BBC to link up with digital giants for next generation website

by Sam Matthews, Brand Republic 21-Mar-06, 12:00

LONDON – The BBC is forging links with digital giants such as Microsoft, Sony and Apple in an attempt to overhaul its website to deliver programmes on demand.

Speaking at Mix06 conference in Las Vegas, Ashley Highfield, BBC director of new media, said the corporation is planning to work with a range of partners to prepare itself for the next step of the web's evolution.

"We have a duty of universality. So it's vital that we innovate through a number of strategic partnerships with technology companies such as Apple, Sony, Homechoice, NTL and Telewest," he said.

Highfield took to the stage with Microsoft chairman Bill Gates to show a version of its on-demand player on Windows Vista, Microsoft's next-generation operating system.

The BBC has just completed a three-month download trial to 5,000 homes around the UK, which allowed users to download as many as 500 television and radio to programmes onto their computers.

Subject to a public value test, the BBC plans to role out the service on its website.

The BBC first revealed details of the service, dubbed MyBBCPlayer, at the Edinburgh International TV Festival last August.

Mark Thompson, BBC director-general, said the corporation was planning to launch MyBBCPlayer some time this year, calling the coming decade "a decade of on-demand".

The service is to feature a host of content such as on-demand versions of BBC programmes from the previous seven days and an "ever-expanding" proportion of the BBC archive. The player will also include live feeds of BBC One and BBC Two.

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