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Tag: Mark Thompson

  • CNNMoney new section will be about the fastest growing economy; MoneyStream app launched

    CNNMoney new section will be about the fastest growing economy; MoneyStream app launched

    MUMBAI: Attracting 1.8 million average monthly page views, witnessing a 37 per cent growth in video consumption and 16 per cent in unique browsers month-on-month from India in less than a year’s time is not smooth. In its ambitious plan of global expansion, CNN Digital is leaving no stone unturned to sustain its growth in the Indian market. Started as an experiment 12 months back, the team wanted to check out the appetite for additional coverage of India among their global audience.

    After observing mammoth success, as its next step, CNNMoney International will develop a separate sub-section on India.

    “We were very pleased with the results. So, when we relaunched CNNMoney International in February this year, we were committed to India. Having a sub-section devoted to a country on CNN International is a pretty big deal for us. This is a reflection of our commitment to tell the global audience about which is the world’s fastest growing economy,” says CNN Money managing editor Mark Thompson.

    Thompson admits that the growth is slowing in the developed world, in many emerging markets but it seemingly is not the case in India. “At least, the people I speak to suggest that these impressive rates of growth are sustainable for some considerable period of time which provides new opportunities for entrepreneurs. There is an increase in gaining attention of global companies who want to do business here and be successful. So, there is a fascinating story to tell about the dynamism, the momentum that exists in India,” adds Thompson.

    The new section will launch by next month with more focus on young entrepreneurs in India, on imagining the economy of the country by 2020, and will dive deep in certain sectors of the Indian business.

    With CNNMoney, the team plans to tell the stories of India. Thompson asserts, “We are still working on that. We are fortunate enough to have the support of CNN Network so that we have the bureau resources here. I am currently looking at how we can make sure we got the right level of resources and at right places to support the new content.”

    Talking about its target audience, CNNMoney’s global audience would be younger than average; tends to be more educated than the average and are more affluent than average whereas the Indian audience is similar but it’s slightly younger than the global audience. The average of CNNMoney audience in India is 36, and the average age in global audience is 40. “We have very high representation of senior managers and top level executives as our audience. They are typically pretty aggressive toward investments in the context of their profession.”

    The three areas that stand out with money’s audience are — technology, economy and market content.

    The business of technology, innovation, etc. is a huge thing which the team loves to do. The second most popular area for them is about the stories of the Indian and the global economy. The third area is their market content. “We have a lot of data on markets. We do quite a lot of reporting from New York, London, Hong Kong, etc. about how the big shifts in global market impact the economy, businesses and the investors. We are not into day-to-day market movements. We introduce some of that but typically what my international team tries to do is identify the trends and the big shifts like what happened to the price of oil since 2014 as its still resonating and reverberating the global economy. We look at the impacts these big shifts have in countries, businesses and investments.”

    Thompson recollects his journey from the time he joined CNN in 2012. With the mission to build up CNNMoney International, the team has grown from two in London, to now reporters in Hong Kong, Delhi and recently in Dubai.

    “Team-wise, we have grown to about five times, operating jointly. We are based across different time zones but we constantly share our ideas or stories. We operate as an integrated team,” he said.

    CNNMoney International follows the same process as other portals. The reporters pitch the story idea to the editor followed by a discussion about whether it has merit to be covered, and then how should it be told. “We work on the highest journalistic standards at CNN. Journalism drives our stories. Then, we have to think about how to promote the stories. Then, it comes down to the visual element of the stories which is with the design team that works with us to create fantastic images, illustrations and graphics. To maximize the impact of the stories, video is an incredibly important part of the proposition. “We are fortunate to have a wealth of video resources which we can use for digital purposes in addition to having strong and growing digital video team at CNN itself. We are always thinking about how best to present the stories on mobile and also on other social platform. So, there are lots of different processes to go into the final day that it is published,” he added.

