Jana Bennett Stresses ‘Editorial Curation’ in Global iPlayer

HONG KONG: Speaking at CASBAA’s opening session this morning, BBC Worldwide’s Jana Bennett talked about the importance of editorial curation in the international version of the iPlayer, noting: “We’re not trying to be a big video store or a shopping market where everything is laid out on shelves. It’s about editorial selection, that’s where the value can surface in an archive.”

Bennett, president of worldwide networks and the global BBC iPlayer at BBC Worldwide, noted that the online service has rolled out to 11 Western European countries, 3 Nordic countries and Australia, with more markets to come in this “pilot year.” In planning the international version of the iPlayer, Bennett said, “We wanted to make it very editorial in termsof curation and allowing lots of choices for viewers who may or may not be familiar with every show. This is a way of unlocking arguably the world’s largest audiovisual archive.”

She continued, “It might be a niche service in some markets because it is both archive and curated and it is in the English language, but on the other hand, much future value will be found through mining niches of interest. We don’t want a vat, a dump of the archive. We’re taking editorial curation into this nonlinear space.”

Asked how the service would compete with pay-TV platforms, Bennett said, “We think it’s entirely non cannibalistic. It’s complementary because it’s much more of a personalized journey. It’s an additive experience. It’s not trying to perform like a television channel. We are very careful about the rights management. We want to respect different business models. We’re trying to create value over time, make profits, which in the end will be reinvested so we can get great programs back on the screens.”

Bennett also discussed expansion plans for BBC Worldwide’s channels in Asia, with four networks rolling out in Thailand next year and three launching soon in Taiwan. “This is a very attractive market,” she said of the pay-TV landscape. “There’s lots of space still to have great brands in television. Pay TV is pretty healthy.”

Noting the various content-consumption behaviors taking place today, she said, “We have been thinking about how you collect all these various tools to be able to make massive moments happen for the audience. We take a digital look at how to embed and incorporate ways of seeing content.”

For certain shows, like Top Gear, Bennett also noted the importance of airing these shows globally as close as possible to the original U.K. transmission. “We’re going to move to much more day-and-date specific transmissions around the world… People who don’t get it as close to the transmission in the U.K. [may] pirate. The onus is on us to make sure Top Gear is available as close as possible to the original transmission, so you don’t miss the moment.”

She added, “We think brands are key. New channels are possible and attractive, but we have to use all the various levers to create a sense of event and a mass experience.”