Ofcom has confirmed its decision for the BBC to proceed with its proposed changes to BBC iPlayer, subject to conditions.
Closing its provisional approval, the regulating body concluded that the changes meet the requirement of providing significant public value.
“They could increase choice and availability of public service broadcast content, and help ensure the BBC remains relevant in the face of changing viewing habits,” the decision said.
Ofcom also voiced concerns over competition challenges, noting a number of conditions, including:
- The BBC must retain data on viewing of BBC iPlayer by different categories and genres of content, and by demographic group
- The broadcaster is required to propose revised performance measures and targets where appropriate, to assess the performance of BBC iPlayer and how it contributes to the mission and public purposes
- The BBC is expected to set out in its Annual Plan how it intends BBC iPlayer to contribute to the mission and public purposes over the forthcoming year, particularly as individuals increasingly access BBC content through BBC iPlayer rather than live TV channels
