BBC's Blog, page 28

News Connected Studio

Hi I am the head of product for BBC News Online and lead the product strategy and development of website, mobile, tablet and IPTV products for News.

The change of year is a good time to look back and also forward. In the BBC News Online product team in recent weeks we have been reflecting on a year in which we delivered a number of innovative product features to the audience while also planning an exciting event to kick off 2013: our first Connected Studio for News which begins on January 21.

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Pages from BBC News Online

With the delivery of our brand new responsive design website, our coverage of events such as the Diamond Jubilee and the US Presidential elections, 2012 was a huge success in News for what we call our 'Four Screen strategy'.

In the UK alone we saw a 28% increase in weekly unique browsers to our websites and applications, the number of tablets accessing our product more than trebled following a massive increase during Christmas week and there has been a 50% increase via smartphones.

Considering that one-third of our users are now not using a desktop PC it is essential that we continue to deliver great experiences across all devices from phones to connected TVs - not only in 2013 but beyond.

This is where Connected Studio comes in.

One thing that is clear to us from talking to the audience and seeing the trends in how people consume news is that in an age of an endless flow of information with access to the news from all the different devices we carry around with us, people increasingly want to more easily find news that is more relevant to them.

It's not that people don't want to see the big major stories that affect us all and the BBC is committed to ensuring it uses its editorial skills to ensure the world is well informed about the things that really matter to the broadest audience.

However, people are increasingly interested in lots of different topics which affect their own personal daily lives and we think we can do a better job in the future allowing you to follow stories that interest you across multiple devices.

So this is the focus of our Connected Studio initiative - discovering ways to consume and distribute news that is more relevant to people. That might be news about where you live or where you work or what happens on the commute between the two places. Or it might be news about the industry you work in, or something that directly affects friends and family. Or just news about your hobbies and what interests you.

We have a great opportunity to build on the systems and products BBC Online built for the Olympics in 2012 and use linked data to describe our content and make it easier to find.

Our journalists are starting to tag stories accurately for the location, people, companies and organisations that they are about and then by linking this data together we will be able to make it possible for you to find and follow the news that affects you.

Where our current local news sites only offer a limited view of the world in those areas, in future we will be able to surface stories about companies who employ lots of people in an area.

Or when an MP has said something in the House of Commons which features on Democracy Live we will be able to show it immediately to people in the area that he or she represents and also to all the people interested in that subject.

We also want to work with the wider media industry to link to other people's content more effectively in the same way.

The Connected Studio is an opportunity for people from outside the BBC to meet up with experts from our teams, to play with our data and develop product ideas and prototypes which we will show to real audiences during the day.

We are hoping to hear from many people across the media and digital industry who would like to get involved and help us with this exciting challenge.

I look forward to seeing many interesting people gathering to help us on January 21 in the heart of the BBC's new journalism headquarters at New Broadcasting House in London. A creative brief for the studio has been published and you can sign up here.

Chris Russell is head of product for BBC News Online.

The BBC Sport iPhone app

I'm Lucie McLean, executive product manager for BBC Sport's mobile services - including the new BBC Sport app which was launched today.

The iPhone version of the app is now available from iTunes in the UK and the Android version will follow within the next few weeks.

The main features of the BBC Sport app are explained by the head of Sport Interactive Ben Gallop over on the Sports Editors' Blog.

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The new BBC Sport app

To support the amazing summer of sport in 2012 we focused on delivering a great mobile experience for big events including creating the BBC Olympics app which almost two million people in the UK downloaded.

Like the Olympics app, the Sport app is a hybrid app. It contains the same web-based content as the mobile sport website and adds extra features and functionality using native app technology.

The Sport app allows you to create quick links to your favourite sports using the standard native iOS pattern for adding, removing and re-ordering. We deliberately set out to use patterns that users recognise from others apps and we'll continue to do this in the other native features we'll add to the app over the next year or so.

The Android version still needs some more development work and testing to ensure it works on the wide range of Android devices available and will be live in the next few weeks.

