Almost every speaker during the last two days at the FT Digital Media & Broadcast conference has spoken of their plans to grow their digital business.

BBC Director General Mark Thompson was the exception. In his strategy review of the BBC set out yesterday he proposed that the BBC pull back its online effort. The review calls for a 25 per cent reduction in the budget for bbc.co.uk and half the number of sections on the site. Savings will be reinvested in the generation of content elsewhere within the BBC under five new editorial priorities.

Whether or not this will be sufficient to pacify critics in the commercial media sector only time will tell. John Ridding, CEO, Financial Times, said that the BBC web site hadn’t helped publishers in their bid to build revenue around news online.

James Murdoch has traditionally gone further. He has been fiercely critical of the scale of the BBC’s free-to-access new web site.

Speaking at the conference yesterday Thomson said that the proposed strategy review will “create spaces for others to fill”.

The proposal also calls for the closure of the BBC Asian Network and BBC 6. Both measures have already resulted in fierce opposition from the audience with a variety of forums, Facebook groups and petitions already in circulation.

By attempting to pacify the commercial sector with its proposals yet also keep its audience onside the BBC has created a smart leadership platform for the ensuing three-month consultation period.

The Financial Times chief media correspondent Ben Fenton has suggested yesterday that the timing of Thompson’s review is incredibly shrewd.

The three-month period of consultation on the proposal means that it has been kicked out beyond the date of the UK election meaning that the BBC charter is unlikely to be an election issue.

Related stories

• BBC To Make Deep Cuts In Internet Services (news.slashdot.org)
• 10,000 sign petition against BBC cuts in 48 hrs (liberalconspiracy.org)
• BBC confirms 6 Music and Asian Network closure (current.com)
• FT.com: BBC review confirms plans to cut website and digital stations (blogs.journalism.co.uk)