The BBC as an organisation, believes that the web represents the third broadcast medium and the one set to grow the most rapidly over the coming years. BBC News online was launched on 4th November 1997, having been designed in house. The site does not carry any adverts and is wholly funded through the licence fee, and as such meets the BBC's no advertising policy.

BBC News Online is the most wide-ranging, constantly updated site on the web today, with over 400 live stories being accessible at any given time. Many of these stories incorporate video, pictures and audio. The site operates a huge archive of over 60,000 stories, all of which are accessible to the general public. In addition to news stories, the site must be credited with providing visitors with up to the minute stock and share information and a wide range of features. Utilising in-house custom created software that allows journalists to create text, picture and multimedia without having to work in HTML. BBC News online pulls together a vast amount of BBC authored material in a manner which has never before been achieved. Their activities are made possible through the hard work of multi-skilled journalists, who deal with all stages of the production process. This means the site visitor for the first time is able to gather the information they need at their convenience, rather than that of the broadcaster or journalist. With the advent of digital TV the site will enable the BBC to integrate web sites extensively with traditional TV output, providing a complete multimedia experience.

The site has grown over 400% since its launch and as such, has served to provide proof of the BBC's total commitment to web activity. By pulling together the information which the BBC already has available, BBC News Online was felt to provide a fully comprehensive service, which is highly responsive to the demands of the user.