Variety reports that the BBC is to increase spending on its Web-based activities by 27 over the next three years. This will bring the Corp’s online spend to over £144 million per annum for the next 3 years, an increase of £30 million.
The increase, which is bound to worry privately-funded rivals coping with the impact of the recession, has been greenlit by the BBC’s Trust.
However, the increase is less than the 76 million Corp’s boss Mark Thompson requested. Trust chairman Sir Michael Lyons said BBC Online had to focus on “high priority” areas.
These include news, children’s, and knowledge plus better search and navigation to “deliver real value to audiences.”
The Trust added: “It believes that ongoing robust evaluation of the BBC’s impact on online markets will be necessary to ensure that public value is created by the investment.”