ITV

Tag: Tony Hall

  • BBC News records 11% jump in worldwide audience in 2020

    BBC News records 11% jump in worldwide audience in 2020

    NEW DELHI: India topped the audience count for BBC News with 60.4 million people watching the UK-based public broadcaster in 2020, as reported by The Hollywood Reporter. BBC witnessed a growth of 11 per cent in its worldwide audience as compared to 2019, reaching 486.2 million per week,  with India leading the jump in viewership followed by the US with 49.5 million and Nigeria with 37.2 million in the audience. 

    “BBC News was the strongest performer, making up 438.4 million of the total (an increase of 13 per cent), with digital platforms proving key. A total of 151 million users now access BBC News digitally, according to the annual Global Audience Measure, up 53 per cent on 2019,” BBC shared. 

    In late March 2020, at the initial stages of the novel coronavirus pandemic's global spread, BBC News recorded the highest reach of any international media organisation in the world with 310 million people accessing coverage across 42 languages.

    "We are without question one of Britain’s strongest and best-known brands, synonymous with quality and accuracy worldwide," said outgoing director-general Tony Hall. "Our international news services rank first for trust and reliability and the World Service remains a beacon of democratic values. Independent research shows that there is an exceptionally high correlation between places where people are aware of the BBC and places where people think positively about the UK. More than that, the BBC helps UK trade."

    He added, "This has perhaps never been more important. The UK will forge a new relationship with the world in the decade ahead, built on an ambitious vision of 'Global Britain'. Success will mean drawing on all our considerable international assets, and that means unleashing the full global potential of the BBC."

  • BBC & Discovery ink long-term Olympic partnership

    BBC & Discovery ink long-term Olympic partnership

    MUMBAI: The BBC and Discovery Communications have inked a long-term Olympic Games agreement in the UK, building on a 30-year partnership between the two global media organisations.

    The deal means that the BBC will sub-license (from Discovery) exclusive free-to-air audio-visual and non-exclusive radio rights to the 2022 and 2024 Olympic Games. In turn, Discovery will sub-license (from the BBC) exclusive pay-TV rights in the UK to the 2018 and 2020 Olympic Games.

    The London 2012 Olympic Games was watched on the BBC by more than 50 million people in the UK, seven million people in the UK accessed the BBC website every day, with 111 million requests for video throughout the Games, and over two million people downloaded the app. It was truly the first digital Olympic Games and the BBC raised the bar in its coverage.

    This announcement ensures that the BBC will continue to be the free-to-air home of the best action from the Olympic Games until 2024, bringing the moments that unite the nation on TV and radio. Additionally, the BBC’s package of rights is supplemented by digital rights to the content it broadcasts on TV.

    This agreement marks the first Olympic Games sub-licensing deal by Discovery and reinforces Eurosport as the home of the Olympic Games across Europe, ensuring that every event is available to fans across all screens. The news follows an agreement announced by Discovery Communications and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) last June, which includes exclusive multimedia rights for 50 countries and territories in Europe for the 2018 through the 2024 Olympic Games. The rights for the UK were included for only 2022 and 2024, as these rights had already been secured by the BBC in the UK.

    BBC director-general Tony Hall said, “The BBC prides itself on bringing the biggest sporting moments to the public. For many, the BBC has been their stadium for Olympic coverage. It is an event that unites the nation like no other. I’m delighted that through our new partnership with Discovery, the BBC will continue to carry the torch for great sporting coverage right through to the 2024 Games. While the BBC has had to take some tough financial decisions, this partnership underlines our commitment to making world-class sport available to all.”

    Discovery Communications president and CEO David Zaslav added, “Discovery is a passionate and committed partner of the Olympic Movement. Today’s agreement is a win for UK sports fans and marks an exciting new chapter in Discovery and the BBC’s partnership on major sporting events. For 30 years, our two organisations have chartered new frontiers with co-production partnerships in factual and natural history programming. Now we join together once again to bring the most compelling stories of human ambition, sacrifice and achievement to people across the UK.”

    IOC Television and Marketing Services MD Timo Lumme said, “We are delighted our partners Discovery / Eurosport and the BBC are collaborating on this long term agreement which is great news for viewers in the UK. By sharing the rights, viewers will benefit from the BBC’s rich Olympic heritage and Discovery’s innovative approach to storytelling. Together, they will make the Olympic Games as accessible and engaging as possible.”

