More on the proposal to put ads on the BBC News website.
The Media Guardian reports that the BBC could make as much as £105m from international online advertising, according to a report by consultants Accenture.
From the article:
According to analysts – given the continued growth in all areas of online advertising, the appeal of the BBC globally and its premium brand status – it is feasible that in five years’ time it could easily net tens of millions of pounds.It is thought that BBC executives have backed away from large-scale revenue generation plans and instead have focused on pitching in the idea of a “lite” advertising version targeting the “low tens of millions”.
I cannot help but be sceptical of the figures. The report was commissioned by BBC Worldwide, who are aggressively pushing the advertising proposal.
But more importantly, the report does not take into account how the plan could damage the BBC News brand and the long-term cost of this in terms of reputation and readership.
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