About the �鶹Լ�� Feed

Have you been affected by the issues in this programme?

2015-12-30T11:20:00+00:00

Twenty years after the launch of the �鶹Լ��’s helplines, �鶹Լ�� programmes, and drama in particular, have had a significant impact in encouraging people to seek help for a wide range of problems, such as domestic abuse, debt, and mental health issues. More than 1 million people have sought help via the �鶹Լ�� Action Line and its online support webpages since 2012.

Part of the �鶹Լ��’s public service role is to report on difficult issues and how they affect people’s lives. Sometimes we dramatise them, showing the dilemmas they can raise in realistic situations, to bring them to wider public attention. Seeing how alcoholism or debt can affect people and families, either fictionally or for real, doesn’t just help explain the experience but also explores some challenges which face us all.

It can also share and demystify the experiences and show how other people survive them, or at least kindle an awakening that others have been through this too, that we are not the first to face or fear them alone when crises strike.

Bringing real issues to life on-air engages the interest and concern of viewers and listeners. It ranges from Radio 1’s weekly The Surgery to dementia as dramatised in Holby City, or the experience of having a stroke in EastEnders. Or it can be initiatives such as �鶹Լ�� Three’s recent Mental Health season, and of course the regular investigative journalism of �鶹Լ�� News and programmes as Panorama.

Our programmes and producers cover these topics, day in and day out, as a regular part of the �鶹Լ��’s work. Indeed many other radio or TV channels just don’t explore such difficult issues in their output, often it’s not their commercial model. It can make for very uncomfortable listening or viewing. And it can really touch a nerve if you’re affected, so you may need confidential help. How do we support you when that happens?

When I was a producer, in pre-internet days we produced written ‘factsheets’ with information about organisations we’d liaised with and checked according to our criteria. We’d end the programme by inviting you to send us a stamped addressed envelope for more information.

Every week, the wonderful Alice in our team devoted a whole day to despatching hundreds of them to those who didn’t just need more information, but wanted desperately to know how to get more help and support. It worked, but took time and in truth was a bit ramshackle – but it was all we could do.

By 1995 the developing call centre industry had reached a stage where �鶹Լ�� Radio stations could launch their new Radio Helplines. You could suddenly get such information far more quickly, still confidentially. But it was an expensive investment for the licence fee to support.

Besides, if hundreds of people called at once, you might have to call again later. And if it was a particularly sensitive subject, you might need to use the callbox round the corner. For example if you suffered from domestic violence you didn’t want your partner overhearing or scrutinising the phone bill.

Twenty years on, everything is transformed by the internet and other changes in technology. You can watch or hear our programmes for 30 days if you missed the details, or look it up on our Action Line programme information pages and hide your browsing history. If you don’t have internet access you can call free anytime 24/7 to hear our recorded information – now even when hundreds of others are calling at the same time. And do so anonymously using your own mobile phone.

All this means that for far less money we now regularly help thousands more people more quickly and safely than we ever could in the days of Alice and her stuffed envelopes or the helplines. In 2014-15, over 385,000 people used us to get information or find out about organisations which could help further.

Twenty years on this is a very significant public service for us, reaching many thousands of people. But there’s more to it. It’s also a partnership between the �鶹Լ��, its audiences and the voluntary and public sector.

We are not a helpline, but �鶹Լ�� Action Line. We provide details of charities and other organisations which meet our criteria and are willing to offer specialist support, information or guidance – quite confidentially. By doing so we also help organisations reach the very people they exist to help.

Those people may later also volunteer if they want, using their experience to help others. In effect it’s a three-way partnership which can help bring organisations and people together.

Whatever the topic may be, today the off-air �鶹Լ�� Action Line supports hundreds of thousands of people, as the figures on this page demonstrate.

I hope you’ll be informed and sometimes moved by the topics we raise in our programmes, but not experience some of the issues we uncover. Although if you ever do need support, the Action Line information is there online or to listen to - 24 hours a day.

Keith Jones is Head of Communications & Complaints, �鶹Լ�� Audience Services.

Visit �鶹Լ�� Action Line for more information

Taking Liberties Season on the �鶹Լ��: Magna Carta 800

2015-01-07T10:13:53+00:00

Melvyn Bragg records Magna Carta for �鶹Լ�� Radio 4

What we love most about the Middle Ages is their glorious (and gory) distance from the modern world. Not for nothing is Game of Thrones held up as the ‘best drama about the Wars of the Roses’ even with its dragons, ‘gods old and new’, and 1,000 mile ice wall. It’s us, but not us. The castles, and the suits of armour, may be satisfyingly tangible, but they really come to life in the wildest fantasy – and have done so for centuries.

So it’s something of a surprise to be told our entire way of life – everything we hold dearest about freedom, liberty and justice – derives from a single sheep’s skin manuscript, covered in arcane medieval Latin, which is celebrating its 800th anniversary this year. Magna Carta – ‘The Great Charter’. Cue, a small island on the river Thames, and a group of angry, well-armed knights forcing a recalcitrant, and very bad King John to sign a document curbing his own arbitrary powers. Actually, he didn’t sign it, of course, he set his seal to it; and in fact, there was no document, per se, that day in June 1215, only the promise of one. But once that royal seal was attached, a vital principle entered into national political life – global political life in due course – and that was, simply, nobody was above the law, least of all the King. All those tyrants, emperors, and ancient kings who wielded cruel and non-negotiable power, free to dispose of their subjects as they chose – suddenly, it was they who were history, at least in theory. And from Magna Carta’s core idea would be built (after centuries of dispute, it has to be said, including revolutions and civil war) many of the pillars of the modern world. The fact our leaders cannot imprison us on a whim, for example. Long after King John – and his rebellious barons – were dead and buried, that principle would motivate the parliamentary opposition to Charles I; it would provide the central idea embodied by the Founding Fathers of the new United States of America; and it would offer justification to the protest movements of Mahatma Gandhi, and Nelson Mandela – among many, many others.

That is why we feel this is no ordinary anniversary. The story of how the Magna Carta came to be conceived in the first place, never mind sealed and implemented, is fascinating enough in its own right, and one we shall be addressing directly, on radio, television, and online. But it’s the story of its impact on the following 800 years which really astonishes. That is why our coverage will range far and wide – touching on everything from an exploration of the institution that most directly claims direct lineage from the Magna Carta – our Houses of Commons – to examples from around the globe of just how tendentious these principles remain in the contemporary world, from China, to Zimbabwe, and beyond.

Working closely with our partners – Magna Carta 800 and the British Library – we’ve made the season relevant to people of all ages. From David Starkey and Melvyn Bragg looking back at its history; to Horrible Histories, �鶹Լ�� Three comedy and Radio 1 supporting the British Library's Magna Carta: My Digital Rights project, to our news and current affairs offerings in Democracy Day on the 20th January - the season will promote understanding and debate around today’s democratic process.

Magna Carta’s legacy is as profound in its spirit, as it is in its letter. Ordinary people talk to power, we have the right to criticise those who claim to represent us, we are even allowed to ridicule them, and all without fear of imprisonment or torture. This too must stand as one of the most important consequences of that fateful encounter between king and magnates 800 years ago, though not one any of the original participants would remotely have anticipated, or, arguably, approved of. But still it stands. A tribute to the power of an idea, which once unleashed, can change the world out of all recognition.