    With a majority of CNNMoney audience using mobile devices, Thompson expects a growth in consumption after complete 4G roll-out in India. “Well 4G in India is a fascinating story for us and we will follow it. I don’t know what is going to happen next. It is inevitable that, at some point in time, the infrastructure will develop. From a consumer perspective, India is the second biggest global market for active smartphone users, which can only grow. Since we relaunched CNNMoney, we saw steady growth in India. A 37 per cent monthly video consumption and a 16 per cent increase in monthly visitors, video is growing stronger. If you need to deliver video to mobile, you need that robust infrastructure and network to serve the audience,” Thompson said.

    Talking about the importance of CNNMoney in its overall contribution to CNN, Thompson explained that it has received significant investments last year to flourish and grow as one of the top business websites in the world. “Reports suggest that our audiences are more than ‘The Wall Street Journal’ online or Bloomberg online. With 14 million unique visitors a month, we are a successful portal. We hope to replicate it across the world. India is a very important part of it. So far, it is so good,” adds Thompson.

    When it comes to alerting the viewers about breaking news, CNNMoney uses a variety of ways to serve the need. Their CNNMoneyStream will replace CNNMoney’s existing app and is a personalized business news experience available to iOS and Android users. Inspired by Turner’s Team Stream, it enables users to follow companies, businesses, topics, and market data just like they follow teams and players through Bleacher Report’s app.

    E*TRADE and SAP are the official launch sponsors of CNNMoneyStream.

    “We use CNN alerts for the global audience. We have a new app, CNNMoney Stream, that allows user to personalize their experience of CNNMoney content. You can choose to follow streams of content which relate to a particular company or region; you can follow as many and as few. The app will generate content accordingly. Its crated based on the technology which Turner developed for sports app that we have. And, we are very happy with the response,” concludes Thompson.

  • CNNMoney new section will be about the fastest growing economy; MoneyStream app launched

    CNNMoney new section will be about the fastest growing economy; MoneyStream app launched

    MUMBAI: Attracting 1.8 million average monthly page views, witnessing a 37 per cent growth in video consumption and 16 per cent in unique browsers month-on-month from India in less than a year’s time is not smooth. In its ambitious plan of global expansion, CNN Digital is leaving no stone unturned to sustain its growth in the Indian market. Started as an experiment 12 months back, the team wanted to check out the appetite for additional coverage of India among their global audience.

    After observing mammoth success, as its next step, CNNMoney International will develop a separate sub-section on India.

    “We were very pleased with the results. So, when we relaunched CNNMoney International in February this year, we were committed to India. Having a sub-section devoted to a country on CNN International is a pretty big deal for us. This is a reflection of our commitment to tell the global audience about which is the world’s fastest growing economy,” says CNN Money managing editor Mark Thompson.

    Thompson admits that the growth is slowing in the developed world, in many emerging markets but it seemingly is not the case in India. “At least, the people I speak to suggest that these impressive rates of growth are sustainable for some considerable period of time which provides new opportunities for entrepreneurs. There is an increase in gaining attention of global companies who want to do business here and be successful. So, there is a fascinating story to tell about the dynamism, the momentum that exists in India,” adds Thompson.

    The new section will launch by next month with more focus on young entrepreneurs in India, on imagining the economy of the country by 2020, and will dive deep in certain sectors of the Indian business.

    With CNNMoney, the team plans to tell the stories of India. Thompson asserts, “We are still working on that. We are fortunate enough to have the support of CNN Network so that we have the bureau resources here. I am currently looking at how we can make sure we got the right level of resources and at right places to support the new content.”

    Talking about its target audience, CNNMoney’s global audience would be younger than average; tends to be more educated than the average and are more affluent than average whereas the Indian audience is similar but it’s slightly younger than the global audience. The average of CNNMoney audience in India is 36, and the average age in global audience is 40. “We have very high representation of senior managers and top level executives as our audience. They are typically pretty aggressive toward investments in the context of their profession.”

    The three areas that stand out with money’s audience are — technology, economy and market content.