You may notice that some of the links in the app such as the football team pages, stats for other sports and other sport indexes open the old BBC Sport mobile site. The next phase of the app project will update these pages and add this content fully to the app and add football teams to the quick link options.

These updates will be released in the next couple of months. The tutorial screen shown when the app is first downloaded helps explain its key features. This tutorial is always available for reference in the app's Other menu. When updates to the app containing new features are available we'll update the tutorial so that it's clear what is new.

In order to see this content you need to have both Javascript enabled and Flash installed. Visit BBC Webwise for full instructions

Watch the BBC Sport app tutorial

We learned a huge amount from developing, designing and testing the Olympic app and that has helped us hugely while developing the Sport app.

For example we know some Android users were disappointed that the Olympics app wasn't available on larger Android phones and smaller tablets. One of the benefits of building the app around a responsive web product was that it was much easier to build an app that scales to serve larger devices.

As a result the sport app will be available for Android devices with a screen width of seven inches or smaller. We'll also roll it out to the Kindle Fire family too once we've thoroughly tested the app on these devices.

We'll also be adding video to both the iPhone and Android versions of the app in the coming months. The BBC's solution for delivering video to Android devices was recently outlined in a blog post by my colleagues Chris Yanda.

We are developing the app for Apple and Android devices which currently account for approximately 75% of the UK smartphone market. We haven't ruled out developing the app for other platforms but building apps is expensive and as a publicly-funded organisation we have to prioritise the areas where we can reach the most users at the lowest costs.

Users with tablets and other mobile devices will be able to access both the mobile and desktop versions of the BBC Sport website and we will continue to use feedback and usage data to help us prioritise future features and versions.

Over the coming weeks there will be further posts on this blog by key people in the technical and design teams about how they built the app for iPhone and Android devices. Until then we hope you enjoy using this first release of the Sport app and we're keen to hear what other features you'd find useful in future updates.

The BBC Sport app is available for iPhones and iPod touch devices on iOS 5.0 in the UK.

Search for 'BBC Sport' in the iTunes App Store.

Lucie Mclean is the executive product manager for BBC Sport, Future Media.

What's on BBC Red Button 5th - 12th January

It's a new year and we've got lots of great red button content to keep you entertained throughout 2013.

For drama fans we have EastEnders and Casualty specials coming up this week plus a visit to the CBBC drama Dumping Ground where you can take part in a quiz and watch some extras too.

There's a showcase of the musical talent predicted to make waves in 2013 and the return of the ever popular Antiques Roadshow play along quiz where you guess the value of antique items - can you beat the team of experts?

Add to that a bit of Miranda and a lot of sport and you'll agree that we've got a great start to the new year on red button.

Here's a look at what's in store - and if you want to stay updated on Red Button, be sure to follow us on Twitter or visit www.bbc.co.uk/redbutton

EastEnders - Dorothy Branning: The Next Chapter

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What's up with Dot?

Why has Dot Branning stayed away from Walford for so long? Why won't she come home? We're about to find out when Abi Branning leaves the East End on a mission to seek out her Grandma Dot.

Available on Freesat/Sky/Virgin Media/Freeview:

Fri 11th January, 8:25pm-9:10pm

Fri 11th January, 9:45pm-11:30pm

Sun 13th January, 12:45pm-4:45pm

Sound of 2013

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Who's tipped for the top in 2013

Discover which bands and musicians who have been tipped as the Sound of 2013 by tuning into the BBC Red Button. Huw Stephens will reveal the top five acts and the longer top list of 15, all nominated by music critics, editors, broadcasters and bloggers. Huw is also joined by Radio 1's Zane Lowe, Annie Mac, Ally McRae and 1Xtra's Mistajam to tell us why we should love these new artists. Find out more now at www.bbc.co.uk/soundof2013

Available on Freesat/Sky/Virgin Media/Freeview:

