The BBC has dropped plans to create a "licence fee" option for users of its international news website who were outraged by the introduction of advertising last year, says a Guardian report.
"We did look into it, but all the evidence from commercial operators is that what ever people say about wanting a subscription, it is not the case," BBC World managing director, Anne Barnard, said Thursday. "A number of other operators have moved away from subscriptions."
BBC director of global news, Richard Sambrook, said in October that the corporation intended to offer a subscription service for international users "in the next year" after scores of complaints over the introduction of advertising to bbc.com.
"In terms of the levels of complaints, we have been monitoring them closely and they have dropped off completely. They are at an infinitesimal level, but we still keep a monitor on them," Sian Kevill, the BBC World News editorial director, said.
Sambrook said in October that the bbc.co.uk subscription service would have sat alongside the ad-supported service. "We do intend to offer a subscription service for international users in the next year," Sambrook wrote on the BBC News website's editors' blog. "We would like to offer both but have to ensure the business plan is robust and we have to undertake some further technical work before we can offer this."
