Media Websites

BBC.co.uk - site cutbacks & beyond

Split from bbc.co.uk (May 2016)

This site closed in March 2021 and is now a read-only archive
VM
VMPhil
It looks like BBC Online is having another round of cuts for potentially commercially sensitive sites.

iWonder
Newsbeat
News Magazine
Travel
Food
Local News index pages

https://www.bectu.org.uk/news/2587
MA
madmusician
I really am surprised by iWonder going. It's not at all old and it was launched to much fanfare. I'd have thought that it would be protected for a bit just to save face, if nothing else.
HB
HarryB
Newsbeat hasn't actually said anything yet about their closure but is talking about BBC Food's closure


LL
London Lite Founding member
Newsbeat is a shame considering the downgrading of BBC Three to online. However, I suspect the demographic is using the main BBC News site.
ST
Stuart
I'm getting rather tired of the constant reduction in services which probably cost very little to run. This is denuding the BBC by stealth, and with very little logical argument.

However, BBC Good Food seems to be available in the UK, complete with adverts.

http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj219/StuartPlymouth/BBCFood.jpg
Last edited by Stuart on 17 May 2016 1:38pm - 2 times in total
SC
scottishtv Founding member
Newsbeat is a shame considering the downgrading of BBC Three to online. However, I suspect the demographic is using the main BBC News site.

Agree, I doubt the Newsbeat site and app are getting that much use. If you want BBC News, you'll probably visit the main site. If you want LOLs you'll probably go to BuzzFeed.

Still though, the survival of the Daily Drop and the BBC Three listicle/gif crap is annoying. I suspect it's being moved North so no-one misses the Drop when it gets dropped in the future.

Also, I won't be sad to see the back of BBC News Magazine. It always seemed to try too hard, having a bit of a funny over-familiar tone for BBC News, yet remained bland enough so as to not provoke any controversy. As a result, it just generated so much guff:
- Why do we procrastinate so much?
- Is it legal to attack a seagull?
- What do Tube drivers do and how much do they earn?
- Is a tea break at work good for productivity?
- Is it dangerous for dogs to fetch sticks?

You could tell when it was a hot day in London as is nearly always something like "How to cool down in a hot office", "Why is the Tube so hot?", "Why won't they let me have a BBQ in the park outside my house?" I suppose they were just trying to get in on the click-bait game, but have thankfully decided to stop it.

I am a bit sad about Food though, I think online recipes complement the programmes so it isn't an online service for the sake of it. In fact, wasn't setting up the Food website partly a streamlining of the early days where nearly programme created it's own website on the bbc domain and they were all over the place?
VM
VMPhil
I'm getting rather tired of the constant reduction in services which probably cost very little to run. This is denuding the BBC by stealth, and with very little logical argument.

However, BBC Good Food seems to be available in the UK, complete with adverts.

http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj219/StuartPlymouth/BBCFood.jpg

They've made great pains to clarify that Good Food is wholly unaffected, it's BBC Food that's going
JA
JAS84
Newsbeat hasn't actually said anything yet about their closure
They have now:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/article/36313107/this-is-whats-happening-with-newsbeat-online
VM
VMPhil
Newsbeat is a shame considering the downgrading of BBC Three to online. However, I suspect the demographic is using the main BBC News site.

Agree, I doubt the Newsbeat site and app are getting that much use. If you want BBC News, you'll probably visit the main site. If you want LOLs you'll probably go to BuzzFeed.

Still though, the survival of the Daily Drop and the BBC Three listicle/gif crap is annoying. I suspect it's being moved North so no-one misses the Drop when it gets dropped in the future.

Also, I won't be sad to see the back of BBC News Magazine. It always seemed to try too hard, having a bit of a funny over-familiar tone for BBC News, yet remained bland enough so as to not provoke any controversy. As a result, it just generated so much guff:
- Why do we procrastinate so much?
- Is it legal to attack a seagull?
- What do Tube drivers do and how much do they earn?
- Is a tea break at work good for productivity?
- Is it dangerous for dogs to fetch sticks?

You could tell when it was a hot day in London as is nearly always something like "How to cool down in a hot office", "Why is the Tube so hot?", "Why won't they let me have a BBQ in the park outside my house?" I suppose they were just trying to get in on the click-bait game, but have thankfully decided to stop it.

I am a bit sad about Food though, I think online recipes complement the programmes so it isn't an online service for the sake of it. In fact, wasn't setting up the Food website partly a streamlining of the early days where nearly programme created it's own website on the bbc domain and they were all over the place?

I disagree with you on News Magazine. I've often thought they produce some of the most interesting articles on the BBC News website, and not just because they recently did an article on BBC SOS messages that appeals to my inner anorak.

I do have to say though that I think it's a good idea to have Newsbeat integrated into the main site, considering I have always visited their articles through the BBC News 'most read' section, and considering the kind of sub-BuzzFeed quality of some of their articles that consist of an embedded Instagram post and random people's tweets in response to it. *cough*

(Note to other media sites: "outrage" about something does not equal random people tweeting about it. I do not care to read an article only for it to consist of tweets from random people)
DV
dvboy
The recipes will now be moved over to BBC Worldwide's Good Food website.
http://www.theguardian.com/media/2016/may/17/bbc-climbdown-over-online-recipes-after-public-outcry
SC
scottishtv Founding member
A good outcome - at least you'll now have comments on the recipes, so you know whether it tastes any good, or is worth making.
LL
London Lite Founding member
A good outcome - at least you'll now have comments on the recipes, so you know whether it tastes any good, or is worth making.


Stig Abell on Sky News Press Preview thought it was a good coup for the BBC, all those recipes now move to a revenue making website while still sticking into the government.

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