BBC service is "not necessary".

The BBC recently unveiled plans to spend £68m by 2013 on a network of 65 websites that will provide local on-demand video news covering the UK.

In a report, "Action Stations!: The Output and Impact of Commercial Radio", that followed an audit of 233 commercial radio stations in April, the RadioCentre detailed what it claimed was the sufficient investment in local news already being carried out by radio providers.
 
Regarding local content output, the report found that commercial radio broadcasts an average of 22 news bulletins a day, with 69% of those bulletins containing local news.

Meanwhile, it found there are 33 non-BBC radio stations targeting ethnic minorities or focusing on specific interest areas, such as the environment and religion.

"In this context, the proposed introduction of a publicly funded BBC local video service is not necessary," Harrison added. "A state intervention of this nature would be highly damaging to local media markets, which are naturally evolving to take account of changing consumer demands."

The RadioCentre report will make up the radio industry body's response to the BBC plans for local online news services.