大象传媒

In October 2009, the Trust partially upheld a fair trading complaint against the 大象传媒 Executive from the British Educational Suppliers Association (BESA) in relation to Bitesize, Learning Zone Broadband and the Learning Portal.

The Trust found that the Executive failed to conduct appropriate competitive impact assessments of the offerings and that the 大象传媒 did not engage sufficiently with the wider industry on developments to the offerings.

As a result the Trust agreed that it would not consider further increases in investment levels for all three offerings until it had completed a competitive impact assessment and that the Executive must produce proposals for improving engagement with the wider industry.

Following its assessment, the Trust has found that, while the 大象传媒 does have an impact on the formal learning market, the Executive's failure to conduct its own competitive impact assessment on developments to the three offerings since 2007 did not have a substantive effect.

And while the Trust has concluded that there was not a great deal of action the Executive could have taken to minimise the impact of the offerings without significantly compromising delivery of the 大象传媒's public purposes, improved communication of the 大象传媒's developments could have some effect. Accordingly, the Trust has approved the Executive's proposals to enhance engagement with the wider formal learning industry. This concludes the appeal and the Trust has decided to lift the suspension on consideration of further increases in investment levels.

Rotha Johnston, Chair of the Trust's Finance and Compliance Committee, said:

"The Trust is committed to ensuring that the 大象传媒 delivers to licence fee payers content of real public value across a range of areas and genres, while being mindful of the impact of its activities on the wider market.

"In this instance it is clear that these online offerings do bring genuine public value and that there is limited scope for the 大象传媒 to manage their impact on commercial competitors.

"But one area the 大象传媒 can build on is ensuring it is as open as possible about its plans in order to give other players in the market as much certainty as possible.

"Following proposals from the Executive to improve engagement, we are satisfied that they are better placed to do this from now on."

Notes to editors

1. A summary of the outcome of the Trust's competitive impact assessment and the Executive's proposals for improved industry engagement can be found here: BESA Appeal process
2. As part of its considerations, the Trust commissioned consultants FTI to produce a report. This gives an overview of the market in which the 大象传媒 operates and then conducts a stand-alone, independent and retrospective competitive impact assessment in relation to developments to the three offerings since 2007. FTI's full report can be found here: FTI competitive impact assessment
3. The Trust's press release setting out its original finding in relation to the BESA complaint can be found here: Press release of 08 October 2009