In future the internet will allow the [BBC] to sell to foreign consumers directly, an even more lucrative proposition. Mr Thompson says the BBC is looking at developing subscription products that could be sold overseas. The BBC's website, too, receives about a billion hits a month from abroad, and Worldwide will soon start making money from overseas users when it introduces an international version with advertising next year. “Ideally the BBC could arrange it so that Johnny Foreigner pays for us all to enjoy high-quality TV and radio at home,” says Simon Walker, a former BBC controller of corporate strategy.