Beeb Ventures, Beeb gains - but rivals still unhappy

NEWS Beeb.net, run by BBC Worldwide subsidiary Beeb Ventures, has around 145,000 subscribers - a substantial subscriber base built up in part through links from the BBC's not-for-profit site, bbc.co.uk. Other media organisations have always objected to the use of the BBC brand, content and resources to develop commercial operations, claiming that licence payers' money was never intended for this purpose. The BBC has always insisted that they are careful to limit the promotion of commercial services on their non-commercial sites, and the practice has been scaled down recently. Nonetheless, there is still considerable opposition to the BBC's involvement in commercial ventures. Rob Hersov, CEO of Sportal and chairman of the British Internet Publisher's Association, which has long been a vocal critic of the BBC's online operations, said: "The BBC is like a massive incubator. It's a massive brand, and they have massive access to cross-promotion. So they can incubate businesses, then spin them off when they're ready, and say 'Look, I'm profitable!' If I had access to those same resources, I'd be successful and profitable too." He called for the BBC to come under the remit of the new high tech super-regulator, Ofcom. Julian Turner, chief executive of Beeb Ventures, said: "We are not apologetic about this. The BBC has been asked by the Department of Media, Culture and Sport to sweat its assets, and deliver value back to the public." He added that Beeb Ventures pays an undisclosed fee set at market rates to the BBC for the use of the brand. Any profit that the site makes will also be returned to the public service part of the BBC. Beeb.net is run by Beeb Ventures, owned by BBC Worldwide and venture capitalists TH Lee Global Internet Partners. It also operates the Beeb.com shopping portal.