    The business of technology, innovation, etc. is a huge thing which the team loves to do. The second most popular area for them is about the stories of the Indian and the global economy. The third area is their market content. “We have a lot of data on markets. We do quite a lot of reporting from New York, London, Hong Kong, etc. about how the big shifts in global market impact the economy, businesses and the investors. We are not into day-to-day market movements. We introduce some of that but typically what my international team tries to do is identify the trends and the big shifts like what happened to the price of oil since 2014 as its still resonating and reverberating the global economy. We look at the impacts these big shifts have in countries, businesses and investments.”

    Thompson recollects his journey from the time he joined CNN in 2012. With the mission to build up CNNMoney International, the team has grown from two in London, to now reporters in Hong Kong, Delhi and recently in Dubai.

    “Team-wise, we have grown to about five times, operating jointly. We are based across different time zones but we constantly share our ideas or stories. We operate as an integrated team,” he said.

    CNNMoney International follows the same process as other portals. The reporters pitch the story idea to the editor followed by a discussion about whether it has merit to be covered, and then how should it be told. “We work on the highest journalistic standards at CNN. Journalism drives our stories. Then, we have to think about how to promote the stories. Then, it comes down to the visual element of the stories which is with the design team that works with us to create fantastic images, illustrations and graphics. To maximize the impact of the stories, video is an incredibly important part of the proposition. “We are fortunate to have a wealth of video resources which we can use for digital purposes in addition to having strong and growing digital video team at CNN itself. We are always thinking about how best to present the stories on mobile and also on other social platform. So, there are lots of different processes to go into the final day that it is published,” he added.

    With a majority of CNNMoney audience using mobile devices, Thompson expects a growth in consumption after complete 4G roll-out in India. “Well 4G in India is a fascinating story for us and we will follow it. I don’t know what is going to happen next. It is inevitable that, at some point in time, the infrastructure will develop. From a consumer perspective, India is the second biggest global market for active smartphone users, which can only grow. Since we relaunched CNNMoney, we saw steady growth in India. A 37 per cent monthly video consumption and a 16 per cent increase in monthly visitors, video is growing stronger. If you need to deliver video to mobile, you need that robust infrastructure and network to serve the audience,” Thompson said.

    Talking about the importance of CNNMoney in its overall contribution to CNN, Thompson explained that it has received significant investments last year to flourish and grow as one of the top business websites in the world. “Reports suggest that our audiences are more than ‘The Wall Street Journal’ online or Bloomberg online. With 14 million unique visitors a month, we are a successful portal. We hope to replicate it across the world. India is a very important part of it. So far, it is so good,” adds Thompson.

    When it comes to alerting the viewers about breaking news, CNNMoney uses a variety of ways to serve the need. Their CNNMoneyStream will replace CNNMoney’s existing app and is a personalized business news experience available to iOS and Android users. Inspired by Turner’s Team Stream, it enables users to follow companies, businesses, topics, and market data just like they follow teams and players through Bleacher Report’s app.

    E*TRADE and SAP are the official launch sponsors of CNNMoneyStream.

    “We use CNN alerts for the global audience. We have a new app, CNNMoney Stream, that allows user to personalize their experience of CNNMoney content. You can choose to follow streams of content which relate to a particular company or region; you can follow as many and as few. The app will generate content accordingly. Its crated based on the technology which Turner developed for sports app that we have. And, we are very happy with the response,” concludes Thompson.

  • Rishi Iyengar joins CNNMoney as India editor

    Rishi Iyengar joins CNNMoney as India editor

    MUMBAI: CNN Digital Worldwide has announced the appointment of Rishi Iyengar as India editor for CNNMoney. He will assume his duties from 17 October and will succeed Charles Riley who has moved to London to lead the CNNMoney team in Europe.

    Iyengar will be based in the national capital New Delhi and will be responsible for reporting on key economic stories and developing new editorial content from India and expanding the network’s business coverage from the region. He joins as India’s rapid growth and young population offers a bright spot in the global economy, providing new opportunities for local and international business.

