The BBC is to share video news content with newspapers for use on their websites under a scheme launched yesterday
The Daily Telegraph, The Guardian, Daily Mail and The Independent will all be able to use BBC packages on UK politics, business, health, science and technology once they have been published on the corporation’s own news website.
Packages will be BBC-branded and will appear on the newspaper websites exactly as they do on the corporation’s site. The papers will not be able to re-edit them.
The content will only be available to UK users, will not be allowed to feature advertising and the BBC said it had no intention of extending the range of available video to include sport or entertainment news.
Mark Byford, the BBC’s deputy director general and head of journalism, said sharing video was a “core part” of the corporation’s public service role.
“The way the public is consuming audio and video online is changing,” he said.
“Audiences are increasingly expecting news content to be available wherever they are, rather than always having to navigate to destination sites.
But ITN chief executive John Hardie said the move could damage the market for video.
He said: “The BBC’s plans to offer free video content to newspaper websites risk undermining the demand for content from independent news providers, potentially undercutting a very important revenue stream.”
“The pressure on commercial news suppliers has never been greater, which is why ITN has led the way in opening up valuable new lines of business, and the BBC’s latest move risks pulling the rug from under us.”
