BBC digitial radio goes 'above and beyond' expectations

The BBC has gone "above and beyond" what is expected of it by the government when it comes to the delivery of digital radio services, according to an independent report published today.

Tim Gardam, the former Director of Television and Director of Programmes at Channel 4, reviewed 1Xtra, BBC6, BBC7, BBC Asian Network and Five Live Sports Extra, in particular examining their impact on the wider radio market.

The root cause behind the success of the BBC's five digital radio services has been funding from the licence fee which has provided a quality of programming that commercial competitors would find impossible to match at this stage, the report said.

In particular he singled out 1Xtra and 6 Music for praise, citing the latter as demonstrating "the BBC's creative enthusiasm at is most impressive" and the former as having "successfully established credibility in a community that initially had little connection with the BBC".

Among Mr Gardam's main recommendations is urging the governors to redraft the remit of BBC Asian Network to encourage it to be "more editorially ambitious, particularly by featuring regular current affairs documentaries".

The BBC should also set targets for the percentage of British acts being played on 1Xtra in order to maintain its distinction from commercial stations.

The BBC radio archive should also be available to commercial buyers and the BBC should examine how it can enter into joint ventures with the commercial sector when considering future archive-based services, the report found.

Tim Gardam said that the "scope and ambition" of the BBC's digital radio services have "evolved well beyond what was initially envisaged when they were granted approval".

"This is a considerable achievement that has been instrumental in promoting the up-take of digital radio," he said.

"The challenge now is to give the BBC's digital channels the room to evolve further, while ensuring that they remain distinctive from the services offered by the commercial radio market. This is the key to ensuring a healthy digital radio market across the PSB and commercial sectors."

The Department for Culture Media and Sport should, as part of Charter Review, appoint an expert to ensure the BBC does not pay significantly more than the market rate for sports rights.

Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell said: "We must now work with the BBC to ensure the right framework is in place to allow its digital services, and digital radio more generally, to flourish, while ensuring the concerns and aspirations of the wider commercial radio market are taken into account."

Ms Jowell has set a deadline of the end of November for the BBC to make an initial response to the review.

(gmcg/mb)