    “As the world’s fastest growing big economy, India has the global business community’s interest,” said CNNMoney International managing editor Mark Thompson. “Rishi Iyengar’s appointment reaffirms our commitment to cover the latest economic developments from this vibrant country consistently and extensively.”

    Iyengar has studied politics from Pune before getting his Masters in Journalism from Columbia University. His previous assignment was with Time Inc. in Hong Kong, where he covered the full range of news, business, politics and sports for the website and magazine.

    CNNMoney is one of the world’s top business and financial online news destinations which claims to attract 40 million unique multiplatform users, 43 million video starts and 191 million page views globally every month.

  • Rishi Iyengar joins CNNMoney as India editor

    Rishi Iyengar joins CNNMoney as India editor

    MUMBAI: CNN Digital Worldwide has announced the appointment of Rishi Iyengar as India editor for CNNMoney. He will assume his duties from 17 October and will succeed Charles Riley who has moved to London to lead the CNNMoney team in Europe.

    Iyengar will be based in the national capital New Delhi and will be responsible for reporting on key economic stories and developing new editorial content from India and expanding the network’s business coverage from the region. He joins as India’s rapid growth and young population offers a bright spot in the global economy, providing new opportunities for local and international business.

    “As the world’s fastest growing big economy, India has the global business community’s interest,” said CNNMoney International managing editor Mark Thompson. “Rishi Iyengar’s appointment reaffirms our commitment to cover the latest economic developments from this vibrant country consistently and extensively.”

    Iyengar has studied politics from Pune before getting his Masters in Journalism from Columbia University. His previous assignment was with Time Inc. in Hong Kong, where he covered the full range of news, business, politics and sports for the website and magazine.

    CNNMoney is one of the world’s top business and financial online news destinations which claims to attract 40 million unique multiplatform users, 43 million video starts and 191 million page views globally every month.

  • Facebook introduces Instant Articles for interactivity among publishers

    Facebook introduces Instant Articles for interactivity among publishers

    NEW DELHI: Facebook has introduced a new product for publishers called Instant Articles to create fast, interactive articles on the social networking website.

     

    Facebook product manager Michael Reckhow said, “As more people get their news on mobile devices, we want to make the experience faster and richer on Facebook. People share a lot of articles on Facebook, particularly on our mobile app. To date, however, these stories take an average of eight seconds to load, by far the slowest single content type on Facebook. Instant Articles makes the reading experience as much as ten times faster than standard mobile web articles.”

     

    Along with a faster experience, Instant Articles introduced a suite of interactive features that allow publishers to bring their stories to life in new ways including zoom in and exploring high-resolution photos by tilting the smartphone. Auto-play videos will come alive as one scrolls through stories. One can explore interactive maps, listen to audio captions, and even like and comment on individual parts of an article in-line.

     

    Reckhow added, “We designed Instant Articles to give publishers control over their stories, brand experience and monetization opportunities. Publishers can sell ads in their articles and keep the revenue, or they can choose to use Facebook’s Audience Network to monetize unsold inventory. Publishers will also have the ability to track data and traffic through comScore and other analytics tools.”

     

    “Fundamentally, this is a tool that enables publishers to provide a better experience for their readers on Facebook. Instant Articles lets them deliver fast, interactive articles while maintaining control of their content and business models,” said Facebook chief product officer Chris Cox.

     

    Facebook is working with nine launch partners for Instant Articles: The New York Times, National Geographic, BuzzFeed, NBC, The Atlantic, The Guardian, BBC, Spiegel and Bild. 

     

    The New York Times Company president and CEO Mark Thompson said, “The New York Times already has a significant and growing audience on Facebook. We’re participating in Instant Articles to explore ways of growing the number of Times users on Facebook, improving their experience of our journalism and deepening their engagement. We have a long tradition of meeting readers where they are and that means being available not just on our own sites, but on the social platforms frequented by many current and potential Times users.”

     

    “It is great to see Facebook trailing new ways for quality journalism to flourish on mobile. The Guardian is keen to test how the new platform can provide an even more engaging experience for our readers. It is then vital that, over time, Instant Articles delivers recurring benefit for publishers, whose continued investment in original content underpins its success,” added Guardian News & Media international directorTony Danker.

