The BBC confirmed today its plan to slash spending on its online services and close two radio stations in a shake-up designed to boost programme funding, as we reported last week. Digital radio stations BBC Asian Network and BBC 6 Music will close from next year as part of a review of the British Broadcasting Corporation’s budget and services, said Director General Mark Thompson.Spending on its online services - which commercial competitors complain stifle competition - will be cut by 25 percent by 2013, he said in a widely-anticipated announcement. The shake-up will free an extra 600 million pounds (890 million dollars, 660 million euros) to be spent on programme-making, he told staff at the BBC’s headquarters in London.
Mr Thompson said that Asian Network, targeted at Britain’s South Asian communities, and alternative music station 6 Music will close in 2011 at the earliest. The plans will now be considered by the BBC Trust, a body which oversees the broadcaster’s activities, and be put out for public consultation.
(Source: AFP/R Netherlands Media Network Weblog)