BBC THREE Everywhere
- 22 Jan 08, 1:40 PM
BBC THREE Controller Danny Cohen set out his plans for the future of the channel at a season press launch earlier today.
So as Controller of Multiplatform & Portfolio (basically, the person responsible for BBC television’s digital media activities), I wanted to take this opportunity to explain why and how this relaunch is a flagship project for Vision's multiplatform strategy, which I laid out in September 2007.
Danny revealed that BBC THREE is to become the first BBC channel to change from a linear service to a fully joined-up multiplatform venture. This means that all the channel’s programmes, content and experiences can be available on TV, online, mobile, and on-demand platforms - and that's just the start.
The relaunch is not just about a new logo. It’s about a new behaviour and attitude for the channel, which has the habits and preferences of its key audience - the elusive 16 to 34s - at its heart.
BBC THREE will be simulcast live on the web for the first time. Programmes will be available on demand for seven days after first transmission and in some cases previewed on the site in advance. This will make the channel’s content vastly more accessible to audiences who wouldn’t necessarily seek out or stumble across its programmes on conventional TV.
Programme information has been massively improved, with every episode of every programme now having a unique web presence (Sophie Walpole has blogged about this previously). Though initially basic, we hope this will grow into a fantastic resource that will make BBC THREE and its content more searchable and easily navigable as well as more findable and easier to link to.
We’ll make better use of clips and short-form content, some of it specially commissioned to help audiences discover and sample what the channel is all about. This will enable them, over time, to take and embed BBC THREE content in their own sites. This will take the brand into the places where our audiences spend time - we won’t assume that they’ll always come to us - through appropriate partnerships, syndication and embeddable widgets.
We’ll be adding more and more interactive and participative functions to the whole site so that we can thread rating, recommendation, improved comments systems and tagging through all of our content. By doing this, we hope to make BBC THREE the hub of a vibrant network of conversations across the web.
But, as well as getting these basics in place, this relaunch also pledges a commitment to interactive ideas at the heart of key commissions, and to making its audiences part of the channel.
People will be able to introduce their favourite BBC THREE programmes and talk about issues that matter to them, by uploading their clips via the web and by mobile, and the best will feature in our on-air junctions. Through the use of cross-platform techniques, programmes on BBC THREE - including a chat show fronted by social networking advocate Lily Allen - will mean that people will feel they own the channel.
We’ll be taking risks as well, trying to find the new forms of participative entertainment offered by a fusion of the web and TV. Watch out for
Upstaged, our ambitious (and therefore a bit scary for me) talent show where contestants build up their profiles, are voted into our specially designed performance areas, and have to keep the nation entertained for the small matter of six hours. It’s a project where the website has led and the TV programme will be shaped by what happens there.
For the entire channel to be based around these principles marks a major step, I believe, in helping great BBC content to benefit and prosper from all the advantages offered by a digital world. This won’t be just lip service: it’s about making content playable in the ways that fit young audiences' preferences: online, on the move, and on demand. And it’s about making it easier for young people to share the content they like - and discover the content they didn't know they liked.
But this is only the start. 2008 promises to be a year when the BBC unveils a host of exciting new developments throughout its channels. Watch out for new innovations and in the meantime keep an eye on www.bbc.co.uk/bbcthree in February for the new world of Three.
I would welcome your thoughts and comments about the channel’s relaunch.
Simon Nelson is Controller, Multi-Platform & Portfolio, BBC Vision
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