The BBC is to slash spending on its online services and close two radio stations in a shake-up designed to boost programme funding, it said today.
Digital radio stations BBC Asian Network and BBC 6 Music will close from next year as part of a review of the British Broadcasting Corporation's budget and services, director general Mark Thompson said.
Spending on its online services - which commercial competitors complain stifle competition - will be cut by 25% by 2013, he said in a widely-anticipated announcement.
The shake-up will free an extra £600m sterling to be spent on programme-making, he told staff at the BBC's headquarters in London.
Thompson said that Asian Network and alternative music station 6 Music will close in 2011 at the earliest.
The plans will now be considered by the BBC Trust, a body which oversees the broadcaster's activities, and be put out for public consultation.
The BBC, funded by the licence fee levied on all those in Britain who own a television, regularly comes under fire from rivals and other critics for its alleged unfair dominance.
The review comes as all media struggle to adapt to rapidly changing technology and markets, and some - notably Rupert Murdoch's News Corp - are pledging to end the era of news online for free.