Sat 5th January, 6:00am-11:00am, 7:00pm-8:25pm, 9:00pm-10:00pm

Sun 6th January, 4:00am-7:00am, 5:00pm-5:30pm, 6:30pm-7:55pm and 9:05pm until

Mon 7th January, 7:00am, 7:00pm-8:25pm, 9:00pm until

Tue 8th January, 7:00am, 7:30pm until

Wed 9th January, 7:00am, 7:30pm until

Thu 10th January, 7:00am, 7:00pm until

Fri 11th January, 7:00am, 7:00pm-8:25pm, 11:30pm-4:00am

Miranda

L-R Sally Phillips, Tom Ellis, Miranda Hart, Sarah Hadland and Patricia Hodge

Take a glimpse into the world of Miranda
and get a sneak peak of tonight's episode plus a chance for you to hear the cast share secrets and tell tales of what really happens on the set.

Available on Freesat/Sky/Virgin Media/Freeview:

Mon 7th January, 8:25pm-9:00pm

Casualty - Gone in Sixty Seconds

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Matt Bardock as Jeff Collier

There's a brand new mini-episode for Casualty fans to enjoy as one of Holby's most hard-bitten characters gets a rude awakening.

Paramedic Jeff Collier thinks he's seen everything the job can throw at him and there's nothing left to shock him. But nothing can prepare him for what he sees when he arrives at the scene of a school coach crash...

Available on Freesat/Sky/Virgin Media/Freeview:

Sat 5th January, 22:00pm-04:00am

Sat 12th January, 22:00pm-04:00am

Antiques Roadshow Play-Along Game

Fiona Bruce and the team travel to the newly restored Stowe House in Buckinghamshire, once one of the grandest houses in the country. Experts uncover treasures amongst the family heirlooms, including a sixteenth century print that
could be worth tens of thousands of pounds, evidence of one of the earliest Beatles concerts arranged by a school boy, plus there's a big surprise for one of the team as he is shown a rare piece of furniture made by an important artist.

You can now also play along on a mobile or tablet, find out more and read the step
by step instructions and don't forget to tweet your scores to #antiquesroadshow.

Available on Sky/Freeview:

Sun 6th January, 7:55pm-9:05pm

The Dumping Ground Quiz

If you have been enjoying CBBC's drama The Dumping Ground then you are going to love The Dumping Ground Quiz hosted by Tyler and Carmen. There are 11 questions about previous Tracy Beaker series to test your knowledge. You simply answer by pressing the coloured buttons on your remote control. So press red and get involved!

Available on Sky/Freeview:

Sat 5th January, 11:00am-2:30pm

Sun 6th January, 7:00am-5:00pm

Mon 7th January, 7:00am-7:00pm

Tue 8th January, 7:00am-7:30pm

The Dumping Ground Extra

If you want more The Dumping Ground fun, The Dumping Ground Extra is jam packed with a whole host of exclusive goodies from CBBC's brand new drama. Press Red on the CBBC Channel and see what happened when Dodge went behind the scenes on the show, join Iain and Dodge for some silly sketches, there's exclusive character profiles and check out a sneak peek from the next dramatic episode in the series.

As always you can also read Chris and Dodge's blog, check out the answers to some of your questions, read your horoscopes and see if the jokes that made Chris and Dodge LOL will have the same effect on you.

Go on, press red... You know you want to!

Available on Freesat/Sky/Virgin Media/Freeview:

Wed 9th January, 7:00am-7:30pm

Thu 10th January, 7:00am-7:00pm

Fri 11th January, 7:00am-11:00am, 1:00pm-7:00pm

Imagine

Alan Yentob meets China's Lang Lang in
this week's Imagine

If Alan Yentob's BBC One profile on China's classical music superstar Lang Lang has you hooked, press red to see the
pianist extraordinaire perform the following:

Chopin Waltz no.1 (Latitude Festival, Southwold)

Chopin 12 Etudes Op. 25 No.4 (Carnegie Hall, New York)

Beethoven Piano Concerto No.5, 3rd Movement (Royal Albert Hall, London)

Watch
Imagine: Lang Lang's Story

Available on Freesat/Sky/Virgin Media/Freeview:

Fri 11th January, 9:10pm-9:45pm

In It To Win It Play-Along Quiz

Dale Winton returns with another series of In It To Win It, the game show where people compete on general knowledge for a big money jackpot.