Martin Davidson is �鶹Լ�� Commissioning Editor, History

Programmes in the season include David Starkey's Why so Revolutionary on �鶹Լ�� Two, and Melvyn Bragg's The Legacy of Magna Carta for �鶹Լ�� Radio 4.

See the Taking Liberties Media Pack for more details
Read the Taking Liberties press release

In conversation with Ralph Rivera and Danny Cohen

2014-10-20T04:51:24+00:00

Doctor and the Dalek online coding game goes live later this week on the C�鶹Լ�� website

Ahead of The Doctor and The Dalek game going live later this week, Future Media Director, Ralph Rivera and Director of TV, Danny Cohen shared their thoughts on how the �鶹Լ�� is inspiring a new generation to get creative with coding and digital technology in its new initiative Make it Digital.

The interview that follows was conducted on Tuesday 14 October 2014.

Q: Tell us about the Doctor Who game The Doctor and The Dalek

Ralph: There are a number of things which are important about this exciting new game. For me the first thing is how we’re using a great brand like Doctor Who to help engage audiences into coding and computational thinking and digital creativity: the ‘doing’ of coding is really important – actually getting people to get a taste of it. Additionally, the key characters in Doctor Who are about technology - there’s science and technology woven into the very fabric of Doctor Who. Using that to showcase coding and the use of technology in a game, I think, is phenomenal.

Q: Is this about making coding more interesting?

Danny: I don’t think it’s about making it more interesting to people. Rather it’s about introducing it to people who don’t know anything about it. If you go to parts of the UK where coding and engineering are driving the economy – it’s really exciting. So I think it’s about introducing it to new audiences and new young people so they understand the opportunities around it. And the way its transforming the way people work and the way people enjoy themselves. The better we get at that, the better the country is going to be and the more young people we’re going to have who are successful.

Doctor Who is something our audiences love. It’s going to be a fantastic game voiced by the wonderful Peter Capaldi. It has its own story. Between each level there will be puzzles which introduce people to basic programming principles and computational thinking. Of course, the game is focussed on young people, but we’re hoping that older audiences will get something out of it too.

Q: The Doctor Who game is part of the �鶹Լ��’s Make it Digital campaign, a wider commitment to promoting digital creativity and getting more people interested in coding. How important is Make it Digital?

Ralph: When I first arrived at the �鶹Լ��, one of the things I learned about was the �鶹Լ�� Micro. 30 years ago the �鶹Լ�� Micro inspired a generation of people, many of whom went on to become world class video game developers. We know there’s a technology skills gap and so we want to capture the spirit of that initiative for the digital age. We pick up language to learn how to communicate with other people but now computers are pervasive, they’re everywhere – communication, entertainment. Being able to acquire the language to communicate with computers is going to be as fundamental as writing. What I hope is that Make it Digital has a similar impact: that it inspires the next generation to engage with coding, to help them to learn a new language.

Danny: Increasingly people use a range of different devices to enjoy different kinds of content and other experiences. So it’s absolutely right the �鶹Լ�� uses a variety of different platforms to inform, educate and entertain people. This is a good example when you can bring together a huge TV show with a huge audience and introduce people to something they haven’t tried before. The �鶹Լ�� is going to be at its best when it can do this across a range of different platforms and services and harness the power of the �鶹Լ�� and its brands to do bigger and bigger things.

Ralph: For me, media has a simple definition which is the intersection of storytelling with technology. That’s been true throughout history: Papyrus; the Guttenburg Press; radio; television or online. When you look at storytelling online you have to look at the characteristics of online as a medium. It’s social; it’s interactive; and, it’s not linear. So, how do we learn to tell stories in that way? I don’t mean just using online as a platform for distributing what we’ve already broadcast on TV or radio, but using online natively as a form unto itself. So for me, with an initiative like Make it Digital, we need to be digitally creative with how we tell stories and the Doctor and the Dalek is great example of that.

Q.What else can we expect to see from the Make it Digital initiative?

Danny: Make it Digital is a really big initiative for the �鶹Լ�� in 2015. The ambition is to celebrate this country’s digital heritage. But additionally it’s there to inspire young people – people of all ages. It’s there to get involved in digital creativity, to learn about coding and to understand how coding can help the future of the UK. And because we’re a creative organisation we want to do that through a range of creative different ways. We’ve started a little early this autumn with a range of content from �鶹Լ�� Learning, the Doctor Who game, Appsolute Genius on C�鶹Լ�� with Dick and Dom, Technobabble and Nina and the Neurons: Go Digital for younger audiences.

Ralph: And in support of the new computing curriciulum, we’ve delivered over 100 Bitesize guides on the topic. Take a look at the Keystage 3 Computing introduction to computational thinking, which breaks it up into deconstruction and algorithims. Look at that and you’ll see how I think.

We’re also launching two pieces of iWonder content: one is a timeline from Piers Linney telling the story of how code has come to run our world - from the invention of binary just 330 years ago, to the first computers in the 40s and 50s, and the transformation of music, architecture and business. And a guide from Lauren Laverne coming soon. It asks Is Code the language which rules the world? Just for the record, I think it is. The guide takes us on a trip to a record shop, to her car, and looking for ingredients for a recipe, all the while showing us how code underpins our daily lives.

There will be more to come over the next few months and throughout next year. We’re looking at Make it Digital as a catalyst around digital creativity and coding, but also looking at establishing an ecosystem of partners who are already doing a lot of great work here. It’s not just us doing this by ourselves, it’s actually bringing in the various parts together, whether it be the schools focussing on coding (of which there are several), or other big organisations.

Ralph Rivera and Danny Cohen were speaking to About the �鶹Լ�� Blog editor Jon Jacob in an interview conducted on Tuesday 14 October 2014.

Jon Jacob is Editor, About the �鶹Լ�� Website and Blog..

The Doctor and the Dalek will be available freely at bbc.co.uk/cbbc from Wednesday 22nd October.
Read a press release about The Doctor and the Dalek on the Media Centre website.
Read Jessica Cecil's blog 'Coding and digital creativity - planning for 2015'

Should the �鶹Լ�� unpublish any of its online content?

2014-06-17T05:36:31+00:00

This is a question we are facing increasingly, particularly in relation to the �鶹Լ�� News Website which gets requests every week to remove reports from the archive. In May, the European Union Court of Justice ruled that Google must erase some search results at an individual’s request if the information was "inadequate, irrelevant or no longer relevant." The ruling applied to search engines not to the original publishers of the content, in this case a newspaper in Spain.

Since the advent of Google our news reports are now just a click away for anyone with a computer, as the Spanish man who brought the ECJ case found. Our online news is far more accessible today than the newspaper archives of libraries. But in principle there is no difference between them: both are historical records. Fundamentally it is in the public interest to retain them intact.

But sometimes the people we feature in our news reports want the news about themselves to be erased so they can obscure the events they were involved in, or the comments they made to us and stop others finding them. In many cases, these requests to remove our reports from the �鶹Լ�� News Website arise a number of years after the first publication. Like other media organisations, the �鶹Լ�� is getting an increasing number of appeals to takedown – to effectively "unpublish" our content.

Sometimes, people say our reports are inaccurate or unfair, or they regret the private information they put into the public domain about a medical condition; their marital status or financial affairs. Others are embarrassed by views they expressed which they no longer hold or are no longer compatible with their lives. Some people tell us the presence of our reports are affecting their relationships with their families or hindering their job search: that they’ve now rebuilt their lives; beaten their addiction or are no longer homeless.

