Stopping things

I'd be a bit twitchy if I was working in some bits of the BBC's new media operation. BBC chairman Sir Michael Lyons' "update" on the strategic review of the organisation (i.e. smaller but how much smaller ?) is explicit.

Streamlining the BBC’s online services

...there is a question about streamlining the BBC’s online services – in ways that could both narrow the focus on distinctive content and help to create a more open BBC.

The Trust recognises external concerns over scale and growth of BBC online operations. Equally, it’s an immensely popular service with audiences and an important tool for the UK economy. We have no intention of diluting BBC commitment to universal access to free news online. But beyond that we want to question honestly what licence fee payers really expect to get from their licence fee and what they might be surprised to see the BBC doing in the online world.

So the key questions from the Trust here are:

• Beyond the core offer of news, sport, education, children’s and the iPlayer, which parts of the online service are essential to the BBC’s mission and which could be stopped?

• In particular, where should the boundary be drawn between the online expression or extension of BBC programming and the creation of new online content with a less direct relationship to BBC programming?

• Could clearer boundaries help the online service to provide even greater depth and authority in core areas ?



The core offer for online, asserts the Trust, excludes that Reithian value "entertainment", unless it's providing access to accessing an existing programme through the iPlayer. So what falls off this portal ?