BBC

===Internet===
{{Main|BBC Online}}

The BBC's online presence includes a comprehensive [[BBC News Online|news website]] and archive. The BBC's first official online service was the BBC Networking Club, which was launched on 11 May 1994. The service was subsequently relaunched as BBC Online in 1997, before being renamed BBCi, then bbc.co.uk, before it was rebranded back as BBC Online. The website is funded by the Licence fee, but uses [[Geo targeting|GeoIP]] technology, allowing advertisements to be carried on the site when viewed outside of the UK.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6385175.stm |title=BBC keeps web adverts on agenda |work=BBC News |date=22 February 2007 |access-date=15 November 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090115111900/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6385175.stm |archive-date=15 January 2009 |url-status=live }}</ref> The BBC claims the site to be "Europe's most popular content-based site"<ref>{{cite web | title = bbc.co.uk Commissioning | url = http://www.bbc.co.uk/commissioning/newmedia/websites.shtml | access-date =6 July 2006| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20060706020809/http://www.bbc.co.uk/commissioning/newmedia/websites.shtml| archive-date= 6 July 2006 | url-status=live}}</ref> and states that 13.2&nbsp;million people in the UK visit the site's more than two million pages each day.<ref>{{cite web | title = bbc.co.uk Key Facts | url = http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/keyfacts/stories/website.shtml | access-date =6 July 2006| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20060524233844/http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/keyfacts/stories/website.shtml| archive-date= 24 May 2006 | url-status=live}}</ref>

The centre of the website is the Homepage, which features a modular layout. Users can choose which modules, and which information, is displayed on their homepage, allowing the user to customise it. This system was first launched in December 2007, becoming permanent in February 2008, and has undergone a few aesthetical changes since then.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/bbcinternet/2007/12/a_lick_of_paint_for_the_bbc_ho.html|title=A lick of paint for the BBC homepage|first=Richard|last=Titus|publisher=BBC Internet Blog|date=13 December 2007|access-date=5 February 2008| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080205231721/http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/bbcinternet/2007/12/a_lick_of_paint_for_the_bbc_ho.html| archive-date= 5 February 2008 | url-status=live}}</ref> The home page then has links to other micro-sites, such as [[BBC News Online]], [[BBC Sport|Sport]], [[BBC Weather|Weather]], TV, and Radio. As part of the site, every programme on BBC Television or Radio is given its own page, with bigger programmes getting their own micro-site, and as a result it is often common for viewers and listeners to be told [[Uniform Resource Locator|website addresses]] (URLs) for the programme website.

[[File:BBC iPlayer advertisement on Old Street roundabout.jpg|thumb|2008 advertisement for [[BBC iPlayer]] at Old Street, London]]
Another large part of the site also allows users to watch and listen to most Television and Radio output live and for seven days after broadcast using the [[BBC iPlayer]] platform, which launched on 27 July 2007, and initially used [[peer-to-peer]] and [[Digital rights management|DRM]] technology to deliver both radio and TV content of the last seven days for offline use for up to 30&nbsp;days, since then video is now streamed directly. Also, through participation in the [[Creative Archive Licence]] group, bbc.co.uk allowed legal downloads of selected archive material via the internet.<ref>{{cite press release |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2006/01_january/03/archive.shtml |title=BBC News opens its archives for the first time |publisher=BBC Press Office |date=3 January 2006 |access-date=3 October 2006 |archive-date=22 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231022204850/https://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2006/1_january/03/archive.shtml |url-status=live }}</ref>

The BBC has often included learning as part of its online service, running services such as [[BBC Jam]], [[BBC Learning Zone|Learning Zone Class Clips]] and also runs services such as [[BBC WebWise]] and First Click which are designed to teach people how to use the internet. [[BBC Jam]] was a free online service, delivered through broadband and narrowband connections, providing high-quality interactive resources designed to stimulate learning at home and at school. Initial content was made available in January 2006; however, BBC Jam was suspended on 20 March 2007 due to allegations made to the [[European Commission]] that it was damaging the interests of the commercial sector of the industry.<ref>{{cite press release |url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/bbctrust/news/press_releases/14_03_2007.html |title=BBC Trust suspends BBC Jam |publisher=[[BBC Trust]] |date=14 March 2007 |access-date=5 February 2008 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080126171441/http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbctrust/news/press_releases/14_03_2007.html |archive-date=26 January 2008 |url-status=live  }}</ref>