While it may be relatively easy to change our online news reports, the question is whether and when we should erase the record.

These are often difficult decisions and every request is thoroughly discussed.

Today, the �鶹Լ�� is publishing Editorial Policy Guidance about when we remove or amend �鶹Լ�� online content. Essentially, this says that material on the �鶹Լ�� website which is not available for a limited time period will become part of a permanently accessible archive that we are reluctant to remove or change and that we will only do so in exceptional circumstances. We are also reluctant to remove or alter programmes available on �鶹Լ�� iPlayer during the catch-up period.

Each request is considered on its merits. There are many considerations. We need to examine the difference between embarrassment and significant harm or distress. We must balance the harm to the individual named with the potential harm to the public interest in the removal of our content – in other words we need to ask is it fair to the person we feature to keep the content andis it fair to our users to remove it? We need to consider whether the information has also been put in the public domain by others such as the courts or the police. Perhaps the information is already circulating widely on the internet - if it is, removal may be ineffective. And these are just a few of the considerations.

The Guidance Note also sets out the need for transparency and that we should normally explain what changes we have made to our online content for example, why programmes are no longer available on �鶹Լ�� iPlayer or have been changed since original broadcast. To this end, the �鶹Լ�� will be launching in July a new way of signalling this information. In future if a programme has been edited since broadcast in a way that significantly changes the editorial meaning, we will tell you at point of play. Also if there is a small editorial error in a programme we can let you know the correction before you watch it.

�鶹Լ�� iPlayer is a record of broadcast history and the �鶹Լ��'s online archive is a matter of historic public record and any changes to them may reduce transparency and trust with our users and risk altering history. Our new policy will help us to preserve the public record in as complete a state as possible.

You can read more about the �鶹Լ�� policy here.

David Jordan is Director Editorial Policy and Standards

Recalling some of �鶹Լ�� Online's history

2014-04-11T05:42:32+00:00

The �鶹Լ�� Networking Club's first webpage

Earlier this week Professor Lucy Hooberman introduced her work with the �鶹Լ�� History Unit compiling the oral histories of those who helped establish what would become �鶹Լ��'s first online presence.

In this post, Lucy discusses some of the questions raised in this early phase of her work and points to some early blogs which help document �鶹Լ�� Online's history.

The Harvard Business Review tells us that anniversaries should not be wasted and organisations, including the �鶹Լ��, do seem to love them. But do they get the most out of them and what does that even mean?

Today, Friday 11th April an event in Broadcasting House will mark the 20th anniversary of the �鶹Լ�� on the world wide web - an anniversary stemming from the early work of the �鶹Լ��'s Networking Club in 1994. I first took the idea of a "big" anniversary to Roly Keating in the summer of 2011 when he was the �鶹Լ��’s first Director of Archive content. One conversation lead to another and I was introduced to the �鶹Լ�� History Unit and the Oral History Archive. Eventually we agreed the first steps of this oral history and memory project. With a small start (ten oral history interviews), we committed to starting a research stream for the future. But why bother?

Anniversaries are good times to connect to what an organisation is all about in terms of values and mission statement but also to look back at the trends and experiences that bring it to the present. But crucially for organisations that see themselves as innovators these are great occasions to think about the future, to look forward to what is next. I worked at the �鶹Լ�� between 1993 and 2008 during a time of huge change which was social, political and of course technological and whilst many digital types do focus on the technology alone these forces are never standalone.

I had a panic attack last week when the �鶹Լ��’s Internet Blog archives went down. Anyone who blogs will understand the feeling of panic if your posts (and your history) disappear. When we started the �鶹Լ�� Blog Network in 2006 part of the reason was to start talking to our audiences directly and more importantly engaging differently. But we were also keen to make visible some of the inner workings and thought processes of the �鶹Լ��. Not just for the sake of accountability (a good thing), but also being able to talk about what was happening inside the �鶹Լ�� was a big part of it, and by changing the way we talked we also changed some of the culture.

All the posts will be invaluable for media History and other researchers of the present and future.

Take Brandon Butterworth’s history post for example. Or, Nick Reynolds round up of posts from the first ten years (though this date stems from the launch of News Online in 1997). And Martin Belam’s piece on the �鶹Լ��’s website archives.

There are also the memories and experiences of former staff members blogging externally that will go down in history. Tom Loosemore’s The �鶹Լ��’s Fifteen Web Principles

Robin Hamman who was blogging himself long before the �鶹Լ�� started blogging showed many of us what was possible.

And Nick Robinson and Paul Mason literally burst out of the �鶹Լ�� blogging just before we were ready to launch – it really helped actually (thanks to Jem Stone for this archive capture!)

Apart form these public sources what else is there for this “modern period" rom 1994 to 2014? The �鶹Լ�� has an oral history archive started in the 1970s by Frank Gillard and continued to this day. These oral history interviews are subject to a thirty year rule and have interviewed “the great and the good” of the organisation favouring the "great man" view of history which though very popular in the 19th century still seems to hold sway more than you might imagine today.

I personally prefer a Peoples history approach both to my former filmmaking days, and focus on participatory media. Two of my historic guiding lights would be Professor Theodore Zeldin and Peter Pagnamanta and his epic Television series the People’s Century.

So when it comes to organisational memory whose memories get heard? In starting this new research project between Warwick and the �鶹Լ�� I’m lucky enough to be able to build on what we started with the Blog Platform in 2006 and by interviewing people who just worked inside various departments about their work from 1994 onwards. I’m laying down some foundations for researchers of the future, including myself of course.

I thought the ten interviews we have conducted would be the project. But far from it , they are only the beginning as we can now research the rest in detail from the skeletal timeline that has been reconstructed by us real people. My thanks and the �鶹Լ��’s thanks to Tony Ageh, George Auckland, Lord John Birt, Brandon Butterworth, Bob Eggington, Professor Lizzie Jackson, Matthew Karas, Tom Loosemore, Euan Semple, Chris Westcott and John Birt’s strategy team of 1996 who remarkably came back together for a Witness session. More of that in another blog post. Thank you all for leading the way.

Lucy Hoobeman is Professor of Digital Media & Innovation, WMG, University of Warwick.

Read Lucy's introductory post 20 years and Stronger than Ever
Follow @LucyH on Twitter.

Bringing Together �鶹Լ��'s Corporate Websites

2011-12-05T07:48:32+00:00

Today sees the launch of a refreshed version of our corporate websites, About the �鶹Լ��, of which this blog is part. I have been leading the team who made the changes and I'd like to explain some of the thinking behind them.

The �鶹Լ�� has long had websites aimed at helping audiences and licence fee payers understand various aspects of what it does as an organisation. Some of these worked well and were well maintained, others had become out of date. In all, there were around fifty of them. The connections between them were very limited. There was nowhere to go to gain a broad understanding of how the �鶹Լ�� works or what it does. The sites varied enormously in look and feel.

The old homepages for the About the �鶹Լ�� and �鶹Լ�� Press Office websites.

Earlier this year, we outlined the �鶹Լ��'s plans to reshape and rationalise �鶹Լ�� Online to create one cohesive service.

The task we set ourselves here was to improve the quality and coherence of the �鶹Լ��'s corporate online presence, and at the same time to make it much more cost effective.