    BBC Sport director Barbara Slater said, “We are very pleased that the BBC will continue to bring free-to-air Olympic Games coverage to audiences through to 2024, extending our relationship with the event which began in 1928 and reinforcing the BBC’s long-term commitment to major sporting events. The Olympic Games is one of the nation’s most treasured sporting events and this is an extensive package of rights that ensures we can offer ‘the best of the Games’, across TV, radio, online and digital, maximising the reach and impact of the BBC. This ground-breaking partnership also shows how the BBC can collaborate and work with others to continue to bring the very best in sport to licence fee payers.”

    Discovery Networks International president JB Perrette said, “Since the announcement of our partnership with the IOC, it has been Discovery’s goal to engage and entertain local audiences in Europe with the ultimate Olympic Games experience across all screens. To realise this ambition, we will leverage our portfolio of pay-TV, free-to-air and digital services, and collaborate with the very best partners who share this vision – the BBC partnership embodies this perfectly.”

  • BBC & Discovery ink long-term Olympic partnership

    BBC & Discovery ink long-term Olympic partnership

    MUMBAI: The BBC and Discovery Communications have inked a long-term Olympic Games agreement in the UK, building on a 30-year partnership between the two global media organisations.

    The deal means that the BBC will sub-license (from Discovery) exclusive free-to-air audio-visual and non-exclusive radio rights to the 2022 and 2024 Olympic Games. In turn, Discovery will sub-license (from the BBC) exclusive pay-TV rights in the UK to the 2018 and 2020 Olympic Games.

    The London 2012 Olympic Games was watched on the BBC by more than 50 million people in the UK, seven million people in the UK accessed the BBC website every day, with 111 million requests for video throughout the Games, and over two million people downloaded the app. It was truly the first digital Olympic Games and the BBC raised the bar in its coverage.

    This announcement ensures that the BBC will continue to be the free-to-air home of the best action from the Olympic Games until 2024, bringing the moments that unite the nation on TV and radio. Additionally, the BBC’s package of rights is supplemented by digital rights to the content it broadcasts on TV.

    This agreement marks the first Olympic Games sub-licensing deal by Discovery and reinforces Eurosport as the home of the Olympic Games across Europe, ensuring that every event is available to fans across all screens. The news follows an agreement announced by Discovery Communications and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) last June, which includes exclusive multimedia rights for 50 countries and territories in Europe for the 2018 through the 2024 Olympic Games. The rights for the UK were included for only 2022 and 2024, as these rights had already been secured by the BBC in the UK.

    BBC director-general Tony Hall said, “The BBC prides itself on bringing the biggest sporting moments to the public. For many, the BBC has been their stadium for Olympic coverage. It is an event that unites the nation like no other. I’m delighted that through our new partnership with Discovery, the BBC will continue to carry the torch for great sporting coverage right through to the 2024 Games. While the BBC has had to take some tough financial decisions, this partnership underlines our commitment to making world-class sport available to all.”

    Discovery Communications president and CEO David Zaslav added, “Discovery is a passionate and committed partner of the Olympic Movement. Today’s agreement is a win for UK sports fans and marks an exciting new chapter in Discovery and the BBC’s partnership on major sporting events. For 30 years, our two organisations have chartered new frontiers with co-production partnerships in factual and natural history programming. Now we join together once again to bring the most compelling stories of human ambition, sacrifice and achievement to people across the UK.”

    IOC Television and Marketing Services MD Timo Lumme said, “We are delighted our partners Discovery / Eurosport and the BBC are collaborating on this long term agreement which is great news for viewers in the UK. By sharing the rights, viewers will benefit from the BBC’s rich Olympic heritage and Discovery’s innovative approach to storytelling. Together, they will make the Olympic Games as accessible and engaging as possible.”

    BBC Sport director Barbara Slater said, “We are very pleased that the BBC will continue to bring free-to-air Olympic Games coverage to audiences through to 2024, extending our relationship with the event which began in 1928 and reinforcing the BBC’s long-term commitment to major sporting events. The Olympic Games is one of the nation’s most treasured sporting events and this is an extensive package of rights that ensures we can offer ‘the best of the Games’, across TV, radio, online and digital, maximising the reach and impact of the BBC. This ground-breaking partnership also shows how the BBC can collaborate and work with others to continue to bring the very best in sport to licence fee payers.”

