The BBC have thrown another spanner into the online content battle after announcing plans to launch a dedicated free app to deliver BBC content straight to the iPhone.
The newspaper industry are up in arms over the decision to deliver quality content, such as news services and the popular iPlayer TV service, straight to mobile devices. The Newspapers Publishers Association are so incensed they’re set to complain to ministers and the BBC Trust. Their complaint? They believe the latest smartphone app will “distort the market”. Nothing to do with their greedy plans to start charging for online content then?!
The app was announced at last week’s Mobile World Congress and is set to be available for iPhone users and other mobile devices, such as Blackberry and Google’s Android, by the end of the year. Read the rest of this entry »
Can you remember a time without YouTube? No, neither can I!
The online video monster site is celebrating its fifth birthday this week! Those five years have flown by quickly haven’t they? The site which was created to allow “anyone with a video camera and an internet connection…to share a story with the world” has gone from strength to strength since its launch in February 2005. YouTube proved an instant hit with a generation which has sparked the user generated content phenomenon. Read the rest of this entry »
The BBC is the latest player in the media world to enter the online content battle.
This week they’ve announced they won’t charge for online content and have “no intention” of doing so in the future. Sir Michael Lyons, the BBC Trust Chairman, has said the corporation”no intention of diluting BBC commitment to universal access to free news online” as he outlined the areas Director General Mark Thompson will cover in his ongoing strategic review. This announcement will come as unwelcome news to Rupert Murdoch and his son James as they prepare to start charging for News Corp’s online content from next year. But the BBC has said it is considering “streamlining” BBC online following recent criticism from stakeholders.
Sir Michael Lyons discussed the prospect of streamlining BBC Online services to “narrow the focus on distinctive content and help to create a more open BBC”. The BBC’s online output has recently received criticism for using the corporation’s muscle to dominate the market with services already provided by commercial players.
In the last year the BBC has received quite a few complaints. In September the Trust upheld a complaint from the British Educational Suppliers Association about the BBC’s failure to follow its own guidelines in the development of educational websites, such as Learning Zone and BBC Bitesize. Amazing Radio also recently filed a complaint alleging that the BBC Introducing website is a copy of it’s own which threatens  to distort market competition.
Michael Lyons has now asked Mark Thompson to discover the answer to three key questions:
1. Beyond the core news, sport and educational content on BBC.co.uk, along with all online children’s output and BBC iPlayer, which parts of the corporation’s online services are essential to its mission, and which should be scrapped?2. How should the distinct online extensions of BBC programming be distinguished from the services with a “less direct relationship” to BBC content?3. Should there be clearer boundaries drawn in order to help BBC Online services “provide even greater depth and authority in core areas”?
1. Beyond the core news, sport and educational content on BBC.co.uk, along with all online children’s output and BBC iPlayer, which parts of the corporation’s online services are essential to its mission, and which should be scrapped?
2. How should the distinct online extensions of BBC programming be distinguished from the services with a “less direct relationship” to BBC content?
3. Should there be clearer boundaries drawn in order to help BBC Online services “provide even greater depth and authority in core areas”?
He said; “We want to question honestly what licence fee payers really expect to get from their licence fee and what they might be surprised to see the BBC doing in the online world.”
So what does this essentially mean for Joe Public? Well, it might mean a lot less BBC online – if Mark Thompson comes back and reports the BBC have too much online content that goes beyond their core values, it could be the end for many sites. The industry will be given the chance to contribute to the review as part of a public consultation early next year. So, if you don’t want to see a certain part of BBC online disappear; speak now or forever hold your peace!
The BBC is the latest player in the media world to enter the online content battle.
This week they’ve announced they won’t charge for online content and have “no intention” of doing so in the future. Sir Michael Lyons, the BBC Trust Chairman, has said the corporation has “no intention of diluting BBC commitment to universal access to free news online” as he outlined the areas Director General Mark Thompson will cover in his ongoing strategic review. This announcement will come as unwelcome news to Rupert Murdoch and his son James as they prepare to start charging for News Corp’s online content from next year. But the BBC has said it is considering “streamlining” BBC online following recent criticism from stakeholders.
Read the rest of this entry »
The BBC have thrown another spanner into the online content battle after announcing plans to launch a dedicated free app to deliver BBC content straight to the iPhone.
Can you remember a time without YouTube? No, neither can I!