Our solution: the new About the �鶹Լ�� 鶹Լ��page, and Inside the �鶹Լ�� site

When we analysed the sites we found they fitted within five broad categories. The new About the �鶹Լ��, therefore, has five sections. They share a single design and navigation pattern:

Inside the �鶹Լ�� - for licence fee payers and anyone interested in the �鶹Լ��, covering our history, programmes and services, how we are structured and the principles to which we work.

Media Centre - the latest announcements, programme information, media packs and statements from the �鶹Լ��'s press office.

Partners and Suppliers - providing information for people and companies who want to work with the �鶹Լ��, become a supplier, or have a programme commissioned.

Careers - for people who want to get a job or work experience with the �鶹Լ��, or find out about the training we offer.

Help and Feedback - bringing together advice on how to access and use our services, or how to give feedback on them.

In addition to bringing a number of sites into this framework, we have moved them into a single content management system, using common templates. This will radically reduce the editorial and technical costs of maintaining them.

We have also tried to make the site more compelling, accessible and understandable. Here, the main changes are:

A new homepage, linking the five sections, featuring the latest �鶹Լ�� news and directing visitors to areas of current interest
New unified navigation, with a roll over feature in the page header providing links to the full range of corporate sites
A focus on simplicity and clarity, with short explanations of the different sites and the use of images to aid navigation
Multimedia embedded across the site to bring variety and interest
Social media integration to enable our visitors to engage in conversation with and about the �鶹Լ�� should they choose to, links to some of our blogs and embedded Twitter feeds such as @bbcpress and @aboutthebbc

Creating a new corporate presence for the �鶹Լ�� is a gradual process. We are working with colleagues to migrate their sites into the new framework as they become due for a refresh. Many have moved today but this is not a "big bang". Others, like �鶹Լ�� Shows and Tours and �鶹Լ�� Supplying will move into the new look and feel over the coming months.

We hope you that the new corporate face of the �鶹Լ�� will help you find the information you need more easily, and provide a better account of how a complex organisation works and what it does. We would very much value your feedback, either here on this blog, or on Twitter to @aboutthebbc.

Ian Hunter is the Managing Editor, �鶹Լ�� Online

Related Links:

Erik Huggers: Reshaping �鶹Լ�� Online

Ralph Rivera: Connected storytelling - one service, ten products, four screens

The �鶹Լ�� - it's a bit like an apple

2011-11-18T08:30:28+00:00

Every quarter I review the �鶹Լ��'s overall performance and, for this year's third quarter, an especially strong picture emerged that reminded me of just what an extraordinary organisation the �鶹Լ�� is.

Take the website that you're probably reading this on - the �鶹Լ��'s. It's the only UK site consistently in the nation's top-ten favourites, with 20 million people using it every week. Across our other platforms, 86% of the nation switch on a �鶹Լ�� TV channel every week; 67% tune into a �鶹Լ�� radio station; and �鶹Լ�� iPlayer has 154 million requests per month. That reach adds up to 96% of the UK population, with the average person in the UK spending eighteen-and-a-half hours with the �鶹Լ�� - not in a year or even in a month, but each week.

Underpinning these high ratings is the �鶹Լ��'s ability to make the good popular and the popular good. On this measure, we're experiencing some record results when asking our audiences for their views on quality, through the Appreciation Index (AI). Average AI scores for �鶹Լ�� TV programmes reached their highest ever level of 83 in 2011, a steady increase from 78 in 2007 and 75 in 2005. Frozen Planet just recorded one of our highest ever AI's at 94.

�鶹Լ�� News continues to perform particularly well. It produces 27% of TV news broadcasting but wins 72% of TV news viewing. The reach of the �鶹Լ�� News Channel was 10.4 million compared to Sky News' 6.4 million. Even in 'Sky homes', the �鶹Լ�� News Channel has a reach of 4.1 million compared to Sky News' 3.6 million. However whereas Sky's average revenue per user is Â£1.46 a day, the �鶹Լ��'s is just 40p.

Around the world �鶹Լ�� Global News (including the World Service) is delivering news to audiences from Somalia to Afghanistan totalling 225 million - the largest audience of any international broadcaster at less than half the cost per user of its nearest competitor. In the most dangerous part of Afghanistan, its particular value to the local people is perhaps best demonstrated by reports of requests in the rural south for the Mullahs in their mosques to adjust the evening prayer times so that they can listen to the �鶹Լ�� programmes.

What contributes to this success? As we can see, audiences score the �鶹Լ�� highly for quality, trust and impartiality. This has been reinforced by this year's figures. At 77%, the UK public's positive general impression of the �鶹Լ�� is at its highest level since 2002. Trust in the �鶹Լ�� overall is at its highest levels since current records began: 67% of the public agree they trust the �鶹Լ�� overall, up from 56% in 2004. Research from Ofcom shows that the �鶹Լ�� is also seen as the most impartial news broadcaster: 68% of the public say the �鶹Լ�� is impartial, compared with 51% for ITV, 50% for Channel 4/S4C, 50% for Five and 44% for Sky News.

Strong levels of trust are reflected in the fact that the nation continues to turn to the �鶹Լ�� when they need the latest information in times of crisis and national significance. 35 million joined the �鶹Լ�� to celebrate the Royal Wedding on 29 April and, during the English riots, records were set as 13.2 million watched the News Channel (more than any other rolling news outlet).

All in all 80% of the public say they are glad that the �鶹Լ�� exists. As the public are faced with more choice than ever, that is a fantastic achievement. All for about the price of an apple a day and, in many ways, just as good for you.

John Tate is the �鶹Լ�� Director of Policy & Strategy

Can I get that on DVD?

2011-10-17T16:25:38+00:00

We're always looking to find better ways to make the �鶹Լ��'s back-catalogue of programmes more discoverable by our audiences. Last month I wrote here about �鶹Լ�� Four's move into curating online themed collections of new and archive content, and their launch collection Army: A Very British Institution has proved to be popular, with over 1 million programme views to date.

But beyond our public service collections there's a large and growing mix of shows from �鶹Լ�� radio and television available to buy or access on a commercial basis - whether as physical products like CDs or Blu-rays or in digital-only formats - and we want to make it easy and intuitive for audiences to track down programmes that may no longer be offered via the �鶹Լ�� itself but are available elsewhere. A question many TV producers have heard from viewers is, "Can I get that on DVD?".

With that in mind, we're launching today a number of improvements to the �鶹Լ�� Online feature previously known as Buyer's Guide. If you've used this before, you'll know that it provides a link from selected programme pages on �鶹Լ�� Online to retailers who offer purchasable copies of the relevant programme.

So far this has been almost entirely restricted to audiobooks based on �鶹Լ�� Radio shows, but we're now extending it to include DVD and Blu-Ray editions of our TV programmes as well. As of today you should find links from selected TV programme pages to around 350 different products from a variety of retailers, and the range will grow steadily from now on. To begin with we're focussing on programmes that have recently been broadcast, but over time we'll include a wider selection of older programmes.

We're also changing the name to Commercial Availability: we think this describes more clearly what the feature is there to do. The look and feel has evolved too, to fit with the new overall design of �鶹Լ�� Online.

In Delivering Quality First we re-stated the �鶹Լ��'s determination to improve audiences' access to and engagement with our programmes - past, present and future - whether they're available on the �鶹Լ�� website or elsewhere, and today's changes represent another step in that direction. We hope you find them useful.

