Trinity’s Bailey Wants Lords To Squash BBC Hyperlocal Plans

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Trinity’s Bailey Wants Lords To Squash BBC Hyperlocal Plans

Not that the House Of Lords has any direct jurisdiction over the broadcaster, but Trinity Mirror (LSE: TNI) CEO Sly Bailey had only negative things to say to its communications committee about the BBC’s plans to launch 60 hyperlocal news sites (via Journalism.co.uk): “Our business in this area, as every other publisher’s, is very fragile, embryonic. The business models aren’t clear and we are all making investments. We must not allow the BBC to distort these embryonic markets. They ... will distort those markets making it much more difficult for us to enter.”

Trinity, of course, has just entered this market, rolling out community sites down to postcode level, authored in part by volunteer stringers.

Local news publishers’ concern at the BBC’s local news plans, like Auntie’s proposals themselves, have rumbled on for many years. Once upon a time, the BBC had considered a TV-centric multimedia hyperlocal initiative, spearheaded by a BBC Radio trial in the West Midlands. Plans were scaled back to include a 60-site hyperlocal network in October - but it’s not yet certain how this differs from its existing Where I Live strand, and the plan is yet to go to the BBC Trust.

Since the trust will submit the plan to a market impact assessment as well as a public value test (and it frequently curtails BBC ambitions in order to protect commercial rivals), it’s quite possible the news publishers will win its support to enforce significant concessions.

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Robert Andrews

@robertandrews May 20, 2008 9:26 AM ET

Posted In: Companies, BBC, Trinity Mirror, sly bailey

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Carolyn

It's easy to dismiss what Sly says as a traditional media owner protecting an already fragile position in an ever changing market - but that is to misunderstand the crux of her argument. It would also misunderstand the charter of the BBC - which is to provide a public service and particularly to do things that others cannot do. In local, this is not the case. There is no market failure. And there is no real gap. There is a very well established local newspaper market and one that is trying very hard to serve the communities they are in by providing information and entertainment on all plaftforms. The BBC is in danger of killing this off a- unlike commercial operators, it can spend a lot of public money and there is absolutely no penalty if things dont go well.