NEWS The BBC has finally revealed how much it paid for its dot-com domain name: the princely sum of $375,000.
The BBC, which purchased bbc.com from Boston Business Computing in 1999, had previously refused to disclose the amount, saying only that it was a "considerable sum".
Following a Freedom of Information request, Auntie disclosed the $375,000 figure.
A BBC spokesman said the purchase price reflected the novelty of the web at the time and the length of time Boston Business Computing had previously held the domain name - 10 years - as well as the costs to the company of undergoing a marketing overhaul.
He said: "At the time the BBC purchased bbc.com, the internet landscape in the UK and abroad was still developing. The BBC had a duty to both its brand and its users to provide an easy route to its online content."
To date, the bbc.com URL has been used to redirect web users to the BBC's main portal at bbc.co.uk.
The spokesman said: "The BBC has not exploited bbc.com to date in part because of an agreement made with Boston Business Computing to allow for a period of transition, in part because the immediate need was to drive traffic to a single destination, and in part because technology was too rudimentary to make a distinction between UK traffic and overseas traffic to enable us to exploit this."
He added the Beeb is hoping in future to use the $375,000 URL as its international online face.
He said: "We are currently looking at the possibilities bbc.com offers us, including its potential as an international facing site. Over the long-term, we feel that this justifies the cost of recovery."
The BBC is the 23rd most visited website in the world, according to web traffic monitoring firm Alexa.
Comments
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1. anonymous
Dear BBC -
Please raise my license fee by a few hundred pounds to help you fund the incredibly important purchase of BBC.COM
Quote: "The BBC had a duty to both its brand and its users to provide an easy route to its online content."
Absolutely - because without buying a domain that reflects your brand we wouldn't be able to find you on the internet ... by typing "bbc.co.uk" or searching Google or MSN or something like that ... would we?
Quote: "To date, the bbc.com URL has been used to redirect web users to the BBC's main portal at bbc.co.uk."
Ah super - a wise investment then - a $370,000 link funded by our license fee.
One day we sheep will start telling our MPs to get rid of the BBC's "charter" and to let them run commercially ... oh yeah, just like BBC WORLDWIDE.
*hangs head in dispair*
2. anonymous
There are over 22 million households in the UK. If half of them have TV licences, then this represents less than 3p of your licence fee even at 1999 exchange rates.
Maybe it's not worth the money, but it certainly isn't worth the hyperbole