In an interview with internal magazine Ariel, director general of the BBC Mark Thompson, said: "Over time, the strategic direction of [BBC] Worldwide will be away from things like magazines and into digital.

"We don't know what the precise solution is going to be. Whatever we end up doing with them, the success story of these magazines and the people who work for them is going to go on."

A 12-week Strategy Review consultation is currently under way at the corporation, although a spokesperson said that BBC Worldwide was not under the same mandate set out in the review as it is not funded by the licence fee. However, it does adhere to the same principles outlined in pthe review.

She dismissed any suggestion that the magazine portfolio would be up for sale as "speculation".

Thompson claimed magazines have "an incredible heritage" in the BBC. He said: "It's absolutely not about a fire sale, or even that there is going to be a straightforward sell-off of the magazine division - that would not be a good idea."

Most of BBC Worldwide's magazines are printed by Polestar.