     

    Instant Articles launched with a special set of stories published by The New York Times, BuzzFeed, National Geographic, NBC and The Atlantic. Facebook will continue developing Instant Articles with its partners over the coming months and listening to feedback from readers to help improve the experience.

  • Erik Huggers is BBC Future Media and Technology director

    Erik Huggers is BBC Future Media and Technology director

    MUMBAI: Erik Huggers has been appointed director of BBC Future Media & Technology.

    Erik, who is currently Group Controller of the division, takes over from Ashley Highfield, who has left the BBC to become CEO of Kangaroo, the working title for a proposed new video on-demand service owned by three broadcasters.

    In his new role, effective from 1 August 2008, Erik joins the BBC Executive Board.

    He will be responsible for the BBC’s output on the internet, interactive TV, mobile, broadband (including the BBC iPlayer) and other emerging platforms.

    He will also be responsible for the BBC’s enterprise and broadcast technology strategy and delivery.

    BBC DG Mark Thompson said, “Erik has been a very strong group controller, FM&T for the last year. He has shown tremendous commitment championing the iPlayer amongst many other projects. I look forward to him bringing his drive and determination to this new role, helping ensure the BBC is fit for the digital future.”

    Huggers said, “It is a tremendous privilege to be asked to lead such a talented and dynamic team in Future Media and Technology. Since I joined the Corporation, I have been struck by the energy and skill that BBC staff are devoting to make sure the Corporation meets the challenges of the on-demand world.

    “I now look forward to, along with my team, collaborating with colleagues across the BBC to ensure we respond to audience demands in providing exciting and innovative new ways of delivering the BBC’s content across a range of media.”

    Huggers joined the BBC last year from Microsoft Corporation, where he worked across a wide variety of industry changing digital media initiatives.

  • BBC Worldwide FY 08 operating profit up 17 % at £117.7 million

    BBC Worldwide FY 08 operating profit up 17 % at £117.7 million

    MUMBAI:BBC Worldwide’s operating profit rose 17 per cent to £117.7 million (from £100.6 milion in 2007) in the 12-month period ended 31 March 2008.

    During the period, sales has increased from £810.4 million to £916.3 million, a surge of 13 per cent from the year ago period.

    BBC Worldwide CEO John Smith said that the proportion of sales from outside the UK had increased from 46 to 49 per cent of the total.

    Significant profit growth was delivered by BBC Worldwide’s sales, distribution, home entertainment, content and production businesses, with magazines put on circulation in a challenging market.

    Good progress was made in increasing BBC Worldwide’s presence in Australia, India and the US, which have been identified as top priority markets.

    During the financial year, BBC Worldwide also made significant long-term investments in its digital and global brands strategies, launching bbc.com – an advertising-funded internet platform for web-users outside the UK. It has also build the Top Gear brand and acquired a majority stake in Lonely Planet, the renowned travel information publisher.

    Smith says, “BBC Worldwide has achieved another year of double-digit profit growth, while also making significant strategic investments in new businesses to prepare the company for the digital media world.

    “The continued international appeal of our content and formats, coupled with high demand for home entertainment and the strengthening in key markets of our channels and production operations, has enabled the company to report very good results.”

    BBC Worldwide non-executive chairman Etienne de Villiers said, “BBC Worldwide is on track to achieve its five-year growth plan and return a substantial stream of additional funding to its parent, the BBC, for the long term. The company is firing on all cylinders and well placed to deal with the challenges ahead.”

    BBC DG Mark Thompson says, “The figures from BBC Worldwide once again demonstrate its importance to the corporation. It generates profits and dividends that the BBC can reinvest in making outstanding programmes and developing online applications for the benefit of all licence fee payers.

    “Increasingly I believe partnerships, like those we have with Virgin Media, or as in the proposed joint venture Kangaroo, will be critical in delivering future success for BBC Worldwide.”

