Next generation: up to a third of iPlayer views are children's programmes
Angela Griffiths
Head of Scheduling, Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Children's
Children growing up today have never been bound by a linear TV schedule. Being able to catch up, stream or download box sets of new shows are native concepts to them. Some CΒι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ programmes receive a bigger proportion of iPlayer viewing than the TV channel.
In 2013 we began to curate children’s programmes on the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ iPlayer, to make the dramas and comedies they love easier to find but also showcase hidden gems, such as our documentary strand about extraordinary children, My Life, or Newsround Specials, which give greater context for children to a news or current affairs issue.
The launch of the iPlayer Kids app in 2016 took this a step further in that we were able to serve up content relevant to a child’s age. We could be specific in our curation for the under 4s, for instance, by pulling together song or ‘sleepy time’ collections, as well as a playlist featuring their favourite characters. For the 8-9s, we were able to introduce more full series drama box sets and themed collections, such as cartoons or comedies.
This year, the creation of personalised homepages brings CΒι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ and CBeebies content together with programmes across the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ that we know children enjoy, such as Blue Planet and Match Of The Day. It also means we can showcase cherry picked appropriate content from big events like Radio 1’s Biggest Weekend and Glastonbury.
Whereas previously under-13s visiting iPlayer would have seen the same homepage as their parents, they now receive an appropriate, carefully curated selection of programmes across the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ, while still being able to find out what is most popular on CΒι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ and CBeebies so they don’t miss out.
In some weeks around a third of the total views across Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ iPlayer come from CBeebies and CΒι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ programmes. We want build on this success by giving our audience more what they love, and more box sets so that children can see programmes they may have missed out on first time round, or watch again and again at their leisure.
We have already changed the way we schedule our TV channels, showing back to back dramas in the daytime while children are at School so the full series is made available on iPlayer.
Our iPlayer pages should also reflect the lives of audience. This means highlighting topical content, for example a playlist for children starting school for the first time, getting excited about the World Cup or special collections for cultural events such as Christmas, Bonfire Night, Halloween, Diwali, and Eid.
Attention-grabbing images are important to highlight children’s content on iPlayer, in particular for CBeebies where we know some of the audience aren’t able to read yet and will be led by a compelling picture. They must give some idea of what the programme is about, but retain intrigue and stand out on a mobile device as well as a 4K TV screen.
Similarly, there are stronger titles for content - Episode 1 doesn’t really sell a programme as much as New House [Topsy & Tim], or Mean Twirls [The Next Step]!
We might also use the recommendations that appear for all iPlayer users to previews of a new show, or a story-so-far clip to explain the narrative of a long-running series.
Ultimately, as well as making the iPlayer easier to use for children, and keeping in mind that our remit is to educate as well as entertain, we’re taking on the challenge laid down by Tony Hall last year for all of the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ to help change iPlayer from a catch-up destination into the UK’s best online TV service.