In light of the recent trends regarding how individual’s view and interact with television, the BBC is preparing to revamp its streaming service. This move from the BBC comes after facing tough competition from Netflix in the past couple of years. Besides competition from Netflix, the BBC is attempting to combat the changes in the way individuals view television and is also planning to focus on their younger audience. The BBC’s streaming service is titled iPlayer and will become the main avenue for people to view their programming. Television shows on the service will now be available for up to a year, instead of the previous 30-day restriction. In previous years, the BBC’s iPlayer held a 40% share of the streaming market however, that number has dropped to 15% after the growth of Netflix.
The relaunch of the iPlayer will change the entire “look and feel” of the service. BBC’s director general says that the relaunch will open “a new front door for British Creativity”. The director general also promises their talent “unprecedented levels of freedom” and a “broader shop window” on all of their platforms. The Director of Content for the BBC also says that, “the iPlayer will become the heart of everything we do; the gateway to all our programmes – a total TV experience, which will bring everything you want from BBC television into one place for the first time.”
I find this article interesting because it is another example of a media company trying to adapt and change to the increase in streaming and the decrease in traditional television practices. With the coming years, we will see more and more of these articles describing different ways companies are switching to streaming and the innovative ways that they decide to make the switch. It is nice to see the BBC admit that what they were doing wasn’t working how it should have been. They took the necessary steps to grow with the changing times and it will be interesting to see how this works out for them.
https://www.theguardian.com/media/2019/oct/07/bbc-iplayer-revamp-life-beyond-channels
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