    In terms of the trading outlook, Smith indicated that profits for the current financial year could be affected by the changing global economic conditions and that the company plans further significant investments in new businesses, such as Kangaroo, the commercial media player currently being developed jointly with ITV and Channel 4, which is subject to approvals.

    He also announced a strategic review to improve the performance of the children’s business and the closure of Audiocall, the telephone services business where payments to charities were wrongly withheld last year.

    “These two issues aside, I remain confident that the company as a whole is in very good shape, and that the investments we have made across our key growth businesses will deliver new, sustainable, growing profits for the BBC,” said Smith.

    In the channel business sales grew by 8.8 per cent to £183.3m, with improvements evenly spread between UK and overseas markets.

    Europe, Middle East and Africa sales and profit growth were driven by UKTV portfolio of channels, while US sales, predominantly from BBC America, continued to grow in US dollar terms.

    Audiences have responded favourably to the newly launched suite of international BBC-branded channels – BBC Entertainment, CBeebies, BBC Knowledge, BBC Lifestyle and BBC HD – showcasing the best UK content.

    A new schedule and a raft of high-profile UK series such as Torchwood and Top Gear helped double BBC America’s ratings in the key 25-54 age group and add seven million subscribers overall.

    Sales now include commission from BBC World News, the BBC’s commercially funded, 24-hour, global news and information channel. BBC World News’s advertising revenue grew by more than 20 per cent year on year, and full-time distribution grew by eight per cent to 159 million households.

    UKTV, Britain’s second-biggest digital broadcaster, a joint venture with Virgin Media, had a successful year. Its nine channels, which include UKTV Gold and UKTV History, offer a range of programming from across entertainment, drama, lifestyle and factual and reach 20 million unique homes via pay-TV and free-to-air platforms.

    The launch by UKTV of Dave, a new entertainment channel aimed mainly at men in the 16-44 age group, was a particular success. The channel rapidly tripled its audience share, to become the third most popular non-terrestrial entertainment channel for this viewer group.

    BBC Worldwide content and production delivered sales of £68.5 million, up 35.9 per cent on 2006-07, and profits doubled to £14.2 million. Growth came from the US where BBC Worldwide’s Los Angeles production office had a stand-out year, as the popularity of Dancing with the Stars (the international name for Strictly Come Dancing) continued.

    Dancing with the Stars continues to delight audiences around the world. In 2007-08, the series has a re-commission rate of nearly 90 per cent and was seen by audiences in 40 countries.

    BBC Worldwide’s new office in Mumbai secured the commission to make the next Dancing with the Stars season for Sony.

    Progress was made in developing Top Gear as an international TV format. The commission to make a pilot of this long-running UK motoring show for NBC in the US was secured, and SBS in Australia commissioned the Freehand Group to make a full series of Top Gear Australia for autumn 2008.

    In addition to these entertainment formats, progress was made in licensing scripted formats: The office format was sold to UCTV in Chile and Life on Mars format was sold to Antena 3 in Spain.

    The newly created in-house format development team, responsible for devising new formats to appeal to particular markets, developed and sold a new game show, How Much Is Enough?, to the Game Show Network in the US.

    The well established Indie Unit continued to build relationships with the UK independent sector. It signed new distribution and development deals with Red, Tern TV and Oxford Film and TV. The latter will deliver Simon Schama’s latest project on America.

    BBC Worldwide also secured stakes in UK independent production start-ups Left Bank Pictures Ltd and Cliffhanger Productions Ltd.

    The stake BBC Worldwide took in Australian indie The Freehand Group in 2006-07 is starting to reap rewards. As well as the commission to produce Top Gear for SBS in Australia, the new property, Outback Wildlife Rescue, was commissioned and is now selling internationally.

    Content and production now has a production office in New York. It has plans to establish further production capability in Europe and Latin America in 2008-09.

    The feature film Earth, based on the widely acclaimed natural history series Planet Earth, went on theatrical release in Europe, Asia and the Middle East. Even before the film reaches US audiences next spring, it has outperformed BBC Worldwide’s previous theatrical natural history release, Deep Blue.

