Commercial Radio Sector Criticises BBC for Plan to Launch Competitor Stations

The industry body for commercial radio has criticised the BBC for its plan to launch new digital music stations which the sector said would “compete directly with commercial radio stations.” On Wednesday, the BBC announced plans for four genre-focused digital music stations as extensions for BBC Radio 1, BBC Radio 2, and BBC Radio 3. One proposed extension for Radio 1 would focus on music from the 2000s and 2010s, while another would see an expanded version of BBC Sounds Radio 1 Dance stream. Radio 2’s extension would curate “nostalgic pop music” from the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, and Radio 3 would feature a wide range of classical music....