Internet in Britain as a popular media-source.

One in three users in Britain read an online newspaper or news service - and for half it is different from the one they read offline. Mobile internet use has also seen a sharp increase, with 63% having wi-fi wireless access, compared with just 29% four years ago, and 55% accessing the internet on a mobile phone, up from 21% four years ago.

Internet access on mobile phones has been growing fast

W atching television or listening to the radio over the Internet has been growing in popularity in recent years, with 17.4 million adults doing this in 2010, compared with 6.4 million in 2006.

What is Internet Radio?

In the mid-1990's we saw the start of a small but growing collection of Internet radio stations stringing up worldwide. Using "streaming audio" technology, webcasting (as it's now commonly known), brings radio stations from around the world within easy reach via your desktop computer.

Many of the UK broadcasters offer a streaming radio service over the Internet, often tied into the station's website. Viewing a station's website allows you to the faces behind the voices (and shatter some illusions!), in some cases see what's happening live in the on-air studio via a studio webcam, plus send email or instant messages to the on-air presenter.

The bbc online

BBC Online is the brand name and home for the BBC's UK online service. It is a large network of websites including such high profile sites as BBC News and Sport, the on -demand video and radio services co-branded BBC iPlayer, the pre-school site Cbeebies, and learning services such as Bitesize. The BBC has had an online presence supporting its TV and radio programmes and web-only initiatives since 1994 but did not launch officially until December 1997, following government approval to fund it by TV licence fee revenue as a service in its own right. Throughout its short history, the online plans of the BBC have been subject to various public consultations and government reviews illustrating concerns from commercial rivals that its large presence and public funding distorts the UK market.

T he BBC online has gone through several branding changes since it was launched. Originally named BBC Online, it was then rebranded as BBCi (which itself was the brand name for interactive TV services) before being named bbc.co.uk. It was then branded BBC Online again in 2008. The website uses GeoIP technology and carries advertisements when viewed outside of the UK. The BBC claims the site to be "Europe's most popular content-based site" and states that 13.2 million people in the UK visit the site's more than two million pages each day.

The website includes a page for every programme on television and radio, and it is common for viewers and listeners to be told website addresses for the website sections relating to that programme. The site also allows users to listen to most Radio output live and for seven days after broadcast using the BBC iPlayer platform, which launched on 27 July 2007, and initially used peer-to-peer and DRM technology to deliver both radio and TV content of the last seven days for offline use for up to 30 days, since then video is now streamed directly. Also, through participation in the Creative Archive Licence group, bbc.co.uk allowed legal downloads of selected archive material via the internet. As of February 2008 the BBC has also offered television programmes for download on Apple iTunes under the studio title "BBC Worldwide".

The screenshot of BBC Russian site.

BBC Jam was a free online service, delivered through broadband and narrowband connections, providing high-quality interactive resources designed to stimulate learning at home and at school. Initial content was made available in January 2006 however BBC Jam was suspended on 20 March 2007 due to allegations made to the European Commission that it was damaging the interests of the commercial sector of the industry.

In recent years some major on-line companies and politicians have complained that the bbc.co.uk website receives too much funding from the television licence, meaning that other websites are unable to compete with the vast amount of advertising-free on-line content available on bbc.co.uk. Some have proposed that the amount of licence fee money spent on bbc.co.uk should be reduced—either being replaced with funding from advertisements or subscriptions, or a reduction in the amount of content available on the site. In response to this the BBC carried out an investigation, and has now set in motion a plan to change the way it provides its online services. bbc.co.uk will now attempt to fill in gaps in the market, and will guide users to other websites for currently existing market provision. (For example, instead of providing local events information and timetables, users will be guided to outside websites already providing that information.) Part of this plan included the BBC closing some of its websites, and rediverting money to redevelop other parts.

On 26 February 2010 The Times claimed that Mark Thompson, Director General of the BBC, proposed that the BBC's web output should be cut by 50%, with online staff numbers and budgets reduced by 25% in a bid to scale back BBC operations and allow commercial rivals more room. On 2 March 2010, the BBC reported that it will cut its website spending by 25% and close BBC 6 Music and Asian Network.

January 2011: Online service will cut around 360 jobs and close hundreds of websites as part of 'a more streamlined' approach inline with cutting budget by 25 percent from Poundsterlling 137 million to 103 million by 2013/14.