    Discovery Networks International president JB Perrette said, “Since the announcement of our partnership with the IOC, it has been Discovery’s goal to engage and entertain local audiences in Europe with the ultimate Olympic Games experience across all screens. To realise this ambition, we will leverage our portfolio of pay-TV, free-to-air and digital services, and collaborate with the very best partners who share this vision – the BBC partnership embodies this perfectly.”

  • BBC inks partnership with Hull City of Culture 2017

    BBC inks partnership with Hull City of Culture 2017

    MUMBAI: The BBC has inked a new partnership with Hull City of Culture 2017. It will mean the BBC will provide significant regional, national and international coverage of Hull’s year as the UK’s City of Culture.

     

    The BBC will also commission a substantial raft of new content to showcase the arts and produce a major programme of activity in 2017.

     

    BBC director general Tony Hall said the BBC would play a crucial role promoting UK City of Culture in 2017.

     

    Hall said, “I’m proud to announce our partnership today. The BBC is going to be unashamedly ‘Hull-centric’ in 2017. We are really looking forward to working with the city to create something very special for audiences across the UK and around the world. I recently set out our case for an open, enabling BBC that supports creativity in all kinds of ways. I want the BBC to be at the heart of Hull’s big year because I recognise that by working closely together as equal partners we can achieve so much more.”

     

    The BBC’s activities for 2017 will include:

     

    1) A world-class celebration of poetry, performance and the spoken word – shaped and made in Hull and inspired by the city’s rich poetry heritage, which includes the likes of Andrew Marvell and Philip Larkin.

    2) BBC Learning will be working with schools and organisations across Hull to deliver targeted projects to inspire and create educational opportunities for the city’s young people.

    3) BBC Writers Room will be looking for writers – new and established – to develop stories inspired by Hull.

    4) Some of the BBC’s biggest events will go to Hull during 2017 and the BBC will create new ones.

     

    Further details will be released in the coming year.

     

    The BBC has already begun building its presence in Hull. On 31 October and 1 November, CBBC Live and Digital will take place in Hull city centre. It will be a weekend of live broadcasts and digital activities aimed children and their families. The event is part of BBC Make it Digital – the BBC’s initiative to inspire a new generation to get creative with coding, programming and digital technology.

     

    Earlier this year, the BBC’s Make It Digital roadshow attracted 17,000 visitors at the Hull Freedom Festival. BBC Radio 4 is currently broadcasting Hull comedian Lucy Beaumont’s first radio project, To Hull And Back, which also stars Maureen Lipman. Earlier this month, BBC Four broadcast a documentary about Philip Larkin, which formed part of the BBC’s poetry season.

     

    The BBC’s Hull-based regional platforms, including BBC Radio Humberside and BBC Look North, are already providing comprehensive coverage of plans for Hull 2017.

     

    Hull City of Culture CEO Martin Green said, “It’s wonderful to have the BBC, the world’s greatest cultural organisation, on board for Hull 2017. Our partnership with the BBC will allow us to engage the entire country and encourage people across Britain to look again at Hull and think again about what culture really is.”

  • BBC director of television Danny Cohen resigns

    BBC director of television Danny Cohen resigns

    MUMBAI: After a stint of eight years, BBC director of television Danny Cohen has stepped from his post to pursue a new leadership challenge.

     

    Cohen will leave the pubcaster at the end of November. BBC controller of entertainment commissioning Mark Linsey will take on his responsibilities until an appointment is made. 

     

    Cohen said, “After eight wonderful years at the BBC, it is time for my next big challenge. BBC Television is on brilliant creative form. I feel very privileged to have led television for the world’s finest public service broadcaster and to have worked with so many smart and talented people. In particular, I’d like to thank my fantastic team across BBC Television, all the people who have been involved with making our programmes in the last few years, my colleagues on the Executive Board and Tony Hall, who I admire greatly.” 

