Before that, proposals will go through the BBC's internal journalism board and executive direction group.

But it will not be subject to the public value test, which will ensure the BBC's non-commercial ventures do not adversely affect commercial markets in the UK.

"Our hope would be to have the site fully up and running in a year's time," the spokesperson continued.

'Video on demand'

Visitors to bbc.com are presently redirected to the bbc.co.uk homepage.

According to BBC Worldwide, the bbc.com site will not feature pop-up promos, animated commercials or the sort of ads that "give the web a bad name".

TV news channel BBC World, which is broadcast outside the UK, carries adverts and could be used as a model.

It is also hoped that in due course, the site will offer direct consumer downloads via the proposed Integrated Media Player, or iMP.

"At a later date it might become a portal for video on demand for international users," the BBC Worldwide spokesperson said.

iMP is an application in development offering UK viewers the chance to download TV and radio programmes they may have missed for up to seven days after they have been broadcast.