{"id":27496,"date":"2024-05-10T08:50:21","date_gmt":"2024-05-10T12:50:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/worldscreen.com\/"},"modified":"2024-05-13T09:41:25","modified_gmt":"2024-05-13T13:41:25","slug":"bbc-childrens-anna-taganov","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/bbc-childrens-anna-taganov\/","title":{"rendered":"BBC Children\u2019s Anna Taganov"},"content":{"rendered":"

As BBC Children\u2019s head of content and programming strategy, Anna Taganov manages content and programming strategies for video output across CBeebies, CBBC and BBC iPlayer, working alongside the commissioning and acquisitions leads. Her teams are responsible for planning and scheduling all Children\u2019s and Education video content on CBeebies, CBBC and BBC iPlayer as well as CBeebies House and CBBC HQ presentation. Taganov talks to TV Kids Weekly\u00a0<\/em>about the best ways to engage kids today across multiple platforms.<\/p>\n

TV KIDS:<\/strong>\u00a0What is the general breakdown between commissions, co-productions and third-party acquisitions for BBC Children\u2019s?
\nTAGANOV:<\/strong>\u00a0The BBC started acquiring way more in the last two years. But with our commissioning slate, the lion\u2019s share of the budget is still going toward co-productions and fully funded commissions. We\u2019re probably doing fewer fully funded commissions, and they\u2019re mostly with public-service, traditional genres, such as documentary, factual and factual entertainment. We\u2019re looking for co-productions more and with different levels of funding on animation and high-level live-action entertainment, drama or comedy.<\/p>\n

TV KIDS:<\/strong>\u00a0Looking at commissions and co-productions or even those early prebuys, what are the types of projects that you want to be involved in at the earliest possible stages? And what are some of the ways that BBC Children\u2019s gets involved creatively and financially?
\nTAGANOV:\u00a0<\/strong>As a public-service broadcaster, the breadth of genres we offer is way more. It\u2019s very simply animation and scripted live action. That\u2019s what we like to see early on. We\u2019re very specific with our needs at any given time. For example, currently for 4 to 9s, we\u2019re looking at space, science, STEM. We always give an idea to the market about what we\u2019re after. So, for example, we need natural history or interest-based factual entertainment, sports or fashion or whatnot. We take pitches all year round. We produce a huge amount of titles every year. We\u2019re spoiled for choice as well, which is very nice.<\/p>\n

I also want to mention Ignite. It\u2019s a project where we went to town in terms of how early we see things. Ignite is an initiative that was specifically launched to support U.K. animation. We opened it up to any creators, and we were assessing those pitches completely blindly. We got more than a thousand submissions, so it was quite an undertaking. A handful of them got shortlisted, then several got into development, and [some will] get greenlit. So, that\u2019s where we went to basics: a one-pager from an individual would be noticed. We actually take pride in it, and we thought that it surfaced some brilliant content.<\/p>\n

TV KIDS:<\/strong>\u00a0How does acquired product strategically complement the slate?
\nTAGANOV:<\/strong>\u00a0We\u2019re on a path of delivering homegrown animation. In the next three years, it\u2019s coming thick and fast. But it takes time. So, the first thing we started looking at 2 to 3 years ago is acquiring animation, not necessarily always exclusively. We\u2019re up to taking second windows, but we had to bulk the volume of our total offer on iPlayer. In terms of live-action series, BBC Children\u2019s heartland has always been reality-based dramas, and we felt we needed to diversify the subgenres in this portfolio. So, we wanted all sorts of mystery. We wanted detectives and supernatural and magical, and we wanted something light, and we wanted comedy as well. That\u2019s how we acquired titles like\u00a0Theodosia<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0Home Sweet Rome<\/em>. Now, we have a very diverse portfolio. I\u2019m especially proud of our period drama\u00a0Dodger<\/em>. We\u2019re still looking for animation for bridge audiences and comedy live action.<\/p>\n

TV KIDS:<\/strong>\u00a0What would you like to see more of out there in the marketplace?
\nTAGANOV:\u00a0<\/strong>I personally will always be looking for the next\u00a0Bluey<\/em>. Aren\u2019t we all? Specifically\u2014and actually\u00a0Bluey<\/em>\u00a0hits this\u2014I want to see more comedy. We have been talking about [how] we need funny things for two years. I have seen very far and few in between really funny live-action comedies. The second thing I\u2019m after\u2014and again,\u00a0Bluey<\/em>\u00a0delivers\u2014is family co-viewing content.<\/p>\n

TV KIDS:<\/strong>\u00a0What\u2019s your stance on exclusivity and rights?
\nTAGANOV:<\/strong>\u00a0We have it any which way. For straightforward commissions or co-productions when we have significant investment, we\u2019ll have a very clear outline in terms of trades, what we expect for rights and holdbacks in the U.K. For acquisitions, we have become more open-minded lately. We\u2019re open to sharing rights. We\u2019re open to second windows. We are after uncoupled iPlayer rights, which wouldn\u2019t be connected to linear broadcast. And there are several titles that would benefit from exclusivity, such as the latest season of\u00a0Pok\u00e9mon Horizons: The Series<\/em>. In the U.K., it is exclusive to iPlayer. It launched in December. Or, for example, the show\u00a0Hey Duggee<\/em>, which is brand-defining. It\u2019s really dear to have it exclusive to iPlayer, but otherwise, it\u2019s always a bespoke decision.<\/p>\n

TV KIDS:\u00a0<\/strong>How are you using digital as a way to complement what\u2019s on broadcast, perhaps even drive interest to or cross-promote?
\nTAGANOV:\u00a0<\/strong>It\u2019s again a bespoke strategy. We are seeing YouTube and TikTok as partners, not as a greater evil. [We are looking at] partnerships with Roblox on the main titles. It\u2019s different title by title, audience by audience. For example, for the preschool audience, we have a very extensive portfolio of simple digital games and apps, which is constantly renewing.\u00a0The Next Step<\/em>, which is 10 years old, has an incredible social media footprint. We spend a lot of time on that. It has been snowballing in the last several years. Currently, our digital strategy is very smart and thought-through. It never hurts to have more budgets and never hurts to have bespoke content and also pitches coming with a thought-through digital strategy to get more attention.<\/p>\n

TV KIDS:<\/strong>\u00a0What are the best ways to engage kids in \u201cTV\u201d content?
\nTAGANOV:<\/strong>\u00a0Having a USP is very important. As a public-service broadcaster, our USP is local relevance. Our big competitors in this market are foreign companies; so, that\u2019s something we can offer. Then, obviously, it depends on the audience. Commercial broadcasters and streamers very rarely cater to babies and toddlers. That\u2019s what we can offer, and that\u2019s where curation still matters. Parents rely on that.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s very obvious that for each platform, the majority of views are driven by a handful of shows. So, the main thing to have is that big kahuna. We very early realized that doing many, many bitty things, it\u2019s not [what] always drives. So, fewer, bigger, better. It\u2019s embedded in our strategy. We want to invest in content that has high production values, high concepts, completely unique and breaks the mold. That\u2019s what makes the biggest difference; that\u2019s what\u2019s important. Go for big things. Otherwise, it\u2019s really hard to cut through.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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