Roly Keating is Director of Archive Content and Executive Editor of �鶹Լ�� Online

Frequently Asked Questions about Commercial Availability

A 'beta' version of the �鶹Լ��'s new homepage

2011-09-21T09:00:00+00:00

In my role as General Manager for News & Knowledge at �鶹Լ�� Future Media, I oversee eight of the 10 major areas (we call these 'products') of �鶹Լ�� Online working with my editorial counterparts - including the �鶹Լ�� homepage. Today, we relaunched the homepage in a test ('beta') version for public use and feedback. The new page is accessible from a link at the top of the current homepage, or directly at beta.bbc.co.uk. I hope that users who give the new homepage a go find it much improved. My colleague James Thornett has written about the relaunch in more detail over on the �鶹Լ�� Internet Blog and would like to know what audiences think. Please leave your feedback comments on his blog post.

As users start to use the new homepage, I wanted to explain why we've introduced changes.

In last year's Strategy Review ('Putting Quality First') we proposed a �鶹Լ�� Online which:

Had half the number of top-level directories, down from the 400 we had then (i.e. /sitename)
Cost 25% less to run (i.e. the �鶹Լ�� Online Service Licence for 2010/11 is Â£135m - we intend to cut spend to Â£100m)
Sent double the traffic we did then to external websites, helping the broader UK digital economy
Made more Nations & Regions content available
And, critically, did 'fewer things, better'.

We're making progress in all of these areas and in January of this year, we outlined how we would address the challenge of doing more with less - importantly a move away from building websites via separate new media budgets, towards one cohesive online service with clear lines of accountability.

But this is more than just sound governance - the changes will create a more distinctive, joined-up service for licence fee-payers which is recognizably '�鶹Լ��', and greater clarity for the industry in terms of how much we'll do on the web, setting boundaries for what we will and won't do online.

We've arrived at a �鶹Լ�� Online service comprising ten distinct areas or 'products'. Each product is at a different stage of its life: �鶹Լ�� News and �鶹Լ�� iPlayer are both concrete propositions; others, like the fledgling �鶹Լ�� Knowledge & Learning product are approaching the final stages of definition. All will be built on the same shared infrastructure to allow a more seamless transition between them.

The third dimension to our strategy is to provide greater value for money for licence fee-payers, by broadening access to our products across four screens - beyond the web to mobile, tablet, and connected TV. Our �鶹Լ�� News product demonstrates this commitment: it's available on the web, as a mobile and tablet application, and more recently has been optimized for connected TV, launching on the Samsung Smart TV platform in June.

One service, ten products, four screens

So we summarise this strategy as: 'one service, ten products, four screens'.

The homepage occupies a unique position within �鶹Լ�� Online: though �鶹Լ�� Online is a distinct service, and the homepage a single product within it, editorially the page can show off the breadth of content we make available on the web. But showing this breadth has been our perennial challenge. To date we've made tweaks to a relatively static page to better fulfil this purpose; with the move to a new technical platform, we've had the opportunity to rebuild the page from first for the 9 million-plus average weekly unique browsers.

The new �鶹Լ�� homepage launched in beta today marks a departure from the way we've approached this challenge until now and introduces a new, more visual approach to showing off our content on the web, and eventually on mobile, tablet, and connected TV devices too. Other features include:

Simple filters enabling users to tailor the page based on their interests.
Sliding 'drawers' to reveal more or less detail from showcases of the most popular content from all of �鶹Լ�� Online at any time and real-time listings for �鶹Լ�� TV and Radio.
At-a-glance aspects - news and sport headlines, weather forecasts with lottery and travel news updates to follow, plus traditional index-based navigation for quick look-up.
In time, nations' homepages united into a single product to provide relevant local and national information based on a user's choice of location - a key 'Putting Quality First' commitment.

We believe the redesigned page makes it easier for visitors to find the content they're looking for, whilst discovering something new - I hope you agree.

Phil Fearnley is General Manager for News & Knowledge, �鶹Լ�� Future Media

More about the beta release of the new �鶹Լ�� homepage in the press release on the �鶹Լ�� Press Office web site.

Major changes to commissioning in �鶹Լ�� Online

2011-05-27T13:01:46+00:00

�鶹Լ�� Online is in the process of making major changes, as we set ourselves up to deliver the new strategy outlined in January. Andy Conroy, General Manager, �鶹Լ�� Online, talks about the challenges ahead and what this will mean for audiences on the �鶹Լ�� Internet blog.

Reshaping �鶹Լ�� Online

2011-01-24T11:00:00+00:00

The �鶹Լ�� has always created and embraced emerging technologies to remain relevant. Text based journalism, through Ceefax, didn't really feature in the �鶹Լ�� until the late 1970s, which later evolved into �鶹Լ�� Red Button and the �鶹Լ�� News website, the backbone of �鶹Լ�� Online. Today, �鶹Լ�� Online gives us a foothold in the connected digital age, and with 26 million users each week, it's a broadly adopted and very popular service.

So what role should �鶹Լ�� Online play as we plan for the �鶹Լ��'s future in a complex, changing global media landscape? The principles and purposes that served us for the last 80 years remain unchanged; as a public service broadcaster, the �鶹Լ��'s appeal needs to be broad. The internet age has not changed what we're for, but has changed the way we do it. Without the natural limitations of broadcasting spectrum it's easy to lose focus. Couple this with the lack of a single unified, online strategy, you get sprawl - which amounts to patchy quality and a loss of identity.

This underpins our approach to �鶹Լ�� Online in Putting Quality First, a wide-ranging review of the �鶹Լ��'s strategy, announced last March. It was approved by the �鶹Լ�� Trust in December. Today, the Trust have announced their approval of our plans for �鶹Լ�� Online, and we've been talking to staff about what this is going to mean for them, as well as explaining to the press what this means for the public.

A New Approach
This is about reducing the scale and scope of �鶹Լ�� Online, to focus the site on our five editorial priorities - halving the number of top-level directories and delivering a 25% reduction in budget by 2013. The relationship with the wider industry is also important. Focus creates clarity on what �鶹Լ�� Online will and won't do - and we'll be taking a more open approach on what we are doing, engaging with industry twice a year about our plans. Plus, we'll double the number of referrals we send to third-party websites.

Doing Fewer Things, Better
When I last blogged about our plans in the Summer, I outlined how we intend to move from building one-off websites to managing products and some were unsure as to what I meant by a product.

Products are the common currency in many businesses - it's how they package what they do to make them distinctive, competitive and attractive to customers. But it's not the common currency at the �鶹Լ�� and the commercial connotations are at odds with the clear public purposes enshrined in programmes, the �鶹Լ��'s currency.

�鶹Լ�� News and �鶹Լ�� iPlayer are two of our most popular websites, and it's no coincidence that they are run as products already. Each has a clear sense of purpose and identity, each has a clear sense of what its audience wants from it and meets that audience need. Each combine our distinctive editorial voice with great technology and design. It's this partnership and focus that makes them successful, so we want to capture this in everything we do.

Products also explain how we'll be reorganising �鶹Լ�� Online. They become the reference point for budgets, targets and objectives, and lines of accountability. Each will have a converged technology and editorial team working in partnership at a product level.

