The Newspaper Publishers Association in the UK has criticised the BBC Trust for allowing the BBC to bring out mobile apps. The BBC Trust decided against a "public value test" before allowing the BBC to begin the process of bringing out apps, and starting with the already popular BBC News app for iPhone.
However, the Newspaper Publishers Association, according to Brand Republic, expressed its "disappointment" over the decision, with director David Newell expressing his belief that it will have a "significant and negative market impact."
The details: [Link]
The NPA objected to the launch on the grounds that the apps were new services and not an extension of existing ones.
David Newell, director of the NPA, said: "It is disappointing that the BBC Trust has decided to push this through quickly and avoid conducting a formal PVT, despite the BBC’s previously stated aims that ‘where actual or potential market impact outweighs public value', the BBC should leave space clear for others’ and that ‘it must listen to legitimate concerns from commercial media players more carefully than it has in the past'."
He added: "The launch of BBC mobile apps represents a significant change to the BBC Online service, and we believe it will have a significant and negative market impact upon the viability of the business models of commercial news organisations in the app market."
