LORD CURRIE, the chairman of Ofcom, hit out yesterday at European Commission proposals that could lead to regulation of podcasting, saying that the market was too diverse for tighter controls.

Speaking at the Radio Festival in Cambridge, Lord Currie was one of a panel that also included Ralph Bernard, chief executive of GCap, Andy Duncan, chief executive of Channel 4, and Jenny Abramsky, the director of BBC Radio.

In April Ofcom expressed its objections to European proposals to regulate video weblogs, and Lord Currie said yesterday that this also applied to the diverse nature of podcasts.

Ofcom believes that regulation of these markets would be too complex and practically impossible because of the number of sites that would have to be regulated.

The EU move comes as the Commission seeks to update the 17-year-old Television Without Frontiers Directive and includes for the first time rules to govern “non-linear audio- visual services”.

Lord Currie also emphasised the importance for the radio industry of making sure that “it holds on to the younger generation”, considering the challenges posed by mp3 players. Mr Duncan added that mp3 players were probably the biggest threat to radio.

Mr Bernard said: “I don’t want to be accused of saying that the glass is half full. There is more for young people to do now . . . but evidence shows that young people do come back to radio later.” Ms Abramsky disagreed. “We cannot assume that people will just grow into radio,” she said.

Ms Abramsky added that it was the radio operator’s job to do all it could to appeal to younger generations and to move with changing technology. She cited the impact of broadband on Radio 1. “Radio 1 has to have a visual identity in a broadband space. There are things we are going to have to do,” she said.

The panel also debated privatisation of Radio 1 and Radio 2. Mr Duncan said it would not work. Mr Bernard thought it would boost commercial radio revenues.

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