Product is is not a word that we expect audiences to start using, but it does explain how we applied boundaries to the service as a whole, created a single, united strategy for the first time, and reorganised how we operate to make it a better service for audiences.

Maximising Distinctivenes

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/aboutthebbc/01_maximising_distinctivene.jpg

In order to decide where to focus, we looked at every website we have and applied three tests to each. First, do we really need this website to meet our public purposes? Second, to what degree does it help meet our five editorial priorities? And third, how does it differ from what else is out there in the market; is it distinctive?, and if not - should we be doing it all? Working these tests through iteratively, merging some websites, and looking objectively at how much each costs and how much it's used and valued by the public - we ended up with ten products.

Fewer, Better Products

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/aboutthebbc/02_doing_fewer_things_bette.jpg

News, Sport and Weather remain broadly the same technically, but with significant editorial changes (outlined below).News already combines technology, design and editorial to great effect and we'll aim to replicate its success across the service. These three products continue to be the backbone of �鶹Լ�� Online.

CBeebies will consolidate its position as the best-loved and most trusted site for pre-school children and their parents.

Games will feature prominently; complementing the digital channel's focus on learning through play. C�鶹Լ�� too is a place children, parents and schools can trust to provide a safe online experience.

�鶹Լ�� Knowledge has produced great factual programming for many years and websies like Bitesize have pioneered �鶹Լ�� online learning. But the current online knowledge websites are hard to navigate. The same is true of learning websites; fragmented and in parts lacking distinctiveness. Both can use the power of the web better to satisfy the curiosity of audiences wanting to discover and engage in new ways. Our plan is to merge all these sites into one cohesive product.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/aboutthebbc/03_fewer_better_products.jpg

But perhaps the most significant changes are in how we approach TV and Radio online. We will continue to innovate and create great content built for the medium. But we are going to significantly consolidate the standalone, bespoke websites we have that surround our linear output to create just two new products; TV & iPlayer, and Radio & Music.

The �鶹Լ�� iPlayer has been through three major evolutions since its launch in 2007. The next will bring together the current drama, entertainment, comedy, TV, /programmes, /archive and /iPlayer websites in one product. This centres on the audiences' primary needs of TV on the web: quick access to the programmes and programme information, but building more on the editorial power of our TV brands so it feels even more simple, intuitive and engaging for the audience.

While �鶹Լ�� iPlayer has been a good home for online radio, the way audiences want to interact with radio and music online is different to TV. Radio and music will come out of �鶹Լ�� iPlayer, and we'll develop a new stand-alone product. All radio station sites, music events, podcasts and programme pages will be integrated to focus on highly interactive live radio, quick and seamless access to programming, support for new music and personalisation - on whatever internet-connected device you happen to have.

�鶹Լ��page and Search bind all the products together. Both have an important functional role, guiding audiences around the service; but they perform important editorial roles as well. As the discovery engine for the �鶹Լ��, the homepage is one of our most-used products and will be re-designed to reflect the new products, deliver nations "editions" and make all the products simple to use. Search has evolved from being a bolt-on technology to a �鶹Լ��-built product delivering greatly improved targeted search results. As the service evolves, this too will become even more important in helping people find what they are looking for.

Editorial Focus
These plans outline a �鶹Լ�� Online that will get better, not just smaller. Within that, there are key things we want to focus upon:

High quality news focused on up-to-the-minute news updates backed up by rich multimedia content from correspondents across the UK and the world
�鶹Լ�� News Entertainment and Arts section will have more culture and arts coverage
Dynamic 'editions' of �鶹Լ�� Online for each Nation
Clearer focus of local sites on news, sport, weather and travel
Sport will focus on fast, reliable and in-depth news and dynamic coverage of the best live events that bring the nation together
Safe, creative spaces for children
A single merged offer in Knowledge & Learning, making the most of �鶹Լ�� content, from science to literacy, arts to maths - for adults pursuing a passion or brushing up a basic skill, and for children learning at home and school
Radio will focus on live output, and the discovery of new music as played and recommended by �鶹Լ�� DJs and iconic musicians
�鶹Լ�� iPlayer will be re-shaped into a unified television offer, bringing together TV channels, programme information and live and on-demand content
Selected archive content will be featured in TV & iPlayer and Radio & Music

Closures and Reductions
As a result there are some editorial areas we'll be pulling back from, and some websites we'll be closing completely.

The closure of half of the 400 Top Level Domains (with 180 closing ahead of schedule later this year)
The replacement of the majority of programme websites with automated content
The automation of bespoke digital radio sites 1Xtra, 5 live sports extra, 6 Music and Radio 7
The closure of RAW, Blast, Switch, Video Nation and the disposal of h2g2
The removal of non-News features content from Local sites
A substantial reduction in showbusiness news on the News website
Fewer News blogs, with more focus on the updates from leading editors and correspondents
A reduction in the overall amount of Sports news and live sport
Standalone forums, communities, message-boards and blogs to be reduced and replaced with integrated social tools
The closure of the 606 community site and the closure of the �鶹Լ�� iPlayer message board

Where �鶹Լ�� Online will not go
Equally, there are areas which we will not cover, and have no intention of going into. �鶹Լ�� Online will not:

Launch its own social network
Offer specialist news content for specialist audiences
Publish local listings
Develop encyclopaedic propositions in Knowledge
Provide continuing professional development materials for teachers or a managed learning environment for schools
Become a video-on-demand aggregator in �鶹Լ�� iPlayer, although it will link to other on-demand providers
Produce online-only music sessions Offer track-by-track music streaming
Invest in exclusive online sports rights

Common Functionality
As I outlined in the summer, common technical functionality means that products are supported by the same infrastructure, delivering operational efficiencies and a consistent experience throughout the service. It creates the means to login and personalise the site and links your login to social networks. It also allows the site to be repurposed for different devices, provides the templates for programme automation and hosts the �鶹Լ��'s archive material.

Changes for Staff
This is a big change for the �鶹Լ�� and the staff working on �鶹Լ�� Online. In addition to the operational change of working to a product management culture, there will be a substantial number of post closures.

Subject to consultation with the Unions, we are proposing the closure of up to 360 posts, phased over the next two years.

They won't fall equally across each �鶹Լ�� division. We estimate that 120 posts will close in Future Media & Technology, 70 posts in Journalism (News and Nations non-News), 85-90 in Vision, 35-39 in Audio & Music, 17 in Children's and 24 in Sport. Though we aim to mitigate the redundancies by redeploying staff, this will be a difficult time for the staff affected - these cuts will be painful, but we believe they are necessary.

Looking Ahead
This is the first time that �鶹Լ�� Online - as a whole - will have a single, unified strategy and I am confident that the new focus it will give will deliver much more for much less and enable the �鶹Լ�� to become as highly regarded in the internet age as it became in the broadcasting age - with six of the ten products to be based in Salford, which will become a digital hub for the �鶹Լ��.

As in the early days of TV, when we simply filmed radio programmes, we are only just beginning to understand the huge potential of the internet, not just as a platform, but its creative potential. If any digital media organisation has the talent in its ranks and the imagination to harness that potential, it's the �鶹Լ��.

While the �鶹Լ��'s first-class editorial output is what makes it so appreciated by the public, its innovation culture and engineering expertise has allowed it to keep pace with their changing expectations, a legacy that can be traced right back to Lord Reith himself. Putting online at the heart of the �鶹Լ��'s future means this legacy continues in the connected digital age.

