there felt the bbc had a weaker connection with them than in other cities where we ve been long established. i mean, peterborough is a very distinctive area that was was underserved and underserved. so, could that be just because they re connected to these other providers who are providing a good news service in those areas, which is why the bbc is less connected? well, again, there s some mythology here. i mean, most users will use a mix of services, so the notion that an additional service suddenly has an immediate detrimental impact on a competitor i don t think holds true. but the other key point is it s about the licence fee we have. we have a contract with our licence fee payers across the uk to provide them with local services that feel relevant to them. that was the bbc s director of nations, rhodri toffin davies. henry fore walker, chief executive of news quest, is with us. and presumably i need to get you to correct me, henry, because in a moment
henry fore walker, chief executive of news quest, is with us. and presumably i need to get you to correct me, henry, because in a moment of madness, i referred to one of your titles as the telegraph and angus, and obviously i didn t mean that i meant the telegraph in argus, as i said at the front of the programme. also here is alice enders, head of research at enders analysis. but henry, if we start with you, you know, newsquest, one of the largest publishers of regional newspapers in the uk, including some of the areas, you know, that david davis was talking about. what is your response to what you ve heard? well, as you ve articulated, katie, we re obviously very concerned about the bbc s expansion into local online news. we think it s potentially very damaging. it will, in our view, further undermine the efforts of ourselves and other commercial local news publishers to build a sustainable future, because it diverts eyeballs away from our sites, which we rely on to drive advertising
so, could that be just because they re connected to these other providers who are providing a good news service in those areas, which is why the bbc is less connected? well, again, there s some mythology here. i mean, most users will use a mix of services, so the notion that an additional service suddenly has an immediate detrimental impact on a competitor i don t think holds true. but the other key point is it s about the licence fee we have. we have a contract with our licence fee payers across the uk to provide them with local services that feel relevant to them. that was the bbc s director of nations, rhodri toffin davies. henry fore walker, chief executive of news quest, is with us. and presumably i need to get you to correct me, henry, because in a moment of madness, i referred to one of your titles as the telegraph and angus, and obviously i didn t mean that, i meant the telegraph in argus, as i said at the front of the programme. also here is alice enders, head of research at e