Today the 主播大秀 launches a public consultation on its new policy on distribution – or, in short, on how we get our services to audiences so they can enjoy them. It’s an important issue for us to gather feedback on and it’s a requirement of our Royal Charter & Agreement to do so.
The 主播大秀 was founded on a simple, democratic idea: that everybody should have access to the best programmes and services. As the 主播大秀 approaches its centenary, its universal public service mission remains unique.
Our starting point for distribution is therefore to ensure as many people as possible can enjoy convenient access to the 主播大秀’s high-quality and distinctive services. But as the number of outlets (or ‘platforms’) on which audiences can get content proliferates, this is not our only consideration.
Indeed, the choices we make over how we distribute our programmes and services will be critical to our success in meeting the 主播大秀’s mission.
Put simply the more effectively and efficiently we distribute services, the more valuable they are to people. The more convenient they are to find, the more they will be used and the better value they deliver for licence fee payers. The more robust and higher quality the delivery, the more audiences appreciate the content. The less services cost to distribute, the more the 主播大秀 can spend on British content for everyone to enjoy.
In this Charter period the key question for the 主播大秀’s distribution is likely to be how to harness the internet to deliver enhanced services to audiences.
To remain successful in delivering its mission, the 主播大秀 will continue to primarily distribute via services. Services - such as 主播大秀 One, Radio 4 or 主播大秀 iPlayer – are selections of content which are greater than the sum of their parts. This is thanks to how they are put together – or curated – with the 主播大秀 guiding audiences to experience the full range of the 主播大秀’s offer, rather than just the most prominent or most popular shows. It also means we can provide popular extra features, such as ‘live restart’ on 主播大秀 iPlayer which allows a user to rewind to the beginning of a programme that is currently being broadcast.
The 主播大秀 will also need to be able to access and use data to personalise content recommendations and make improvements in response to feedback from audiences. The 主播大秀’s need for data of sufficient quality and completeness has recently been reinforced by the National Audit Office. Indeed, as the lifeblood of any modern media company, data will be indispensable if the 主播大秀 is to continue to inform, educate and entertain all audiences.
The 主播大秀’s future approach to distribution builds on a strong tradition of innovation in which the 主播大秀 has helped the whole UK broadcasting industry. For example the early development of 主播大秀 iPlayer helped create the market for video on demand (VOD) which we now take for granted. As Netflix CEO Reed Hastings said: “The iPlayer really blazed the trail. That was long before Netflix and really got people used to this idea of on-demand viewing.”
At present over 80% of 主播大秀 iPlayer consumption (and growing) takes place on platforms controlled by third-parties such as pay TV operators and the manufacturers of televisions, radios and mobile devices. The UK’s dynamic and competitive platform market extends the reach and convenience of access to 主播大秀 services. 主播大秀 iPlayer alone is now available on over 10,000 types of device - more than any other VOD service in the UK.
This market-leading availability has been possible because the 主播大秀 has developed a highly efficient and cost-effective means of making its content widely available to audiences, via arrangements which are free and fair to third-party platforms. This standard 主播大秀 iPlayer product requires minimal work by the 主播大秀 or platforms to integrate consistently across a vast range of platforms. To date it has represented the gold-standard of UK VOD services, and the 主播大秀 continues to innovate to maintain this quality.
As set out in the policy, the 主播大秀 normally expects to distribute via a standard product – and this is the preference of most platforms. But the 主播大秀 will apply its policy on a case by case basis – and its approach has not stopped the 主播大秀 from working with platforms who offer new ways to access 主播大秀 content outside 主播大秀 iPlayer. Unlike other large VOD services, the 主播大秀 does not operate a ‘walled garden’. Instead, it works flexibly with platforms such as Now TV, BT TV and Virgin Media to make sure that a range of 主播大秀 programmes can easily be found within their search and content discovery menus.
In short, the relationship between the 主播大秀 and third-party platforms is usually a win/win.
At the same time, third-party platforms, as commercial players, cannot always share the same incentives as the 主播大秀 to enhance the overall public value delivered to audiences, or to invest in and showcase British content.
This can present a challenge for the 主播大秀. It is therefore to the benefit of both platforms and the 主播大秀 that the 主播大秀 includes in the policy the conditions which the 主播大秀 judges to be both reasonable and necessary for platforms to meet in order for the 主播大秀 to fulfil its public mission. This is the focus of the policy – and also a requirement of the 主播大秀 Charter & Agreement.
In summary the seven conditions are as follows.
(a) Prominence – the placement of 主播大秀 content and services relative to those of other providers should be in line with audience needs and expectations
(b) Editorial Control – the 主播大秀 should retain editorial control of its content and its placement
(c) Branding & Attribution – users should be able to easily identify which content on a platform is provided by the 主播大秀
(d) Quality – users should be able to enjoy a high quality experience of 主播大秀 content and services
(e) Data – the 主播大秀 should have access to data about the usage of its services
(f) Free Access – users should incur no incremental cost to access 主播大秀 content and services
(g) Value for Money – 主播大秀 distribution arrangements should maximise cost-effectiveness of distribution to the licence fee payer.
We will work with platforms to ensure they can comply with these conditions.
Before this policy is implemented there is . We will take feedback on board before publishing our final policy later in the year.
It’s important we get this right, for the 主播大秀, for licence fee payers and for the broadcasting industry at large and we welcome your feedback.
Daniel Wilson is Head of UK Policy, 主播大秀