Erik Huggers is the Director of Future Media & Technology

�鶹Լ�� Internet Blog - Changing how �鶹Լ�� Online works with suppliers

2010-11-01T08:32:55+00:00

"As outlined in March's Strategy Review, there are changes coming for �鶹Լ�� Online. A proposed 25% cut in spend by 2013, and a rationalisation of 400 websites to make way for fewer, clearly-defined, products will impact audiences and the �鶹Լ�� itself.

External suppliers to �鶹Լ�� Online, critical to the success of the service, will naturally be thinking about what this means for them, and it's important that we are clear".

Jonathan Kingsbury, Head of External Supply for �鶹Լ�� Future Media & Technology

To read Jonathan's blog post in full and to leave a comment, head over to the �鶹Լ�� Internet Blog.

Laura Murray is Editor of the About the �鶹Լ�� Blog

�鶹Լ�� Online - Adopting Product Management

2010-10-25T09:51:12+00:00

Last week, the �鶹Լ�� Academy launched its Product Management Development Programme to give staff an overview of the discipline and the skills it entails. At the same time, the �鶹Լ�� Academy published a specially-commissioned report into the state of product management in 2010. I'm delighted that the �鶹Լ�� as a best practice leader is playing such an important part in the adoption of a discipline which is rapidly gaining prominence in the UK media industry.

Why do we need Product Management? In March of this year the �鶹Լ�� announced a new strategy - Putting Quality First. I have blogged previously about the significance of this for �鶹Լ�� Online. Putting Quality First recognised the importance of �鶹Լ�� Online within the �鶹Լ��'s overarching strategy, and proposed we focus on doing 'fewer things better'. �鶹Լ�� Online started life as a flat text-publishing medium via which static web pages were delivered, before the web began to mature and the offering grew. To help us to rationalise this, we'll be introducing modern management processes to bring it all together.

By 2012 it's estimated that around 90% of UK homes will have access to our services via the web so it's important that we get this right. Product management will enable us to think more strategically about developing our online presence, and deliver a better quality and more innovative service for audiences. The pursuit of quality will be supported by better ways of working together. The report published yesterday defines the product management role as 'a multi-disciplined person who operates at the intersection of technology, design and editorial and is able to bring all of these elements together' to deliver products whose lifecycle is managed. We'll no longer build websites which are published and which sit unattended and slowly degrade; products will be managed within a life cycle. This could mean gradual addition of new features, new content, new releases, but also includes the ultimate decommissioning of a product.

How will we make this change happen? The UK is currently behind the US in its adoption of the discipline, but the �鶹Լ�� is lucky to have a small but solid foundation to build on. Some recent hires of practiced, multi-discipline product management experts will help us lead the charge. On top of this, I'm proud that the �鶹Լ�� Academy is investing in professional development to prepare existing staff for cultural change, and more broadly, our contribution to the development of a new generation of world-class product managers and an important industry standard.

I've no doubt that product management will soon be embraced by many other European media companies. In the meantime, I'd urge you to take a look at the report published last week which provides a great insight into the state of product management in 2010 via various case studies and testimonials. It concludes that we've reached a tipping point where media companies are beginning to understand the value of a product-led approach, but also that there's a skills gap in the industry, something which we hope our training initiative will begin to address.

Erik Huggers is Director of �鶹Լ�� Future Media & Technology

You can read more about how the �鶹Լ�� spotlights the role of Product Manager in the media in the press release.

�鶹Լ�� Online - Putting Quality First

2010-08-11T11:23:06+00:00

In March this year, the �鶹Լ�� announced a new strategy - Putting Quality First. These proposals, which are subject to �鶹Լ�� Trust approval, chart a new long-range direction for the �鶹Լ�� and would enable the �鶹Լ�� to deliver on its public purposes in the digital age. Central to this strategy is a proposal to transform �鶹Լ�� Online.

In its initial conclusions on strategy review, the �鶹Լ�� Trust said they "endorsed" the proposed budget reduction for the service, but wanted to "understand and approve the editorial changes involved".This work has now begun, so while I'm not able to outline changes in precise detail today, I hope this gives a sense of where we intend to take �鶹Լ�� Online as a whole.

I'm proud of what this organisation has created online. One of the first "traditional" media companies to embrace the web, I continue to be impressed with its ability to innovate and �鶹Լ�� websites such as News, Sport, iPlayer and others are highly valued by our audiences.

But the service as a whole has sprawled. In striving to stay relevant, we have sometimes not been clear enough about our limits and boundaries. We're getting a better sense of what �鶹Լ�� Online should be for and I believe it's possible to make the service better with less.

Many of you will be familiar with the headlines of the Strategy Review. By 2013, we propose a �鶹Լ�� Online that:

â¢ Does fewer things better, against the �鶹Լ��'s five editorial priorities
â¢ Has half the number of top-level directories (i.e. /sitename) down from the 400 we have today to 200
â¢ Costs 25% less (i.e. the �鶹Լ�� Online Service Licence for 2010/11 is Â£135m - we intend to cut spend to Â£100m)
â¢ Will send double the traffic we currently do to other websites, helping the broader UK digital economy

While it's natural that people focus on the 25% and which directories will go it's worth noting that this strategy is not called "Retreating From the Web" or "Cutting �鶹Լ�� Online". This is because the web is an important part of our future.

Today, around 70% of UK homes have broadband and we expect this number to rise to 90% by 2012. So in just two years the internet will have taken its place as the nation's third medium, available in almost as many homes as TV and radio.

Beyond the home computer, mobiles are already the primary point of web access for many people. With innovation from companies such as Apple, Google, Sky, Virgin, Project Canvas (in which the �鶹Լ�� is set to become a shareholder) and others - this may soon be true for the TV set.

As a public service media company, it's essential that we move with our audiences, but while we reach 84% of the population on TV and 73% on radio, our online reach lags behind at just 54%. Continued sprawl is not the answer; we need a focused service that gives audiences the content and services they want at their fingertips, meets our public purposes in the digital age and leaves space for others to thrive.

From building websites to managing products

The image below gives you an idea of what we are trying to achieve.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/aboutthebbc/1.jpg

�鶹Լ�� Online started with text-based journalism on the web - similar to the service on Ceefax. Then, as the web began to mature, new media budgets were given to the �鶹Լ��'s divisions to go and build websites that aimed to meet our public purposes online - but with no central strategy.

Our first major change will be a shift from "building websites" to "managing products".

First I want to explain what we consider to be a "product". It's a self-contained entity within �鶹Լ�� Online, which unites technology and editorial to meet a clearly defined audience need. Each product has a simple and concise proposition that's easily understood by the audience, is kept up to date, fits the overall strategy for �鶹Լ�� Online and has clear editorial leadership.

It's a strategic approach for the service as a whole - framed by what our audiences need from the web, rather than what we produce today for TV and radio - a change in culture for �鶹Լ�� Online.

Audiences will see products organised into five content areas (portfolios) supported by a common technical platform.

Powerful functionality to help audiences find great content and services

Before I talk about the proposed portfolios, a word on what's going to be common across the site.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/aboutthebbc/2.jpg

Under the current structure, people come to �鶹Լ�� Online from a range of different places, get what they are looking for and leave. By making other content elsewhere in the site easier to search for (or navigate to) we offer better value for money as audiences uncover interesting content and services that they may not have been looking for.

