ITV

Tag: Ashley Highfield

  • BBC’s Bennett, Highfield to give innovation keynote at MipTV

    BBC’s Bennett, Highfield to give innovation keynote at MipTV

    MUMBAI: BBC Vision director Jana Bennett and BBC director of future media and technology Ashley Highfield will give a joint keynote address to the television trade event MipTV. the event takes place in Cannes France from 16-20 April 2007.

    The pair will open MipTV’s Content 360 segment of the Capture Innovation Conference programme. Bennett will show how the newly-restructured BBC Vision integrates multi-platform thinking into BBC visual content creation and commissioning.

    Highfield will look at the process of innovation at the BBC, in particular, its online development over the five next years – including the proposed BBC iPlayer.

  • BBC on-demand service for archive programmes set for trial early next year

    BBC on-demand service for archive programmes set for trial early next year

    MUMBAI: A limited consumer trial of the BBC Archive in the UK is set to begin early next year, and is expected to last up to six months.

    The BBC Archive is the BBC’s proposed service that would make parts of its repository of previously broadcast TV and radio content – an estimated one million hours of TV and radio programmes – available, on a public service basis, to licence fee payers on-demand via bbc.co.uk.

    The trial for the BBC Archive is being undertaken in order to gather evidence about consumer demand for free archive content and its ability to create public value. It will make available 1,000 hours of content drawn from a mix of genres to a closed user environment of 20,000 triallists.

    A limited amount of content – 50 hours – of both TV and radio programmes will be available in an open environment for general access. The results of the trial will inform the BBC’s future proposition for a public service archive service on bbc.co.uk, which will require approval from the BBC Trust.

    BBC director of Future Media and Technology Ashley Highfield says, “As part of our commitment to making our public service content more personal, more convenient and more relevant for all our audiences, we are developing a portfolio of services to offer licence payers access to the BBC’s archive. To this end, we are planning a limited trial of the BBC Archive early next year to learn more about interaction with the BBC’s archive content on-demand via bbc.co.uk, and the public value that it delivers. Our goal is to turn the BBC into an open cultural and creative resource for the nation.”

    The BBC’s future proposition for an archive service on bbc.co.uk will also encompass the BBC’s Creative Archive, which has already completed a successful 18-month pilot, which concluded in September.

    The Creative Archive pilot released selected BBC television and radio content in five successive national campaigns and four regionally-based campaigns. It generated a significant level of engagement from licence fee payers with nearly 100,000 regular users, and a Bafta award for technical innovation.

    The Creative Archive pilot enabled people to re-edit, use and share appropriately cleared content for their own, non-commercial creative purposes within the terms of the Creative Archive Licence Scheme in partnership with other organisations (ITN Source; British Film Institute; Channel 4; Open University; Museum, Libraries and Archive Council; Teachers’ TV; and Community Channel).

    The intention would be to make selected BBC content available under the scheme within the proposed BBC Archive service, across bbc.co.uk and also within a third party web portal with partner organisations.

    The BBC Archive would be an extension of the BBC’s seven-day catch-up on-demand proposals (including BBC iPlayer) which are currently undergoing a Public Value Test.

    Subject to the licence fee settlement, the public service archive proposition will be further developed in light of the trials before being submitted for approval to the BBC Trust in the second half of 2007.

    The trial of the BBC Archive is specifically designed to test audience demand for public service archive content and how they want to access it.

  • BBC reorganises to focus on digital future

    BBC reorganises to focus on digital future

    MUMBAI: The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) has announced organisational changes to meet the challenges and opportunities of its Creative Future vision, placing future media & technology at the heart of its strategy. Launched in April 2006, the changes have been made following consultation with senior managers across the BBC.

    Creative Future is designed to deliver more value to audiences. These reforms are built on the vision that the best content should be made available on every platform at the audience’s convenience and they will simplify how programme ideas – both from in-house and independent producers – move from original concept to audiences.

    The changes, due to be fully operational by April 2007, will enable 360 degree commissioning and production and ensure creative coherence and editorial leadership across all platforms and media.

    They will also streamline the way funding flows across the organisation, bringing in-house production together under a single head, while reinforcing commitments made to the independent production sector through the Window of Creative Competition, informs an official release.

    BBC director general Mark Thompson told staff across the organisation: “Today is about making Creative Future a reality. It’s about how we can make the BBC the most creative organisation in the world, delivering content that our audiences will simply love.

    “We need a BBC ready for digital and for 360 degree multi-platform content creation, which brings different kinds of creativity together – in technology as well as content – to deliver what we need in this converging world. And we need a simpler, more open BBC with the licence-fee flowing down simple, direct lines to the right people, a simpler structure, clearer responsibilities and fewer layers.”

    Thompson stressed it was not about more large scale efficiencies and redundancies, but about making the BBC more creative and efficient. A three year value for money efficiency programme is already underway to deliver savings of £355m a year by 2008 to reinvest in to content.

    The new organisation chart places marketing communications and audiences at its centre, which will be led by Tim Davie, is designated as a creative division, putting audiences at the heart of the BBC and working ever closer with content areas and future Media & Technology to bring audience insights to the creative process.

