The BBC has scrapped a £100m technology project and suspended the executive in charge after Director General Tony Hall admitted it had "wasted a huge amount of licence fee payers' money".
Lord Hall said the Digital Media Initiative, an effort to develop desktop computer software to make the programme making process faster and more efficient, would be shut down immediately. It was meant to link up the way BBC staff create, share, manage and archive digital footage, and do away with video tape.
"The DMI project has wasted a huge amount of licence fee payers’ money and I saw no reason to allow that to continue which is why I have closed it," said the Director General.
"I have serious concerns about how we managed this project and the review that has been set up is designed to find out what went wrong and what lessons can be learned."
John Linwood, the BBC's £287,000-a-year chief technology officer, has been suspended on full pay while the review is conducted. He chaired the Digital Media Initiative steering group.
It follows a report in 2011 by the National Audit Office which found the BBC's approach to the project had been "disappointing" and that it was "not good value for money". It was already two years behind schedule and had been brought in-house by the BBC after contractor Siemens left.