The BBC will have to work a 25 per cent budget cut into their online news provision after the BBC Trust announced it was going to reorganise budgets in order to save the 6 Music radio channel.
In a surprise move, the trust offered a reprieve to the popular music channel but presented the online section with the dilemma of how to maintain their exacting standards with a quarter less money – anticipated to cost them around £30 million.
In the same move, the trust – which is the ruling body of the BBC – sealed the fate of the BBC Asian Network, which had been earmarked for the chop at the same time as 6 Music and was not eventually as lucky.
The online cut came after the trust agreed with the proposals made by Director General, Mark Thompson. A trust spokesman said, "We would welcome a simpler and clearer focus, including core online publishing services such as news, sport and weather alongside iPlayer."
Thompson set forward a strategic review in Marach, which detailed the corporation's plans for the rest of the current BBC charter, which lasts until 2016. The trust said they do not think a case has been made that justifies the closure of 6 Music.
BBC Online now reaches 27 million unique browsers each week, with 5.5 million users and 18 million requests for content through iPlayer. It also receives 11 million requests through the red button.
