BBC plans cuts to many services.

In the draft of a strategic review by the director General of the BBC Trust, Mark Thompson, there are proposed sweeping reductions in BBC services the [1] Financial Times has reported.

The cuts could see many seemingly “unpopular” services such as 6 Music & The Asian Network digital radio stations go to the wall, along with a 50 per cent reduction in the BBCs online services, along with 25 per cent of the staff. Also on the media side, the BBC’s commercial publishing arm, Worldwide, is indicated to take a hit, along with the annual budget of £100 million reserved for primarily US and foreign TV imports.

The report is seen as a direct reaction to increasing pressure of criticism from politicians and rivals alike about the BBCs far reaching media operations, which have been slated for being uncompetitive and a overly expensive.

Already, according to [2] The Times, the former Virgin Radio, now rebranded as Absolute Radio will be putting a bid in for popular teen digital radio station 6 Music.

Most of the cuts media-wise seem to be aimed at the younger/teenage area of BBC operations with BBC Switch and Blast also indicated in the proposals, in an area where C4 & ITV are traditionally seen as market leaders. BBC Three however, will remain untouched, and £25million will be re-directed to BBC Two in an attempt to raise standards.

A full synopsis of the report was posted by The Times online [3] here.