In recent years, some major on-line companies and politicians have complained that BBC Online receives too much funding from the television licence, meaning that other websites are unable to compete with the vast amount of advertising-free on-line content available on BBC Online.<ref>{{cite web | title = Department of Culture, Media and Sport: Independent Review of BBC Online, pp41-58 | url = http://www.culture.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/45F9953F-CE61-4325-BEA6-400DF9722494/0/BBCOnlinereview.pdf | last = Graf | first = Philip | access-date =6 July 2006| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20060723051550/http://www.culture.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/45F9953F-CE61-4325-BEA6-400DF9722494/0/BBCOnlinereview.pdf| archive-date= 23 July 2006 | url-status=live}}</ref> Some have proposed that the amount of licence fee money spent on BBC Online should be reduced—either being replaced with funding from advertisements or subscriptions, or a reduction in the amount of content available on the site.<ref>{{cite web|author=British Internet Publishers Alliance |title=BIPA Response to Review of the BBC's Royal Charter |url=http://www.bipa.co.uk/getArticle.php?ID=325 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20060827040457/http://www.bipa.co.uk/getArticle.php?ID=325 |url-status=dead |archive-date=27 August 2006 |date=31 May 2005 |access-date=6 July 2006 }}</ref> In response to this the BBC carried out an investigation, and has now set in motion a plan to change the way it provides its online services. BBC Online will now attempt to fill in gaps in the market, and will guide users to other websites for currently existing market provision. (For example, instead of providing local events information and timetables, users will be guided to outside websites already providing that information.)
Part of this plan included the BBC closing some of its websites, and rediverting money to redevelop other parts.<ref>{{cite news | title = Public value key to BBC websites |work=BBC News  | url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/tv_and_radio/3992875.stm | date = 8 November 2004 | access-date =6 July 2006| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20060616150109/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/tv_and_radio/3992875.stm| archive-date= 16 June 2006 | url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.independent.co.uk/media/article1219009.ece |title=99 per cent of the BBC archives is on the shelves. We ought to liberate it |newspaper=[[The Independent]]|location=London |date=14 August 2006 |first=Ian |last=Burrell |access-date=26 April 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080706020214/http://news.independent.co.uk/media/article1219009.ece |archive-date=6 July 2008 }}</ref>

On 26 February 2010, ''[[The Times]]'' claimed that [[Mark Thompson (television executive)|Mark Thompson]], Director General of the BBC, proposed that the BBC's web output should be cut by 50%, with online staff numbers and budgets reduced by 25% in a bid to scale back BBC operations and allow commercial rivals more room.<ref>{{cite news |url= http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/media/article7041944.ece |title=BBC signals an end to era of expansion |work=The Times |location= London |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100423170054/http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/media/article7041944.ece  |archive-date=23 April 2010 |date=26 February 2010 |first=Patrick |last=Foster |access-date=26 February 2010 |url-status=dead}}</ref> On 2 March 2010, the BBC reported that it would cut its website spending by 25% and close BBC 6 Music and Asian Network, as part of Mark Thompson's plans to make "a smaller, fitter BBC for the digital age".<ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/03/business/media/03bbc.html |title=BBC Proposes Deep Cuts in Web Site |work=The New York Times |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170423145954/http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/03/business/media/03bbc.html |archive-date=23 April 2017 |date=3 March 2010 |access-date=2 March 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/8544150.stm |title=BBC 6 Music and Asian Network face axe in shake-up |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100303053354/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/8544150.stm |archive-date=3 March 2010 |date=2 March 2010 |access-date=2 March 2010 |work=BBC News}}</ref>