The Bookseller.com

2nd December 2008

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BBC Lonely Planet deal criticised

03.10.07

The FT, owned by Rough Guides' parent Pearson, has criticised the acquisition of rival travel guide publisher Lonely Planet by BBC Worldwide.

In its Leader column, the newspaper writes: "The real question, though, is how Lonely Planet furthers the public purposes of the BBC. It will add nothing new to the cultural life of the UK, nor will it show the cultural life of the UK to the world. If the sole purpose of BBC Worldwide is to make money, it might as well move into stockbroking or property development. At the very least it must show that it can earn a higher return on capital from Lonely Planet than it could from investing in new BBC production."

The deal has already courted controversy in the UK. John Whittingdale, the Conservative chairman of the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee, was critical of the deal: "Why should the BBC effectively nationalise a publisher? Where do its commercial activities stop?"

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FT

Lonely Planet BBC Worldwide