The Beeb's top man talks mobile content
Recent Nielsen research said the BBC is the UK’s top mobile destination. We quizzed Richard Titus, the Beeb’s controller of future media, audio, music and mobile…
There’s been some internal re-organisation at the BBC and a lot of noise around iPlayer. What’s happening?
Well, it’s been the ‘year of mobile’ for five years, but there’s no doubt that we have finally hit some kind of inflection point now. Fixed rate data has made a massive difference. And you can’t underestimate the effect of the iPhone. In fact, three per cent of all iPlayer traffic is now coming from iPhone or iPod Touch. That’s pretty impressive. But what Apple has also done is advertised the mobile web, and that’s increased awareness among even non-Apple users. We have 3.4 million UK visitors to the mobile site.
The iPlayer is clearly at the heart of the BBC’s mobile activities now. Can you sum up its progress?
On mobile it’s an extension of the web service that lets audiences view 400 hours of BBC TV and radio up to seven days after transmission. It’s available over Wi-Fi and across 3G – via 3 and Vodafone in the UK so far. Owners of compatible handsets can download it as a widget or via a dedicated mobile portal.
What is the BBC trying to achieve in mobile? Obviously not profit…
True. The BBC is not like other organisations. It’s a public service, so our remit is to maximise licence fee value and make our programming available to the public in as many channels as possible. The idea is always that we take our content to people in the media they’re using, not that we pull them to us. We’re also aware that BBC is not engaging enough with the younger audience, and mobile can help change this. I’ve seen research that says 20 per cent of the mobile audience doesn’t engage with the BBC in any other way, so it’s a vital channel.
Where does radio fit into this?
It’s a good point. Radio is often overlooked even though there are five radio shows for every TV show on iPlayer. I think it will drive demand, especially in the daytime. It already is. At present, the BBC has the most radio podcasts on iTunes, for example. But radio is not easy enough on mobile. You should be able to download on the move, or tag a show you’re listening to, or set up the phone to subscribe to a podcast. This is all too difficult for most users at the moment. That’s my challenge.
There’s been some disquiet from ISPs about the amount of traffic generated by iPlayer on the web. Are you expecting a backlash from mobile operators?
Clearly, the BBC wants to be a good digital citizen. It’s a complex issue. Who consumes most bandwidth? How does the BBC compare with corporates, for example? Also, you can argue that services like iPlayer drive handset replacements and data tariffs to the benefit of the wider industry. I think in the future the issue will be tamed because we’ll all be smarter about how we manage cellular networks, Wi-Fi, wiMax and even broadcast. Ultimately, the user doesn’t care.
You’re right. Users don’t care about technology. But how can they avoid it when there are still barriers to access?
These barriers are falling, thank God. I think widgets, for example, present a fantastic opportunity. It seems to me that they are realizing the old Java dream of ‘write once, run anywhere.’ Widgets help us deliver content across multiple handsets without building a load of new boxes with flashing lights. The vision is to have a BBC icon on every phone.
Do you envision resistance to this? After all handset vendors are developing their own rich media content offerings...
We see operators and handset companies as aggregators. They have to be. Consumers will gravitate to the devices and networks that give them the best value. You wouldn’t buy a TV set in the UK that didn’t let you watch BBC.
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