Ofcom begins Market Impact Assessment of BBC's proposed HDTV service

The BBC has applied for permission to provide a mixed-genre digital TV channel in high-definition format, available free-to-view without advertisements.

Ofcom today published the Terms of Reference for its Market Impact Assessment (MIA) of this service and is now seeking input from stakeholders that will inform its assessment of the likely impact of the proposed service on relevant commercial products and services.

The Government's Charter and Agreement on the future of the BBC proposed that all new or substantially changed BBC services should be subject to a Public Value Test (PVT) by the BBC Trust.

The PVT consists of a Public Value Assessment, performed by the BBC Trust, and a MIA carried out by Ofcom. The MIA is intended to ensure that the BBC's new services are consistent with the development of a vibrant and dynamic commercial sector.

On 21 May the BBC Trust announced the beginning of the PVT of the proposed high definition television (HDTV) service. Ofcom will deliver the results of its MIA to the BBC Trust in mid-September. The BBC Trust will consult on the overall PVT, and it is anticipated that the Trust will then publish the results of the PVT later in the year.

The Terms of Reference identify a number of commercial products and services which may be impacted by a new BBC HDTV channel. These include:

• broadcast services on various delivery platforms;
• TV platform services and network services;
• provision of content - including programme-making and rights exploitation;
• hardware and software, including television reception equipment, recording and playback equipment, and physical media; and
• on-demand services.

The Terms of Reference have been agreed by a joint steering group which includes representatives from the BBC Trust and Ofcom, and are published at http://www.ofcom.org.uk/research/tv/bbcmias/.

A press release was also published by the BBC Trust - it can be found at
http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbctrust/news/index.html.