GWR Group has restructured its internet operations in a move which will make annual cost savings of around £1.3 million. The move will also see a restriction in the ‘speed of development’ of koko.com, the group’s regional information and enterainment portal.
GWR says it will now concentrate resources on its localised directories and radio station pages. These sites offer a mix of radio and internet advertising and sponsorship opportunities. Ad sales and internet content production will be integrated into GWR’s local radio operations and technical support will be brought in-house.
It is expected that 46 fewer staff will be required following the restructure; this reduction will be met by redundancy and redeployment. The total restructuring costs will be £0.8 million, the cash cost of which will be less than £0.1 million.
The move by GWR comes as many other media owners are selling off, closing or scaling back their own internet operations. By and large, the internet has failed to offer media groups the lucrative source of revenue that was anticipated a few years ago.
EMAP recently sold its Digital Travel division to Online Travel Corporation (see Emap Offloads Travel Websites For £2.8m); Carlton has closed its Jamba and Popcorn entertainment websites and Granada has pulled the plug on Wellbeing, a joint venture with high street retailer Boots (see Carlton Interactive To Close Websites).
