The BBC has refused to comment on recent reports that it will close two radio stations and scale back its web presence in order to save about $965 million Cdn.

According to The Times of London newspaper, BBC director-general Mark Thompson will close BBC 6 Music and its Asian Network, and close half its website, with savings diverted into higher-quality television programming.

But the BBC's website says a spokeswoman for the corporation would not comment on "speculation."

According to The Times, the strategic review report is being considered by the BBC Trust, the broadcaster's governing body, and will be made public next month. Some of the proposals have surfaced as rumours in recent weeks, but this is the first time a full draft of the proposals has been reported.

Billboard Magazine said the publicly funded broadcaster would be sending a message to a new U.K. government in the spring, which will probably be a Conservative government based on recent polls, that it is not abusing its position at the expense of the commercial sector.

The BBC depends heavily on TV licence fees paid by British consumers, and complaints have multiplied that the national broadcaster costs too much money.

Website budget would be cut in half: report

According to reports, the BBC's website budget, which is about $180 million Cdn., will be cut by about half and staff reduced by 25 per cent.

Savings will also be made by limiting spending on rights to sports events and reducing the money spent on imported television shows.

But The Guardian said any plans to close the modern rock 6 Music station, which launched in 2002 and has 695,000 listeners, "would be a massive mistake…. To do so would be evidence that the corporation cares more about listening to figures than providing a public service."

The 6 Music annual budget is about $10 million of the BBC's $6-billion licence fee income.

Clive Dickens, chief operating officer of Absolute Radio, the station formerly known as Virgin Radio, told the Times on Friday that he would approach the BBC about buying 6 Music to save it from closure.

The Asian Network is a combination of speech and music radio that bills itself the "sound of Asian Britain."

With files from The Associated Press