bbccharter
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Draft BBC Charter sets the stage for a subscription service
A few months after its White Paper, the UK government has published the first official draft of the next BBC Charter. The crucial document, which sets out the broadcaster's funding, corporate structure and general approach to programming, comes with a few crucial changes. After all, it's been a decade since the last Charter was drawn up -- a lot has changed in that time, both politically and inside the media industry.
BBC cuts Food and Newsbeat sites to save £15 million
The BBC has announced plans to close a string of sites and services including BBC Food, which hosts more than 11,000 recipes. The decision, which has triggered a large public outcry, is part of the broadcaster's pledge to make its programming, apps and news coverage more "distinctive." It follows criticism from the UK government that the BBC is trying to do too much with the licence fee, replicating and potentially suffocating services provided by other companies. Shuttering the sites will also save the BBC £15 million (roughly $21.7 million) in running costs.
BBC White Paper: what you need to know
The UK government has published a White Paper today setting out its proposed changes to the BBC Charter. If approved, the new Charter -- which guides and regulates the BBC's operations -- would abolish the BBC Trust and hand oversight to Ofcom, the UK's media regulator. In addition, a new board would be established to avoid "confusion of governance issues." The new setup would, the government argues, make the broadcaster more accountable and less susceptible to mismanagement. The BBC broadly agrees with the decision to make Ofcom its watchdog, but has some concerns with how the new BBC board members would be appointed.
