BBC: New Advertising and Subscriptions for International Users

BBC: New Advertising and Subscriptions for International Users

The BBC Trust has approved the launch of a new web platform funded by advertisers specifically for international users. There are two reasons for this change to the distribution of the BBC service. It has been a concern of the British public, for the longest time, that their licence fees fund the BBC while the rest of the international community enjoy the benefits of the public service at no cost. Further, it has now come to light that the BBC charter does not allow for the servicing of international users through the licence fee paid by British residents. Subsequently, in October 2007, the BBC trust approved an initiative to implement a new website called BBC.com that provides international users with two access points to BBC content: ad-supported and subscription supported services. Ad-supported access means that international users accessing the BBC will see advertisements—if users do not wish to see ads, then they will have the option to invest in a subscription which provides “ad-free” content.

It is anticipated that the advertisements at BBC.com will generate enough income to cover costs and achieve profits that can be used to further support the BBC’s journalism.

On the question of whether BBC.com will retain the same quality of product as that currently enjoyed around the globe, Richard Sambrook, Director of BBC Global News, said definitively that it would. BBC.com would carry the same public service journalism it currently provides. He assured BBC international users that the only difference will be the platform from which it is distributed—“a commercial platform” (Sambrook, 2007).

Two major difficulties that users have with commercially supported news platforms are the degree of intrusiveness and the loss of editorial independence. Sambrook says the BBC’s proposed advertising platform won’t be intrusive and that extensive efforts will be made to ensure editorial independence is protected and maintained.

The transition will begin in November, on high traffic pages. This will extend in December to the broader website.

UPDATE: The transition started Nov 5. The first advertisements are now visible on the main page.

UPDATE: There’s more here

there’s more by billt here