Your browser is out-of-date!

Update your browser to view this website correctly. Update my browser now

×

Channel 4: iPlayer changes will “kill competition”

Upgrades were provisionally approved by Ofcom last month

Channel 4 has warned that the upcoming changes to BBC iPlayer will “kill competition”, The Sunday Times has reported.

The upgrades were provisionally approved last month by Ofcom, who ruled that “the public value of the proposed changes to BBC iPlayer justifies the adverse impact on fair and effective competition we have identified.”

Channel 4 then submitted its own appeal to Ofcom, stating that the BBC had “significantly underestimated” the impact of the plans on its rivals, adding that it was wrong to conclude that the changes would have no effect on competition.

The BBC’s report included a claim by consultancy Frontier Economics that All 4 would take a hit of £4.5 million a year by 2024, which Channel 4 has argued is an underestimation.

A final decision is expected later in summer 2019.