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Tea Lady · **BBC Strategy Review - 2 March 2010 - [BBC Spooks website]**

The BBC Strategy Review was published today. The proposals are now out for public consultation for 12 weeks. As far as I could see there was only one mention of Spooks and that was in relation to the BBC Spooks website. I have cut and pasted the relevant part of the publication.

Refocusing BBC Online

To fulfil this remit, BBC Online will require a new, harder focus on quality and distinctiveness.
All online content should feel justified and purposeful: not extraneous or encyclopaedic, but
within a distinct editorial purpose. This commitment will be backed with a new, tighter system
of performance management requiring the routine ‘weeding’ of the site and the placing of its
remaining content into fewer, better organised categories. There will also be very clear and
demanding criteria for justifying new activity (i.e., that it must serve at least one of the BBC’s
five content priorities; help meet the BBC’s public purposes; demonstrate a high level of
editorial relevance and quality; be continually refreshed; provide value to a wide range of
audiences; and demonstrate sensitivity to market impact).

The number of sections on the site (its ‘top-level directories’, which the public find through
addresses in the form: bbc.co.uk/sitename) will be halved by 2012, with many sites closed and
others consolidated, so that the sharpened focus of BBC Online will be visible in the structure
of the service:

• Some sites that are currently live will be closed, such as /celebdaq, /sportdaq, /naturestop40,
/lastmillionaire, /jamiekane, /bbcpartners, /openweekend, /actingup, /amiafreak
• A number of sites that have already been ‘mothballed’ will also be closed, such as
/amazingmrspritchard, /streetdoctor, /keyskills, /strictlydancefever, /filmfestival,
/underdogshow
• Some sites will be consolidated under larger audience-facing propositions, such as /history
or /drama e.g., /spooks, /robinhood.

In my opinion this is quite good considering the website receives little attention for 10 months of the year. It may now get some! I also think it shows the commitment of the BBC to Spooks going forward. Considering the problems the BBC are seemingly facing the website gets to fight another day albeit in a different format.

Beatriz · 02-03-2010, 12:07 PM

Thanks for this, Tea Lady! These are great news, another hint that points out the BBC backs Spooks. They ddidn't seem to pay much attention to Spooks website, it was like frozen in time, even when the series 8 began I could hardly tell the difference, just the new videos...

YourFutureMuse · 02-03-2010, 12:23 PM

I don't really understand what that means lol are they not going to have a seperate spooks website anymore?

I think the website was at is best during series 6, I didn't really watch spooks then but I still played the interactive thing - loved it lol. I think they should do that again for another series - good way to engage viewers Big Grin

Skully · 02-03-2010, 12:59 PM

The Spooks website on the ABC Australia site has not been updated since season 6! Poor form..

Tea Lady · 02-03-2010, 01:00 PM

(02-03-2010 12:23 PM)YourFutureMuse Wrote: I don't really understand what that means lol are they not going to have a seperate spooks website anymore?

I am not 100% sure YFM but I think the website as we know it will go and you may have a new link or page which you go through via the bbc drama website http://www.bbc.co.uk/drama/ . I am just guessing here, I dont really know.

HellsBells · 02-03-2010, 02:27 PM

I thought the web site was very poor anyway with very little information on it. Perhaps consolidating might be a good idea.

**Nitrus** · 02-03-2010, 03:23 PM

Yeh the Spooks website was very much an after though on their part. Probably best to do something else with it.

Like re-direct the link to here? Wink

lwhite53 · 02-03-2010, 04:32 PM

(02-03-2010 03:23 PM)Nitrus Wrote: Like re-direct the link to here?

Good idea -- we'd take better care of it than the BBC does!

**Fidget** · 02-03-2010, 10:07 PM

(02-03-2010 12:59 PM)Skully Wrote: The Spooks website on the ABC Australia site has not been updated since season 6! Poor form..

But things move slowly down here Undecided

Skully · 03-03-2010, 12:40 AM

(02-03-2010 10:07 PM)Fidget Wrote:
(02-03-2010 12:59 PM)Skully Wrote: The Spooks website on the ABC Australia site has not been updated since season 6! Poor form..
But things move slowly down here

Excruciatingly so! Let's see if they update it before season 8 airs