    A new future media and technology division (FM&T) will be led by Ashley Highfield and will concentrate on emerging technologies, playing a leading role in finding and developing new ways for audiences to find and use content. Technology resources will be centralised and prioritised in FM&T and three new FM&T controllers will be based in the three main content areas – Journalism, BBC Vision and Audio and Music.

    FM&T will manage all new media platforms and gateways like bbc.co.uk, the emerging i-player and web 2.0, as well as metadata, search and navigation and BBC Information & Archives which is vital to opening up the BBC’s archives.

    The multi-media journalism group, led by Deputy Director-General Mark Byford, will now also include BBC Sport along with BBC News, Global News and Nations & Regions.

    The creation of an Audio & Music group, led by Jenny Abramsky, will deliver not just network radio but audio content for all platforms from on-demand in the home to podcasts and mobile phones. This group will also lead on music across all media, including TV, for the whole BBC, informs the release.

    BBC Television, Factual & Learning and Drama, Entertainment & Children’s come together in a new group, BBC Vision, led by Jana Bennett.

    This group will be responsible for in-house multimedia production, commissioning and audio visual services, including the TV channel portfolio, and digital services like High Definition and Interactive.

    Multimedia, 360 degree production, under a single Production Head, will be more closely aligned to – while still physically separate from – the 360 degree commissioning teams. Commissioning will be grouped under four controllers of: Fiction (drama, comedy, BBC Film and programme acquisitions), Entertainment, Knowledge (including all factual and Learning) and Children’s.

    Funding for multimedia content provision will move to the new vision and audio & music groups, allowing 360 degree commissioning and a one stop shop for all producers, including independents.

    The Production Head for BBC Vision, reporting directly to Jana Bennett, will also have an overview of network production outside London through the controller of network production Anne Morrison.

    BBC creative director Alan Yentob will ensure that the Creative Future recommendations are implemented across all content and services. He will chair both the Creative Training Board and Creative Network as well as chairing the board of BBC Films and a new Arts Network which will pull together arts programme-makers from across the BBC. He also continues to lead BBC Talent and to present Imagine.

    The Window of Creative Competition (WOCC). Clear safeguards are in place to build confidence in commissioning and the WOCC now that production and commissioning are in the same BBC Vision group.

    There will be a new commissioning compliance role in BBC Operations with a direct line to the director general and the new BBC Trust will also keep the changes under review to ensure they do not prejudice the WOCC.

    BBC Worldwide CEO John Smith will concentrate on his ambitious development strategy for Worldwide, on course to treble profits, and to lead the sale BBC Resources Ltd in 2007. Over the next six months he will relinquish all responsibilities to the public service side of the BBC.

    Caroline Thomson, currently BBC director of strategy, becomes COO for the BBC, with overall responsibility for strategy, policy, distribution, property, legal and business continuity, in a new BBC Operations division.

    The reorganisation does not affect BBC Finance, led by Zarin Patel, which is already undergoing transformational change. Procurement will however, move into Finance.

    BBC People already has a major change programme underway and is largely unaffected by the reorganisation. The new director of BBC People, Steve Kelly, joins the BBC from BT in the near future.

  • BBC re-launches online search engine

    BBC re-launches online search engine

    MUMBAI: UK pubcaster The BBC has re-launched its search engine with a new audio-visual search capability, a new user interface and enhanced usability and quality.

    For the first time, users will be able to search for selected television and radio programmes in addition to audio and video content from the BBC’s News, Radio and Sports archives.

    Users will be able to quickly and easily locate EastEnders highlights, the latest edition of The Archers and The Chris Moyles Show.

    A limited amount of the BBC’s audio and video content will be initially available; the full range of BBC content is likely to be made available later this year.

    BBC director new media and technology Ashley Highfield said, “This re-launch marks the first stage in our aim of creating services that enable our audiences to find BBC content – whether text, audio or video – through ever easier navigation.

    “It’s also a first step towards a radical overhaul of our website. It will open up an initial index of around 300,000 clips and a selection of BBC programmes for the first time.”

    The re-launched BBC web site search engine is to be powered by enterprise software company Autonomy, while Microsoft’s Windows Live Search will power the BBC internet search.

    The BBC is required to re-tender its search provision every three years, and the reprocurement has been done through the European OJEC process.

  • TV over the net could change the face of broadcasting: BBC

    TV over the net could change the face of broadcasting: BBC

    MUMBAI: UK pubcaster The BBC says that the consumer trial of the BBC’s Integrated Media Player (iMP) in the UK reveals that television over the internet could revolutionise broadcasting.

    Research indicates that it increased the viewing of BBC programmes, extended peak-time and built loyalty. BBC director of new media and technology Ashley Highfield revealed key findings from the consumer trial research of iMP in a keynote speech at Milia, the audiovisual and digital content market.