     

    “In the last few weeks I’ve been approached about a number of exciting opportunities and I want to consider these in an open and transparent way. There has never been a more exciting time for television and digital media. I’m looking forward to taking up a new leadership role in this age of intense creative and technological innovation,” he added. 

     

    BBC director general Tony Hall said, “Danny has done an extraordinary job over the last eight years at the BBC. In a world of intense competition and choice, he has further enhanced the BBC’s reputation for quality programming that is full of ambition and creativity. Danny has led the incredible resurgence of drama on the BBC, having commissioned or overseen shows like Happy Valley, Poldark, Last Tango In Halifax, Wolf Hall, Top Of The Lake, Peaky Blinders, Doctor Who and the forthcoming Dickensian and War And Peace. He has also made an outstanding contribution to comedy and entertainment, with shows such as Cradle To Grave, Peter Kay’s Car Share, Strictly Come Dancing, EastEnders and The Graham Norton Show. He also led BBC One’s 2012 London Olympics coverage. That is one hell of a CV.”

     

    “He is one of TV’s great talents. I know everyone who has worked with Danny has huge admiration for what he has delivered for the BBC. I want to wish him well for the future,” Hall added. 

  • BBC to launch US OTT service in 2016

    BBC to launch US OTT service in 2016

    MUMBAI: BBC is planning to launch a new over-the-top (OTT) video service in the US by next year. 

     

    BBC director general Tony Hall made the announcement during the Royal Television Society Convention in Cambridge.

     

    “Following on from our AMC partnership in the US, we have just signed a new joint venture with Sony Multi-Screen-Media to launch a BBC Earth channel to India. And we’ll begin to try out businesses that go direct to the public. Next year, we’re launching a new OTT video service in America offering BBC fans programmes they wouldn’t otherwise get – showcasing British actors, our programme-makers – and celebrating our culture,” Hall said.

     

    He also informed that the plans would increase commercial returns from BBC Worldwide to ?1.2 billion over the next five years, more than 15 per cent higher than the returns of the previous five years.

     

    While addressing the conference, Hall said that BBC would work with global partners to grow BBC Worldwide further, taking advantage of the demand for British programming and new digital opportunities with offering such as the new OTT service.

     

    Hall hit back at critics, pointing out that to deliver the quality content licence fee payers should expect, the BBC needed a commercial strategy where BBC Worldwide delivers as much as possible back into public service programmes. He said that in 2014 the commercial arm was an indivisible part of the BBC and had a turnover of ?1 billion that gave the BBC a record return of ?226 million.

  • BBC’s combined global audience touches 308 million

    BBC’s combined global audience touches 308 million

    MUMBAI: BBC’s weekly global audience consists of 308 million people as per new figures unveiled today. This represents the combined measured reach of international BBC content – both news and entertainment – for the year 2014-15 and is the first time this figure has ever been measured in this way.

     

    In 2013, BBC director general Tony Hall set a target of 500 million for the BBC’s global reach for 2022.

     

    The figures by the BBC Global Audience Measure (GAM) reveal that the BBC’s weekly global news audience, which is measured each year, has increased by 18 million people, or seven per cent since last year, to a record-breaking 283 million. This means that one in every 16 adults around the world uses BBC News.

     

    For the first time, television (148 million) overtook radio (133 million) as the most popular platform for BBC international news, and it is also the first time since BBC’s GAM tracked audiences for all three platforms – radio, TV and online (55 million) – in English and 28 other languages – that they’ve all grown in the same year.

     

    The BBC World Service’s audience has increased by 10 per cent in its first year of licence fee funding and now stands at 210 million, with the biggest boost coming from new World Service TV news bulletins in languages other than English.

     

    The biggest growth for a single service comes for BBC World Service English, which has its highest ever weekly reach ever with an audience of 52 million, an increase of more than 25 per cent. The countries where the audience increases for World Service English have been highest are Nigeria, USA, Pakistan and Tanzania.

     

    BBC Global News Ltd’s audience has grown to 105 million with World News TV’s up by 12 per cent, and bbc.com/news growing by 16 per cent.

     

    BBC World Service Group director Fran Unsworth said, “These amazing figures demonstrate the importance and impact of the BBC around the world. In times of crisis and in countries lacking media freedom, people around the world turn to BBC for trusted and accurate information. Thanks to our digital innovation we now have more ways than ever before of reaching our audience – from the Whatsapp Service we set up during the West Africa Ebola outbreak to our pop-up Thai news stream on Facebook following the military coup.”

