Big Screens are Big News, and they are appearing in towns and cities across the UK.
The screens are usually the latest twenty-five square metres daylight digital video displays, with a computer-controlled playout and audio system. Each screen is customised to reflect life in its host community with a broad range of local content, including a "City Diary" listings service, local events and partnerships with community, arts & media organisations.
The screen is connected to the BBC's global broadcast network, and exploits Internet technology to deliver a 24 hour a day schedule, with relays of major broadcast events, news, sport, music, documentaries and much more. There are also interactive facilities enabling the audience to text their comments, send photo-images to the screen or play al fresco video games.
The project is the result of a matrix of participants. The BBC provides programme content and scheduling expertise. A variety of companies provide the digital screen technology and technical expertise, whilst local authorities host the screen, manage the public arena and ally the screen to local events and information.
The world's first Public Space Broadcasting screen in Manchester 's Exchange Square was launched as an experiment in 2003. Having proved itself to be a powerful magnet for urban regeneration and animation for the city's public space, the model has now been rolled out in loads of other towns and cities including Birmingham, Liverpool, Hull, Leeds, Rotherham, Bradford, Swindon and Derby.
Discussions are underway between the London 2012 LOCOG team (the organisation behind the London Olympic Games) and many of the UK's major cities with a view to further extending the project in time to provide Live Sites for when the UK hosts the Olympic Games in 2012. As part of these Live Sites, there are screens in new locations such as Bristol, Plymouth, Portsmouth, Norwich, Waltham Forest, Cardiff, Swansea and Middlesbrough.
The location and siting of the new Big Screens is being handled directly by LOCOG and the local authorities. It is therefore not a BBC decision as to where the screens are sited. Each screen site is dependant on planning permission being granted by the local authority, which can often be a complex and lengthy process.
BACKGROUND
The rapid development of giant daylight video technology has spawned a wide variety of screen applications. From sports grounds to entertainment venues, and from shopping centres to motorway service stations, giant video screens have rapidly established themselves as an accompaniment to modern life. Most screens, however, rely on advertising and few have been nourished by regular high quality content. The PSB Screen project has different origins.
The BBC was the catalyst, having explored the linkage of major events, multiple audiences and live broadcasts on projects such as Proms in the Park, the 2002 World Cup and at the Manchester Commonwealth Games. For the Queen's Golden Jubilee, the Corporation installed ten temporary screens in major cities around the UK, relaying the Buckingham Palace concerts and ceremonial events, but also working with each city to create local events that integrated with the screen relays. The relationship was often two-way, with cameras at the screen sites to capture the crowd's participation. The screens drew very large crowds and underlined the enduring urge for many of us to gather together in public to share in great moments of sport, music or world events.
The package proved popular, so in partnership with Philips, Manchester City Council and the owners of The Triangle Shopping Centre in Exchange Square, the first Public Space Broadcasting Screen was installed as an experiment in May 2003.
