Deal will see major BBC brands carried on Microsoft-owned portal
The BBC has signed a deal to share content from its commercial website beeb.com with the Microsoft-owned site MSN.co.uk, writes Leigh Holmwood

The deal will prove lucrative for BBC Worldwide and MSN as it will allow cross-promotion between the two sites to bring in extra revenues. MSN, which claims to attract more than 50 per cent of UK web users every day, is already the most popular portal in Britain.

The agreement will see high-profile BBC brands such as Top of the Pops, Top Gear, the Radio Times and women's magazine Eve appearing on both sites. It follows a similar agreement made between the two in spring 1999 when content from the BBC's Gardeners' World and Good Homes websites was made available to MSN.

Beeb.com business development manager Paul Wilson said: 'Sharing our content in this way brings very clear business benefits to both parties - we get access to MSN's massive user base and MSN has the trust and reputation of beeb.com on its site.'