"It didn't work"

The BBC legacy continues to haunt Mark Thompson, former DG, now CEO of The New York Times. He appeared on CNBC yesterday, and this is an extract from the transcript, in which the interviewer questions Thommo's credentials to take the NYT into a digital future, given the cancellation of the BBC's Digital Media Initiative...

AMANDA DRURY: But you oversaw the digital media initiative over at the BBC. It costs about-- 100 million pounds, I believe, to sort of move everything over to the digital world. And yet, that was axed because it just wasn't working. So, how are you the best person to sort of move forward into the new media world at The New York Times? 

MARK THOMPSON: Bit of a simplification there. Almost everything we did in digital worked for the BBC. And above all, the-- BBC iPlayer and the main BBC website have been a massive success at home and abroad. The New York Times has done a fantastic job in video. And you've seen how-- our digital pay model is probably working more effectively than any other pay model in the world at the moment -- 

AMANDA DRURY: Then why was the project axed? 

MARK THOMPSON: Well-- if you-- the big-- 

AMANDA DRURY: Okay-- 

MARK THOMPSON: --New York Times pay model has not-- has not been axed. It's growing and you've seen that we posted more -- 

AMANDA DRURY: No, no. The BBC. The digital media initiative you oversaw. 

MARK THOMPSON: Well, there's one component, not a consumer facing digital products, but a computer project which is based essentially on TV production inside the organization, which didn't work. That is perfectly true. But of -- maybe ten, 15 digital projects when I was head of the BBC, that was the only one that didn't work.