    BBC Worldwide Digital Media division delivered sales of £21.9 million, up 57.6 per cent on the previous year, driven by revenue from syndication of content to partners such as YouTube and Apple iTunes and by the launch of bbc.com.

    Overall, BBC Worldwide saw an increase in online revenues from 1.1 per cent to 2.7 per cent of total sales year on year. This reflected growth from Digital Media businesses as well as magazine websites and video on demand sales, whose profits are reported elsewhere.

    In October 2007 BBC Worldwide gained BBC Trust approval to introduce advertising to the international traffic to bbc.co.uk. The service, known as bbc.com, was launched in November 2007 and is visible only from outside the UK. The revenues will allow BBC Worldwide to invest to make bbc.com the international showcase for the BBC’s key brands.

    An alliance between BBC Worldwide, Channel 4 and ITV was formed – with the working title, ‘Kangaroo’ – to develop a new UK on-demand service that will offer over 10,000 hours of TV content on the web. The proposal has been referred to the Competition Commission and is subject to various approvals, including that of the BBC Trust and each broadcaster’s board.

    BBC Worldwide was the first broadcaster in the UK to sell BBC programmes on a download-to-own basis via iTunes, a deal it then repeated in the US. Another deal was struck with Sony Playstation for Top Gear to be downloaded through Gran Turismo TV.

    A new business, Global Brands, was established at year end, with Marcus Arthur, who had been MD of BBC Magazines’ London-based publishing business, appointed MD.

    Going forward, Lonely Planet, the travel information group in which BBC acquired a 75 per cent stake in October 2007, and Top Gear, the media motoring brand, will be managed from within this new business area.

    In a year in which the market for travel guides was up only 1.3 per cent in volume terms, Lonely Planet grew volume by 6.4 per cent, outperforming its competitors in the main publishing and licensing business.

    The year 2008-09 will be a landmark year for Lonely Planet – with the website re-launch, a magazine and a range of new book products in the pipeline.

    BBC Worldwide also set up a joint venture in Australia with ACP to publish a local version of the Top Gear magazine – local versions are already available in a number of countries, including Russia, India and China.

  • BBC to cap premium rate for programe phone-ins

    MUMBAI: UK pubcaster the BBC will introduce a new policy this week to bring greater clarity to audiences in the way programmes which use premium rate phone calls are priced.

    From this week, calls to BBC programmes using premium rate telephony are to be capped at 15 pence. The only exception to this will be in programmes directly related to a charity appeal, such as Comic Relief, Children in Need or Restoration.

    In these cases, as now, the audience will be given a clear indication that this is happening. The new policy of having just two premium call categories – one capped at 15p for all BBC programmes and the other for any charity appeals – will make it even clearer to audiences what to expect when they interact with BBC programmes in competitions or votes.

    At the moment a number of BBC programmes not directly related to a charitable appeal, such as Strictly Come Dancing, take the opportunity to raise a small additional sum for the charities by increasing the call price, usually by 10 pence. This will no longer happen under the new policy.

    BBC DG Mark Thompson said, “BBC programmes do not make money from premium rate calls and we’ve always told viewers and listeners the costs of calling to enter competitions or to vote. But I want this to be even clearer.

    “In future, audiences can be clear that these calls will be capped at 15 pence unless they are directly related to a charity appeal. I do understand that this will mean that slightly less money will go to the charities as a result of the new policy, but we’re already talking to them about other ways of supporting their work.”

    The new policy is part of a range of measures the Corporation, with the approval of the BBC Trust, is to take prior to the return of competitions on the BBC.

    A new Code of Conduct (bbc.co.uk/competitionspolicy) was announced last month.

    The code is the BBC’s undertaking to its audiences on the running of competitions and voting, and will be widely publicised to the general public.

    45 per cent (7,200) of applicable BBC staff have already attended the mandatory training course Safeguarding Trust which was launched in November following concerns over competitions and editorial breaches.

