UKC

Hurrah! The BBC is now moving the bulk of the 11,000 recipes on its food site to BBC Good Food so they'll still be easy to find, in response to a public outcry.

http://gu.com/p/4jaed

In reply to Tall Clare:

It does seem like the sensible solution.

In reply to Tall Clare:

I don't understand where the cost saving came from if they were axed - it is surely only about storage space once they are on there and they intended to put them up for 30 days only. Doesn't seem to add up.

In reply to keith-ratcliffe:

https://tompride.wordpress.com/2016/05/17/who-benefits-from-the-tory-decisi...

Its really unfair when a public service does a fabulous job of something so that a private company run by mates of the government can't make a buck. Good information on healthy food is an urgent public health issue where the beeb should be helping out.

In reply to keith-ratcliffe:


It was never about the costs, it was about causing outrage at cuts, or some other anti-BBC bogey man, like that tory Whippingboy fella.

Makes a change from the usual line of 'if we don't get our own way then Childrens TV services will be axed'.

In reply to Offwidth:



Health? Have you actually looked at the recipes?!!

I must have missed the bit where the government ordered the BBC to remove the recipes. More creative joining of the dots.

In reply to Postmanpat:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/black_forest_gateau

Mmmmm, yummy, glad they kept this one

In reply to Offwidth:

And now we are seeing those same/similar companies saying that BBC Worldwide will be taking a big slice of the advertising associated with the online recipe business.

Any guess what is likely to happen next?

In reply to Postmanpat:


Did you miss when Osborne specifically listed recipes as something he thought might not be appropriate for the bbc. So not an order as such but most people would take it as a rather unsubtle hint.
Its linked to in several of the articles so surprised you didnt notice it. Or doesnt it count unless its a specific order?

In reply to KevinD:

No, of course it doesn't!!

Mind you, have you noticed the conflict of interest? He's got his own cookbook. Quick, let's petition for a public inquiry....

https://recipes.sparkpeople.com/cookbooks.asp?cookbook=98611

In reply to Offwidth:

That blog post does not stack up at all. One of the domains (bestrecipes) is currently up for sale. Sainsburys has owned Taste.co.uk since 1997. No evidence linking Murdoch to the UK domains... No sources at all for these impending launches.... Pure bullsh*t.

In reply to Postmanpat:

There is nothing wrong with cake as part of a balanced diet. Elsewhere on the site is a list of ingredients, basic food techniques for common food, seasonal recipies and alongside the cake programmes, others like like eat well for less and hairy dieters.

In reply to Offwidth:


Nothing wrong with a bit of pie either http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/banoffee_pie

or a damn good pizza http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/pizza

(licks lips and considers trip to Tesco....)

In reply to Postmanpat:

Do you think it might have had an impact on the decision making though?


Sorry must be a fake. Since we all know no one competes with the bbc for recipes nowadays.

In reply to Offwidth:


Ha! Quote of the week so far!

In reply to Rob Parsons:

You could say I'm a cake fan when taken in moderation as my Moorland grit guide work was fueled by it thanks to Martin et al.

In reply to Tall Clare:

Well, if the complaint was that the advert-free BBC recipes website was 'taking business' from commercial websites that are funded by adverts, then moving the BBC recipes from their advert-free platform to their commercial Good Food website, which has adverts, seems to be rather counter-productive...

In reply to Tall Clare:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10154276871154009&set=a.1015032...

In reply to keith-ratcliffe:


Storage space is not the only cost in running and supporting a heavily traffic site.

In reply to Tall Clare:

The usual good sense from the Grauniad

"Is it really the BBC’s role to publish free recipes for harissa spiced lamb? "

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/may/19/bbc-recipes-harissa-sp...

In reply to Postmanpat:
I think the article is rubbish. Firstly the vast majority of the recipe content is direct from BBC shows so its just spinning out coverage of stuff it already owns to people who want it, doing this cheaply and gaining site hits as a result. Secondly blaming the complicated reasons behind the demise of local newspapers on the BBC web food content makes some of the 'joining-the-dots theories' you regularly condemn look like mathematical proofs (and showing you can support even mad conspiracy theory where it suits). Thirdly everyone is picking daft cake or curry stuff and ignoring the vast amount of useful public service information on basic ingredients and techniques. The only bits I completly agree with is the top management is massively overpaid and that they did this on purpose. BBC travel will be another sad loss.

There is a load of snobbery around popular BBC stuff and its not just on the Whittingdale side, the left wing luvvies of the Gruaniad can be just as guilty but its hardly joining the dots to know widely popular content on the beeb is a neccesity to retain public support for a licence system. Taking away all the cake and replacing it with stuff like Opera would certainly dent that support.

In reply to Offwidth:

>
Well, I agree that it seems logical to make the recipes derived from BBC shows available on the website and hardly a major cost saving to stop doing so. Thus I also assume this was largely politicking by management. This of course begs the question of whether the BBC needs so many cooking shows but, that aside, how much "non distinctive" output does the BBC need, especially on the internet, to justify charging a license fee for its high quality and distinctive output?

As it happens, I have taken up cooking more often in the past year. Although I have found the BBC site and its recipes quite useful I really don't think I would have been bereft without them. There are tons of free sources of similar information and that goes for much other BBC output.

In reply to Postmanpat:

Nice ducking... are online BBC recipies and similar really a significant cause of the demise of local neswpapers?

In reply to Offwidth:


Not ducking. Didn't seem important.

I doubt it, although one suspects on a broader front the BBC is a contributory cause.

In reply to Postmanpat:


As it happens, I have taken up cooking more often in the past year. Although I have found the BBC site and its recipes quite useful I really don't think I would have been bereft without them. There are tons of free sources of similar information and that goes for much other BBC output.

Good point, if that is the case the BBC should just get rid of all the recipes , and any other trivia that is duplicated elsewhere, and save some money and spend it on quality programming.

In reply to Offwidth:


Local & national newspapers have declining circulation and news websites are a significant factor in this trend. The most popular UK news website is BBC online, which has an annual budget of £200 million. If people can get free local news, recipes etc on their smartphones they won't buy as many local papers.

In reply to GrantM:
My point is that the decline of local newspapers will happen irrespective of the BBC website. Its mainly a function of technological change and the decline of localism in news. Are the BBC to play Canute to show this?

In reply to Jim C

The BBC site generates huge traffic (with some revenue but more importantly cross marketing) and much content is free so the financial impact elsewhere on programming is small. Salami slicing the website depending on preferences of some helps the 'joining-the-dots argument': Whittingdale wants the removal of popular stuff so the BBC loses traffic and hence the private sector can make money more easily in 'competition'. Eventually public support for the licence fee will decline to a level where it can be removed.