     

    BBC Worldwide director, global and CEO Tim Davie added, “Today’s audience numbers show the global reach of the BBC to be strong and growing.  The consumption of branded BBC services across TV, radio and digital platforms speaks to the international appetite for premium content across all the genres for which we are best known – primarily news, but increasingly for drama, factual and entertainment. Having a robust but prudent measurement system in place also helps increase our understanding of our audiences, enabling us to serve them to the very best of our ability in the future.”

     

    Additionally, the World Service Group is going from strength to strength in both developed and developing markets, with the single biggest audience for any country in the USA (30 million), and with more than a third of the total audience on the African continent (100 million), the biggest BBC audience ever seen on any continent.

     

    Digital innovations from the World Service Group over the past year have included a new Africa livepage on the BBC website; the Thai ‘pop up’ news stream on Facebook; the emergency Ebola service on Whatsapp in West Africa; chat app news services on Line, Mxit, WeChat and WhatsApp; and the move of all 27 language service websites plus News to fully responsive design, which means they can easily be read on mobile phones of all shapes and standards.

  • BBC offers personalisation via myBBC

    BBC offers personalisation via myBBC

    MUMBAI: Sometime back BBC director general Tony Hall had spoken about his vision for the public broadcaster in the digital era. Hall had said that it would be the start of a “real transformation,” which would be called as the myBBC revolution. “But we will always be doing it in a BBC way – not telling you what customers like you bought, but what citizens like you would love to watch and need to know,” Hall had opined.

     

    Leading the strategy to put the words into action is BBC director of Homepage and myBBC Phil Fearnley, who said that the online platform will be made more personal and relevant by linking up their content and launching new features.

     

    A personally tailored BBC

     

    Users have been promised that they will never miss anything important. Users will be notified when new series arrive, matches start, interviews are aired, road traffic builds up, news breaks or even suggested a dinner recipe on the way home. The new programme will bring together and remember user’s favourite programmes, interests, journalists, artists, DJs and sports teams, all in one place. If one has more than one device, BBC’s programmes and services will be accessible across all of them, so one can start on their smartphone or tablet, and pick up where they left off on their laptop.

     

    “And this autumn, we will launch a new personalised app that aims to ensure we bring something brilliant from the BBC every time users open it up,” said Fearnley in a post.

     

    What BBC has done so far and what can be expected

     

    Some of the plans are already in place across BBC, online. For example, the BBC Weather app automatically finds the users location and gives weather updates wherever the person is present. On the other hand, BBC Playlister lets one discover, save and play their favourite music from across the BBC’s programmes or recommended by their DJs, actors and expert curators – across the BBC’s music and radio websites and apps, and now in iPlayer too.

     

    BBC Playlister is one example of how the broadcaster is joining up the benefits of sign in across all of the BBC – here, bringing iPlayer and Playlister/Music together seamlessly. The new myBBC features and functionality are built on this. The new BBC News app launched in January, and myNews feature is an example of how one can tailor their online services and interests. 1.6 million people personalised the BBC News app since launch, claims the broadcaster.

     

    The myNews stream will roll out across all platforms, along with election news, weather and travel that are local and relevant to users. BBC Sport already alerts one about their team’s scores, but starting with the new football season this autumn, it promises to bring personalised news and updates, allowing them to tailor the action to the teams and sports they love, and from there make sure they don’t miss the latest goals, gossip or the start of Match of the Day. “myBBC will create a unique blueprint of your learning experience with the BBC over your lifetime. These are just some of the many exciting new features and benefits to our users that will be coming to BBC Online,” informed Fearnley.

     

    Data safety concerns

     

    One of the concerns that has arisen is about data privacy and what data is being used for what purposes. Addressing these concerns, the broadcaster says that it will collect data, only to use it to bring things that matter to users, surface “hidden gems” that might not otherwise be found, and improve the BBC’s services.

     

    “We’ll put our users in control over how they use their data, and be open and transparent about what we’re using users’ data for. One will always be able to change or delete it,” stated Fearnley.

