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
CW
Charlie Wells Moderator
Confirmation that the BBC's travel website is to close in February...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/internet/entries/68182816-070d-4600-9835-e83a4fadc13d
...Unsurprisingly at a quick glance the comments appear to be mostly against the closure.

EDIT: Looks like http://www.bbc.co.uk/iwonder has already closed as there's a notice in the header informing visitors the site is no longer being updated.
Last edited by Charlie Wells on 20 January 2017 11:41am
DO
dosxuk
The irritating bit from that blog post is it sounds like they're still going to be collecting all the travel data, but instead of showing it in one central place, it's going to be put in the relevant local pages.
RO
Rory
EDIT: Looks like http://www.bbc.co.uk/iwonder has already closed as there's a notice in the header informing visitors the site is no longer being updated.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/science and http://www.bbc.co.uk/history are showing the same notice.
BR
Brekkie
I didn't click that it was travel information which was closing - that doesn't seem a very PSB move though it is probably just about catered for commercially.

Also don't know if it is down to cuts or just an assumption on how people view videos but annoying now how almost all video reports on the website and connected TV are basically video with text annotations rather than an actual report.

With connected TV you used to be pretty much able to build your own news bulletin from the content available but now it's basically making your own Buzzfeed.
AN
Andrew Founding member
I do wonder how much they actually save from closing the travel news service.

The data presumably comes in from Inrix, and also presumably it isn't a team of people keying it into the webpage, it'll be automated in some way.
DV
dvboy
Presumably they are paying Inrix for that data, but then they'll still be getting it for their travel news bulletins anyway, in fact I'm pretty sure that many of the travel bulletins on BBC Local Radio are presented by Inrix staff down the line from Birmingham.
IS
Inspector Sands
The point of closing it isn't to save money, it's so that the BBC aren't treading on the toes of other travel information sources.

dvboy posted:
Presumably they are paying Inrix for that data, but then they'll still be getting it for their travel news bulletins anyway, in fact I'm pretty sure that many of the travel bulletins on BBC Local Radio are presented by Inrix staff down the line from Birmingham.

Yes although I think Birmingham do those in the Midlands, they have several locations for broadcast, but data collection is done in Birmingham. http://radiotoday.co.uk/2016/09/inrix-makes-plans-to-centralise-data-collection/
Last edited by Inspector Sands on 23 January 2017 10:51am
NG
noggin Founding member
The point of closing it isn't to save money, it's so that the BBC aren't treading on the toes of other travel information sources.


Yes - though if the BBC have stopped publishing the information online and are now only broadcasting it, there may be a reduction in the contract cost, as fewer rights are being exercised. (For many broadcast deals you pay extra if you publish online content you buy.)
SC
scottishtv Founding member
It seems a bit odd though that on the BBC TV weather forecasts, they tell you to listen for travel updates on BBC Local Radio (a good example being the freezing fog this week).

I think people would expect an online resource - but as has been said, it was probably underused and not worth the cost. I suspect licencing from Inrix would not be cheap.
DO
dosxuk
They're saying the travel news will continue to be online though, except instead of being collated into one single place, it will only be available through their (useless) local live pages.

15 days later

DV
DVB Cornwall
iPlayer .....

Some good news retaining the whole series until 30 days after the final episode airs is on the agenda, we had similar before but it was bargained away in favour of moving the overall catch-up window from 7 to 30 days.
SW
Steve Williams
It's not just on the agenda, it's already been announced...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/latestnews/2017/iplayer-boxsets

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