    A limited number of competitions will return to the BBC in a phased manner from January 2008, beginning with Goal Of The Month on Match Of The Day on BBC One and Pop Master on the Ken Bruce show on BBC Radio 2.

    A range of measures have been put in place prior to the return of competitions.

    These include:

    All staff involved in the running of a competition must have attended the BBC’s Safeguarding Trust training and the additional training this programme offers in running competitions and voting

    A reduction in the number of competitions to be held on BBC programmes

    Any proposed competition must have very senior level prior approval

    The competition must be supervised by an appropriate editorial figure, and this arrangement must be approved in advance

    A senior executive in each BBC Division will advise on any potential issues that may arise from competitions and how approval processes are being bedded down in their division

    All use of premium rate phone lines must have the prior approval of the BBC’s Editorial Policy Department

    BBC programmes are to make audiences aware of the new Code of Conduct on air.

    Thompson adds, “The public pay for the BBC, indeed they own the BBC, and quite rightly they have higher expectations of us than of any other broadcaster. Trust in our integrity, our determination to deal fairly and honestly with our audiences, is the most precious thing the BBC possesses.

    “The BBC has followed a policy of confronting problems, disclosing everything and giving the public a clear explanation of what we are doing to get things right. Early indications are that our audiences approve of what we’ve done. After an understandable dip, our ratings for trust are recovering.”

  • BBC Trust sets strategic priorities for UK pubcaster

    MUMBAI: The BBC Trust has published final remits to guide the BBC in meeting each of the six public purposes laid down in the Charter.

    In a letter from the BBC Trust Chairman to BBC DG Mark Thompson, Sir Michael Lyons said, “As we discussed on several occasions… the BBC faces a complex set of demands. It is therefore important for the Trust to set clear priorities and realistic expectations informed by our research.”

    The six public purposes, which the BBC is required to promote through all its output, are:

    – Sustaining citizenship and civil society 
    – Promoting education and learning 
    – Stimulating creativity and cultural excellence 
    – Representing the UK, its nations, regions and communities 
    – Bringing the UK to the world and the world to the UK 
    – Emerging communications 

    Earlier this year, after consulting widely on draft priorities in each of these areas, the Trust highlighted “innovation and distinctiveness” as the single biggest issue for all audiences and published research showing there was demand for more new programmes and fresh ideas from BBC television. This remains the Trust’s top priority and, to ensure a proper understanding of what people want in response, they commissioned some in-depth analysis, a summary of which is also published today.

    Lyons said, “What we have learned is that audiences do not want a radical change of direction from the BBC: there is support for programming in every genre, and they value the familiar BBC classics that no one else offers. It seems that, although there is more choice of channels across UK television as a whole, people nonetheless perceive there to be less choice of programmes and they are keen to see the BBC give greater prominence to the range of its high quality work. That said, this is not just about perception. People do expect the BBC to avoid well-trodden paths, and they are clear that their expectations of the BBC are different from other broadcasters.”

    Among several priorities singled out by different audience groups as important and not necessarily in need of improved BBC performance, the Trust also highlighted news and current affairs, formal education for children, and serving audiences in the devolved nations and those in areas further away from the South-East, as top priorities for the BBC.

  • BBC appoints Val Gooding as non-executive director

    MUMBAI: UK pubcaster BBC has appointed Val Gooding as an additional non-executive director to the executive board. Gooding joins the board on 1 January 2008.

    The appointment has been made by the BBC Executive Board with the approval of the BBC Trust. BBC DG Mark Thompson says, “I am delighted that someone of Val Gooding’s calibre has agreed to join us as a non-executive director. Her impressive track record both in general management in large organisations and in bringing customer focus to decision-making will complement the contribution made by the other non-executive directors.”

    Gooding said, “I am looking forward to making a contribution to BBC at this time of significant change and opportunity.”

    Gooding has been chief executive of UK health insurer Bura since 1998 and is also a non-executive board member of Standard Chartered and J Sainsbury.