     

    The broadcaster has promised to never sell users data, let other organisations track what consumers do with the BBC for their own purposes, or even spam.

     

    The post said the BBC is set up to serve the public and to help everyone in the UK get the best out of digital technologies and the BBC had no reason to collect ones data other than to serve them better.

     

    The online space of the pubcaster will be using insights to make its programmes better by understanding consumers data through what they like and how they use the BBC.

  • BBC World Service chief Peter Horrocks to step down

    BBC World Service chief Peter Horrocks to step down

    MUMBAI: BBC World Service Group director Peter Horrocks is leaving the corporation in the New Year after 33 years with the UK broadcaster.

     

    Horrocks has been director of the World Service since 2009, taking responsibility for BBC World News TV and multimedia services in 28 languages. Under his leadership weekly audiences for the BBC’s global news services – BBC World Service, BBC World News and BBC.com – have reached a record of 265 million.

     

    He  has led the World Service through some of its most challenging times, responding to funding cuts by modernising the World Service for the digital age. He also oversaw moves to make the World Service the BBC’s first licence fee funded operation to take advertising and sponsorship, a change that proved contentious.

     

    Announcing his resignation from BBC, Horrocks said, “It has been a privilege to be director of the BBC World Service, which is loved and trusted by hundreds of millions of people around the world. I am hugely proud of the dedication, the creativity and the reinvention shown by my team. The World Service now has its largest ever audience, an expanding number of languages, is modernised and transformed for a digital age.”

     

    “Having overseen this recovery and taken the World Service into the new era of licence fee funding, it is time for me to move on to my next challenge. I will miss BBC but am confident that the BBC’s global news services are in strong shape for the future,” he added.

     

    BBC World News has undergone a creative renewal that is being appreciated by audiences around the world and bbc.com/news now regularly achieves one billion page views a month. BBC News is the most retweeted news source in the world.

     

    Talking about Horrocks, BBC director general Tony Hall said, “Peter’s remarkable career at the BBC has spanned more than three decades. Starting as a news trainee, he established himself as the youthful editor of public eye before going on to lead teams that produced some of the BBC’s most important news programmes.”

     

    “Those who have worked with him know of his energy, drive, his passion for journalism and his innovation but they have also come to appreciate his editorial integrity and his deeply rooted sense of BBC values. He leaves us as one of our most respected leaders. He is a force of nature and we will miss him,” he added.

     

    Agreeing with the director general, director of BBC News and Current Affairs James Harding said,” “Peter Horrocks has been a defining figure in the modern history of the BBC World Service and global news. His sharp intellect, open-mindedness and good judgment have shaped BBC News and Current Affairs for three decades. He has recruited and inspired hundreds of people here in the UK and around the world. And, like few others, he has set his stamp on both the programmes and the personality of the BBC.”

  • BBC closes Digital Media Initiative

    BBC closes Digital Media Initiative

    MUMBAI: UK pubcaster The BBC has announced that it is to close its Digital Media Initiative (DMI).

    Beginning in 2008, DMI set out to move the BBC‘s production and archive operations to a fully integrated, digital way of working. The decision to close DMI follows an operational review of the project which was launched in October 2012. The report found that DMI was not going to deliver on its stated objectives and as a result BBC DG Tony Hall, took the decision to close it with the agreement of the BBC Trust. The total cost of DMI to the BBC will be ?98.4 million.

    Following the decision to close the project, the BBC Trust has launched an independent review to establish what went wrong and why.

    Hall said, “The DMI project has wasted a huge amount of License Fee payers‘ money and I saw no reason to allow that to continue which is why I have closed it. I have serious concerns about how we managed this project and the review that has been set up is designed to find out what went wrong and what lessons can be learned. Ambitious technology projects like this always carry a risk of failure, it does not mean we should not attempt them but we have a responsibility to keep them under much greater control than we did here.”

    The DMI set out to create new digital production tools and link them with a central, digital archive that would allow BBC staff to access a seamless digital chain throughout the production process, from camera to archive. The BBC has worked digitally for some time, DMI aimed to bring those processes together so that everything could be accessed from the same system and stored on a computer.

    The individual components of DMI were: new production tools that could be used to create content digitally on a desktop; a store to house the newly created digital content; a database to search BBC archives and a place to store production reports digitally.