BBC Online to justify expenditure in independent review

Jennifer Whitehead,

April 15, 2003

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BBC Online to justify expenditure in independent review

LONDON - Tessa Jowell, the culture secretary, has given the BBC until the end of June 2003, when it will face an independent review of its service, to justify its £100m spend on BBC Online.

The review is being undertaken by the Department of Media, Culture and Sport, which is to appoint a reviewer to oversee the process.

The minister said: "The BBC is preparing a full statement about the Online approval and its own detailed assessment of performance against this. The report will be submitted to the department by the end of June 2003, and will then be available to the independent reviewer or reviewers, whom I expect to have appointed by that time."

It follows a review of BBC News 24 by Richard Lambert, the former editor of the Financial Times. He was critical of the amount spent on the rolling news service, compared with the rival rolling news service offered by Sky.

The BBC Online review will include public consultation. It will look at how BBC Online has met the objectives set out for it when it was funded; assess its market impact; and analyse its role as part of the BBC's overall service.

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