BBC Online Budget Cuts

[Peri-Peri]

Not strictly 'Who' news, but it could be affected.

The BBC today announced that the BBC Online budget of £137m is to be cut by 25%. Speaking about the program of cuts – the announcement of which follows the departure of Future Media and Technology chief Erik Huggers - BBC director general Mark Thompson said “BBC Online is a huge success, but our vast portfolio of websites means we sometimes fall short of expectation. A refocusing on our editorial priorities, a commitment to the highest quality standards, and a more streamlined and collegiate way of working will help us transform BBC Online for the future.

It is estimated that 180 websites are due to close before the end of 2011.

Do you think Doctor Who could fall victim?

[TheDoctorDonna]

I would imagine that it will be the smaller ones like Being Human and other BBC3 programming that will take the hit. I can't imagine it would ever extend to Who. The hitcount on the DW site must be huge so they have no reason to do away with it

[poprockgeek]

The Being Human site is pretty massive too & the show has just been given an online spin off so I can't see that one going.

I would seriously doubt DW will be hit as the show & therefore the site are way too popular. IMO it will be the low interest sites that go - there's probably plenty of obscure stuff on there.

[Peri-Peri]

The Being Human site is pretty massive too & the show has just been given an online spin off so I can't see that one going.

I would seriously doubt DW will be hit as the show & therefore the site are way too popular. IMO it will be the low interest sites that go - there's probably plenty of obscure stuff on there.

Yea I would probably agree with this. A lot of the radio shows have websites and BBC4 programmes too. They would be the lower end of the scale I would imagine as their audiences are a lot lower

[Aneurin]

Its been anounced that they are removing all of the radio content from iPlayer as part of this move, so if you miss it then you won't be able to catch up

[chrissymarieb]

I saw this in my Facebook feed this morning.  Looks like the Doctor Who site is safe according to Doctor Who Online, which really isn't a surprise.  Here is the quote they got from BBC Online:

"The BBC Doctor Who site will not close.

As background, we’ve just posted a blog about the proposed reduction in top-level domains which explains how we’ve identified which directories or sites we’ll be removing from BBC Online over time.  To ensure quality for our audiences it’s necessary to reduce the number of individual websites we manage and concentrate resources in areas where they can be used to best effect.

To streamline efforts further, in future automatically-generated programme pages which will be hosted at bbc.co.uk/programmes – these are dynamically populated and will help us to ensure our web publishing operation is as cost-effective as possible.  But, rest assured, bespoke online offerings for popular programmes like /doctorwho will remain due to the continued value they deliver to large audiences.

We hope you continue to enjoy the content on offer!"

Link to full post: http://news.drwho-online.co.uk/BBC-Doctor-Who-Site-Escapes-BBC-Online-Cuts.aspx

[Nyki]

Its been anounced that they are removing all of the radio content from iPlayer as part of this move, so if you miss it then you won't be able to catch up

That's a bummer, as radio's harder to record then TV.  Good that the DW site's safe, though.

[TheDoctorDonna]

I'd only really miss the radio stuff if its Doctor Who related, otherwise I don't really listen to 'shows'

[Oh-Wise-One]

I'd only really miss the radio stuff if its Doctor Who related, otherwise I don't really listen to 'shows'

That's pretty much the same as me. I only ever really listen if its something to do with Doctor Who