While the homepage provides an overview of what the �鶹Լ�� does, most people don't come through our front door. In addition to search, navigation, and consistent design, social functionality through �鶹Լ�� iD can harness the power of recommendation on networks outside the �鶹Լ��.

Underpinning all of this, we'll have a common technology platform powering the whole service delivering economies of scale and cost-saving technologies such as programme-page automation.

The platform allows the service to be location-aware, providing the right content in the right language to users across the UK and globally. Dynamic content publishing makes it simple and cost-effective to repurpose content for use in mobile or TV applications and world-class accessibility features aim to build on the pioneering work the team has done to bring subtitles to �鶹Լ�� iPlayer.

Finally, the platform houses the �鶹Լ��'s rich archive content: video and radio programmes, the written archive, programme information and more can be stored and in time be made available through all the product portfolios. This is a major project that will take years to complete, but we are putting the building blocks in place now.

A commitment to deliver the best online journalism in the world

The first proposed product portfolio is News, Sport and Weather. �鶹Լ�� journalism stands for quality, impartiality, accuracy and distinctiveness - a major reason why the �鶹Լ�� as a whole is one of the most trusted and respected organisations in the world.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/aboutthebbc/3.jpg

News, Sport and Weather will remain a cornerstone of the �鶹Լ��'s web offer, partly because the immediacy of the web lends itself well to journalism. Each will remain pillars of �鶹Լ�� Online, delivering the best journalism in the world for the UK and in national and global editions.

As video on the web comes of age, we intend to further enrich our web journalism with audio-visual content - drawing on our strengths in broadcasting. Already we're making progress here with the recently redesigned �鶹Լ�� News site and the �鶹Լ�� News smartphone application.

But our News, Sport & Weather products need to do a better job of sending traffic elsewhere, both internally (e.g. sending sports journalism to �鶹Լ�� Radio 5 Live or weather forecasts to science & nature) and beyond. Already the �鶹Լ�� is the second biggest referrer of traffic to online newspapers, something we want to do even better.

And sport will make a major contribution to our fifth editorial priority - major events that bring the nation and communities together. We're committed to creating compelling editorial partnerships for London 2012, and beyond.

Outstanding children's content in a safe online environment

Providing outstanding children's content is another of the �鶹Լ��'s five editorial priorities and we will continue to deliver this in a safe, social environment.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/aboutthebbc/4.jpg

As we recently announced, our FM&T product team will be joining �鶹Լ�� Children's in a new digital hub in Salford. The CBeebies and C�鶹Լ�� brands have been a huge success, and our online proposition will build stronger bridges between the two. �鶹Լ�� Children's will use their unique knowledge of this audience to provide links to other �鶹Լ�� content such as news and learning.

As children enter �鶹Լ�� Online through an environment familiar to them, they can quickly access a broader range of content to expand their horizons.

Knowledge & Learning to become a cornerstone of a new-look service

Despite the internet's roots as an information tool, the �鶹Լ�� has been a pioneer in online knowledge and learning. We have developed compelling online content for learners and teachers, and created some well-known online learning brands (such as Bitesize) in the process.

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This new portfolio aims to replicate the success of News, Sport & Weather. We intend to enhance informal learning by creating a mix of original and archive knowledge content, focused on key areas of �鶹Լ�� expertise - and create distinctive formal learning propositions for two age groups: under and over 19s.

By bringing these two important areas together, presenting them clearly and coherently, and making the content easier to find and navigate to from elsewhere in the site, we intend to make knowledge and learning another cornerstone of the reshaped �鶹Լ�� Online.

Bringing radio & music together in one portfolio

Our Audio & Music division has been incredibly innovative in embracing emerging digital technologies, such as podcasts, live online listening, and creating an in-depth music offer, many music events websites and rich radio network websites.

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But �鶹Լ�� radio and music online remains highly fragmented and the audience doesn't move between websites as much as we'd like, or to elsewhere in �鶹Լ�� Online.

We intend to bring together all �鶹Լ�� radio and music - including network, local and nations, news, events and archive - in one coherent online package. And true to the live and interactive principles of radio, we'll focus on social media to interact with our audience in real-time.

Harnessing the passion and knowledge of �鶹Լ�� experts, our aim is to continue as a music tastemaker and become a hub for online music discovery - but with strong integration with Radioplayer, internal linking, and links to external music sites to broaden horizons.

A coherent TV proposition, to build on the success of �鶹Լ�� iPlayer

The �鶹Լ�� iPlayer has been a great success for the �鶹Լ��, making online video consumption a mainstream activity for millions of people. At first a TV catch-up service, it's evolved into an online product for live and on-demand �鶹Լ�� radio and TV content.

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But as in radio and music, the journeys for audiences looking for video content can be confusing, with multiple entry points through automated programme pages, the archive site, bespoke channel and programme sites, drama and comedy and the �鶹Լ�� iPlayer itself.

We intend to create a coherent TV & �鶹Լ�� iPlayer proposition, pulling all these TV propositions together, optimised to help audiences find, watch, share, and interact around our TV-related output.

Not only will this new-look portfolio be richly interconnected with �鶹Լ�� Online's other four product portfolios, but we'll be sending traffic to services outside the �鶹Լ�� through the metadata partnerships announced at the launch of the new �鶹Լ�� iPlayer beta in May.

Broadening audiences' horizons - aiding content discovery beyond the �鶹Լ��

One of the wonders of the web is its ability to inform, educate and entertain every person in the world, right down to the exact specific interests they have. It truly is a platform that can be customised for anyone.

But the �鶹Լ�� cannot and should not do everything.

In news, rival media outlets will take a different editorial position on the news agenda. There's an inherent public service in highlighting these other points of view.

Other cultural institutions, such as the British Museum and British Library have rich and different web content than we are able to provide, and equally, there's little value in the �鶹Լ�� duplicating the public service information on offer elsewhere. We can work together to create compelling public service partnerships.

Collectively, these new portfolios would combine to create a far more focussed, smaller, higher-quality �鶹Լ�� Online that will serve our audiences well, leave plenty of room for others and double the traffic we send externally by 2013.

Today, I've updated the �鶹Լ�� staff on our intentions for the service. By properly harnessing the incredible talent we have in this organisation, I believe we can make �鶹Լ�� Online an even better service for our audiences, and spend less in the process.

Erik Huggers is Director of �鶹Լ�� Future Media & Technology

�鶹Լ�� Online's new mobile applications

2010-02-17T16:24:09+00:00

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You may have already heard the news that today at a keynote speech at Mobile World Congress, �鶹Լ�� Director of Future Media & Technology Erik Huggers has announced that the �鶹Լ�� is to offer a new range of applications that will deliver �鶹Լ�� Online services to a range of mobile devices. Licence fee payers have already been able to access the �鶹Լ�� website on mobile phones for eight years and today's announcement means that public service content can be better enjoyed on the move.

Erik's own blog post concerning the evolution and thinking behind the initiative is here on the Internet blog, as is David Madden's post demonstrating the News, Sport and iPlayer apps in more detail. And for even more detail we have Pete Clifton getting to grips with the implications of the �鶹Լ�� News app on the �鶹Լ�� Editors blog.

The �鶹Լ�� press release detailing the new mobile apps can be read here
To read the full posts and to comment click on the links above.