The BBC is facing criticism for maintaining exclusive control over a significant portion of the radio spectrum amid ongoing efforts to reduce its operating costs. The broadcaster is currently engaged in a £500 million cost-cutting plan aimed at addressing declining licence fee revenues, but industry voices argue that it is missing an opportunity to generate additional income by renting out parts of its radio airwaves to commercial operators.

Phil Riley, co-founder of Boom Radio, has publicly urged the BBC to consider leasing capacity on its national digital radio multiplex to other broadcasters. In a letter addressed to BBC director general Matt Brittin, Riley suggested that such an approach could yield as much as £15 million annually, providing much-needed financial support during a challenging period for the public service broadcaster.

The BBC’s national multiplex primarily operates on the Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB) standard, which differs from the commercial multiplex that employs DAB+ technology. DAB+ utilizes more efficient compression, allowing approximately twice the number of stations on the same bandwidth compared to DAB. Critics argue that if the BBC were to transition to DAB+, it could free up spectrum capacity that might then be leased to commercial broadcasters.

Despite this, the BBC has not yet moved to adopt the more space-efficient technology, a decision that has drawn rebuke from rival radio operators who regard the current situation as wasteful. They contend that the broadcaster’s reluctance to upgrade and share spectrum limits the broader radio market’s capacity for expansion and revenue generation.

The BBC has so far declined to comment on these calls to open up its radio spectrum or on the suggestion that it could benefit financially from doing so. As the corporation continues to pursue significant budget reductions over the coming two years, the debate highlights competing priorities between cost management and the optimal use of broadcast resources.