BBC to close more websites in response to Graf review

by Jennifer Whitehead,, Brand Republic 08-Nov-04, 16:00

LONDON - The BBC has said it will close websites that do not add sufficient public value and pledged that 25% of its content will be sourced from external suppliers by 2007, as it unveiled what it called a 'new era' for BBC.co.uk.

The site closures are due to be announced before Christmas this year and, when added to the closure of a number of sites already, will take the total cuts to around 10% of the online content budget.

The pledge was made as part of a response to the review of BBC's digital services, published by Philip Graf in July this year. It promises that BBC.co.uk will be run with a more transparent and objective system of governance and that it will tighten the boundaries for the BBC's use of the internet.

BBC chairman Michael Grade highlighted the new remit speaking at the CBI Annual Conference in Birmingham. He said: "Today we are publishing new, much more tightly drawn, objectives. They focus on how BBC.co.uk can be made more distinctive, and deliver more public value, in this developing and growing market."

Graf's review recommended the 25% level for external content production in response to industry complaints about the dominance of BBC.co.uk. His report also recommended that BBC Online's remit and objectives should be clearly defined, and that certain sites be closed because they were not substantially different from commercial offerings.

BBC said that, in response to the calls for a better defined remit, it had drawn up a list of four elements, including one about balancing the potential for public value against the risk of negative market impact.

External sites will also benefit from the new guidelines, with BBC.co.uk promising to introduce a more comprehensive approach to linking to non-BBC sites. There will also be new guidelines introduced for content producers on linking to and syndicated to and from third-party sites.

Ashley Highfield, director of new media and technology, said: "The governors' recommendations and revised remit for BBC.co.uk mark a new era for BBC.co.uk. We are committed to building on the work we've already begun to provide a simpler, more open framework for engagement more collaboratively with the industry."

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