Newspaper industry veteran David Montgomery will reiterate his long-standing criticism of the BBC’s intrusion into local news coverage on Thursday, accusing the BBC of “predatory behavior” that harms commercial rivals.
Sky News understands Mr Montgomery will use the preface to the annual results of the London-listed company he runs, National World, to launch a scathing attack on the company.
Mr Montgomery, whose company owns magazines including The Scotsman and The Yorkshire Post, has been a vocal critic of the BBC’s performance in online news and said in 2019 that its role needed to be redefined.
On Thursday, he will say National World has been “at the forefront of the fight against the BBC’s predatory behavior, which uses taxpayers’ money to compete online and threatens independent local journalism”.
“It is remarkable that the BBC, funded by compulsory taxation, is allowed to strengthen its monopoly on news month by month,” he added in remarks obtained by Sky News.
“BBC News had 3.1 billion page views in January 2024, dwarfing the combined views of the UK’s 28 leading independent news websites, including the Daily Mail, The Sun and, of course, The Nation world”.
“In no other industry would regulators tolerate such an unfair market.”
Mr Montgomery has been pushing industry body the News Media Association to take a tougher stance on the BBC.
Sky News is one of the commercial channels that competes with the BBC in providing news across different media platforms.
National World, which has a market capitalization of around £38m, was one of the potential bidders for the Daily Telegraph, following an ill-fated deal with financial backers before striking an ill-fated deal with Abu Dhabi-funded investment vehicle RedBird IMI. negotiated.
Mr Montgomery wants to transform his company from a media business with news journalism expertise to a broader content provider across media platforms.
The BBC faced further criticism from business groups this week over its plans to run advertising within its broadcast content.
On Wednesday, BBC director-general Tim Davie was asked about the organisation’s news strategy and he dismissed suggestions that the corporation was responsible for a decline in the commercial supply of local news.
Tim Davie. Photo: PA
“I think some of these things are structural, so if you look at the decline of local print… look at the trend lines there,” he told the culture, media and sport select committee.
“So I don’t think it’s the BBC’s fault. In fact, if you look at the amount of news we produce, it’s often very, very different to other news coverage in the market, or a different level of coverage.”
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