    During the trial, iMP offered downloadable BBC television and radio programmes on a catch-up basis via the PC to a closed panel of 5,000 people for four months between November 2005 and February 2006. Highfield says: “This research gives us the first glimpse into viewing behaviour in the on-demand future. It provides the first significant clues as to how TV programmes over the internet could revolutionise broadcasting, and prompt a wider, cultural shift in television consumption.”

    The panel consistently watched on an average two programmes a week via iMP during the period of the trial, the equivalent of an hour’s viewing per week, despite a limited range of content. “This is equivalent to six per cent of a typical household’s BBC viewing in a week. Consumption was consistent over the period of the trial, and the iMP appealed equally to men and women.”

    While the main reason for usage was to catch up on favourite programmes, iMP also introduced users to new titles and, in doing so, unlocked the ‘long-tail effect.’ “Niche programmes that would have struggled in a mainstream linear schedule performed consistently well throughout the period of the trial.

    “While the top five programmes accounted for a quarter of all the viewing, some niche programming performed disproportionately well. The Amazon ‘long-tail effect’ – seen in the publishing and music industries – indicates that there is significant value in a broadcaster’s archive” he adds.

    Research showed that most viewing took place between 10.00 and 11.00pm, thus potentially extending peak time usage for an hour after the traditional linear peak time of 7.00 to 10.00pm. “This apparent shift in television consumption is consistent with the results of early video-on-demand trials with NTL and Telewest,” added Highfield.

    The results of the research into iMP will underpin the development of the proposed MyBBCPlayer, which “aims to put the audience in the driving seat” by offering users live streamed television and radio as well as a downloadable seven-day catch-up service of TVand radio programmes.

    The launch of MyBBCPlayer will be subject to the necessary public value test and approvals as outlined in the Government’s White Paper on the BBC Charter.

    The BBC says that iMP received a good positive response. 74 per cent of respondents said that they would recommend it to a friend. The key benefits were that it offered genuine flexibility (to watch and to listen to programmes when they wanted), greater control and genuine, added value

    iMP was perceived primarily as a TV service: 92% claimed that they used it most to watch television programmes rather than to listen to radio. This is explained by the established success of Radio Player which leads the charge in the BBC’s on demand offerings, recording over 10 million requests for radio programmes on demand per month (11 million in January) The total number of TV downloads during the trial was 150,000, and the total number of viewings and listenings was 70,000

    The most popular reason for using the iMP was when a favourite programme had been missed and to watch a programme at a more convenient time. 77 per cent of the respondents used it to watch a favourite programme that they had missed, while 64% used it to watch or listen to a programme at a more convenient time; and 32% used it to watch a programme they had never heard of .

    Throughout the trial there was continuous interest in all programmes: more than 85% of titles available were downloaded, with comedy, drama and documentaries being the most popular genres. Programmes from the BBC’s digital channels performed well during the trial – BBC THREE programmes were nearly as popular as those on BBC TWO and BBC 7 programmes performed as well as those on BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 2

    The top five TV titles watched by the 5,000 triallists represented a quarter of all iMP TV viewing. The most popular TV programmes (with the total number of viewings) were EastEnders, Little Britain, Two Pints Of Lager And A Packet Of Crisps, Bleak House and Top Gear.

    The average number of TV downloads per active user per month was 13, and the average number of requests-to-view per active user per month was eight. The average number of radio downloads per active user per month was six, and the average number of requests-to-listen per active user per month was three.

    The majority of iMP usage (66 per cent) was for an hour or less at a time; usage mainly took place in the study and living room. 70 per cent of the respondents claimed that one of the reasons for their failure to watch was tied to the seven-day viewing limit. 27% said that the download speed could be improved; 78 per cent of panellists, however, said that they would not compromise on screen size or picture quality for quicker downloads.

    76 per cent said that it was important to be able to view iMP via the television screen, and roughly 30 per cent of panellists said that portability was important (particularly for radio). 94 per cent said that increasing the number of programme titles would improve the iMP.

    The BBC says that the original challenge was to produce a robust media-on-demand internet-based application which offered an entire television and radio schedule on a catch-up, rolling basis. The technical trial of iMP won the RTS Technical Innovation Award and was nominated for an Interactive Bafta.

    iMP was created and developed by the BBC’s New Media & Technology Division in partnership with Siemens, Red Bee Media, Kontiki and Miscrosoft, and Internet Service Providers AOL, Wanadoo, NTL, Tiscali, Telewest and Bulldog.

    Siemens, as lead consultant on the project, were service architects responsible for the delivery of the whole service and for delivery of the Digital Rights Management download system. Siemens managed sub-contractors Red Bee Media and Kontiki; Red Bee Media were responsible for ingesting, encoding and playing out BBC TV content in the Broadcast Centre (and, through their partnership with Autonomy, they were able to provide a search and recommendation facility).

    Red Bee also provided the metadata that drove the Electronic Programme Guide, enabling the user to search content and book downloads. Kontiki developed the peer-to-peer technology and back-end infrastructure.

    The iMP trial panel of 5,000 people represented the full range of all demographics within the UK. Research data was weighted towards the broadband universe, taking into account age, gender and availability of multi-channel TV.