BBC plan new £68m local websites revamp

BBC management have put forward a proposal to the BBC Trust to revamp it's local websites with a heavy emphasis on locally produced video content. The proposal would expand the number of local sites from 60 to 65 and would spend £68m up until 2013.

According to the Guardian

Each BBC Local website is planning to offer video, focused mainly on news and sport, as well as weather updates, user-generated content and "knowledge-building" content. The sites will be "produced locally, in and for each of the 60 areas".

The BBC said the new sites would include up to 10 on-demand video stories a day lasting up to 20 minutes in total.

There would also be up to three daily bulletins for news, sport and weather, each lasting up to 90 seconds, while each service would provide a maximum of 10 live streams of local events a year

The BBC Trust has launched a 'public value test' into the proposal. The BBC will have to convince them that they are not treading on the toes of or competing with local media interests. There has already been some controversy over the proposed local plan in January when it was floated by Controller of BBC English Regions Andy Griffee had local media proprieters up in arms.

Ian Davies, development director of Archant, described the plans – which have yet to get the go ahead from the BBC Trust – as an “unprecedented attack”. He goes on to say;

“What a strange approach to public service media. Look at what the community-leading local press is doing in reinventing itself to provide local content and ‘connectivity’ beyond print; then take a huge publicly funded stick and swing hard to cause as much damage as possible to this vital organ of local comment and democracy.

“This is not competition. This is BBC, full-bodied, unfair, damaging to existing emerging services, competition. It seems that attempted demolition is the sincerest form of flattery.”

Should be an interesting debate - final decision is expected in February 2009.