In a letter to Jowell, he urged the secretary of state only to give the new BBC digital channel the go-ahead if it was proved that the station would not be replicating what was already available.
According to Yeo: "In the past, Jowell has said that the new BBC services will not be approved if it duplicates what the commercial sector is currently providing. It is not yet clear that this is the case with the new BBC3 proposals. I have therefore written to ask if she has changed her mind about the criteria by which these should be judged."
In his letter to Jowell, Yeo highlighted one of three benchmark principles Jowell said she would use in determining whether to approve the channel, which was that it should not duplicate what the commercial sector is already providing.
He said that "it is not clear from the BBC's new proposal, or accompanying research from Oliver & Ohlbaum Associates, that this is the case".
Yeo's comments echo those of Channel 4 and Channel 5, both of which have asked the government to reject plans for BBC3 on the grounds that it would encroach on their market share.
Yeo has also been vocal about Jowell's handling of the digital switchover and he attacked the government's communications bill for failing to tackle key issues such as media ownership rules.
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