IBC 2011 – AMSTERDAM. BBC Worldwide chief executive John Smith has said the prospect of the new Global iPlayer eating the BBC’s own lunch is a danger that has been present for a very long time and requires careful management.
Speaking at the opening session of IBC 2011 in Amsterdam, Smith said canabalisation had been an issue since the launch of BBC Worldwide’s channel business. “Through careful windowing you can have content shown on your own linear channels and other broadcasters”.
According to Smith the Global iPlayer had the advantage over competing products as broadcasters ran it. “They know how to curate, and we don’t leave people to trawl through thousands of hours of programming.”
Smith said the Global iPlayer was being launched in as many countries as possible, it was currently on a 12-month trial in the Apple store, but was open to other platforms after that.
We’ve got to launch that inlayer in as many countries as we can, at the moment it’s an app on a 12-month trial, but we’re open to other platforms after that.
Additional content is coming from the BBC itself, which is adding the current affairs programme Newsnight and interview show HardTalk. Overall the ratio of BBC to acquired content is 60:40.