Think you can do better? Every Saturday press the Red Button during the show to pit your wits against our studio contestants. Come the final round will you still be In It To Win It?

Available on Sky/Freeview:

Sat 5th January, 8:00pm-8:50pm

Sat 12th January, 8:00pm-8:50pm

BBC Sport

Catch up on all the latest Sport here on the Red Button.

Highlights of the festive fortnight include:


Follow the live athletics from the Great Edinburgh Cross Country
Final Score keeps you up to date on all the latest goals from across the country
Live darts from the BDO World Championships

For the latest information refer to the BBC Sport website.

**Note all Red Button times are subject to change at short notice

Have your say on BBC Online and BBC Red Button

The BBC Trust carries out an in-depth review of each of the BBC's services at least once every five years. This time the Trust is looking at BBC Online and BBC Red Button Services.

The Trust wants your views and suggestions on these services and how they can be improved. There is also space in the consultation to raise any other points not covered by our questions. The consultation is open until 23rd January 2013.

To find out more about the consultation and how to take part, visit the BBC Trust site: BBC Online and BBC Red Button Service Review

If you would like a paper version sent to you, email onlineandredbutton@bbc.co.uk or call 0800 0680 116.

To request the questions in audio or braille please call 0800 0680 116 or textphone 0800 0153 350.

Large print is also available to download via the BBC Trust site:
BBC Online and BBC Red Button Service Review

CBeebies Red Button

CBeebies Red Button welcomes younger viewers and grown-ups with a sense of adventure to the big, bright and fun world of CBeebies interactive!

Your children's favourite characters are at the heart of the interactive TV experience. Satellite and digital terrestrial viewers will have slightly different offerings from one another. This has enabled the Red Button team to offer

the best games tailored to each system.

CBeebies Red Button is available on the CBeebies channel, and via page 5900 on other channels.

Visit the CBeebies website to find out more.

Available on Freeview and Sky only

If you'd like to stay up-to-date with more news from the Red Button follow us on Twitter.

New Antiques Roadshow play-along app

I'm Tom Williams, development editor for Red Button and dual screen in BBC Vision.

Today we launched the Antiques Roadshow play along app for mobiles and tablets. It's a first for the BBC and builds on the hugely successful Red Button play-along game we launched last October.

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Play along with Antiques Roadshow from your mobile

Here's how it works: launch the app while you're watching Antiques Roadshow, press 'Play along with the programme' and choose a value for each of the objects featured.

A clock tells you how long you have before the expert gives their valuation. The app keeps a running total of the objects you value correctly and gives you a ranking at the end of the programme: novice, enthusiast, connoisseur or expert.

You need to get over 75% correct to get to expert level and believe me that's quite a challenge. At the end of the quiz we'll link you to more information on the top finds of the episode you've just watched and from the series so far.

Why Antiques Roadshow?

As development editor my priority was to create a companion experience that would genuinely enhance a programme for a mainstream audience.

We piloted a number of titles but Antiques Roadshow stood out. As soon as we tested the first prototype of the app with audiences we saw what a buzz it created in the living room.

The interface is simple enough not to distract from the programme and the interaction builds on existing behaviour - who doesn't shout out what they think an item's worth?

Antiques Roadshow is a key title for BBC One regularly pulling in over six million viewers on a Sunday night.

It's now in its 35th year and Simon Shaw, the series editor, and his team are constantly seeking out new ways to keep the programme fresh while maintaining the core values that audiences love.

The new app does exactly that.

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Play along with Antiques Roadshow

The app is one of BBC Vision's portfolio of companion experiences - a strategy driven by Victoria Jaye and outlined in her blog last year and part of the BBC's plans announced by Daniel Danker to build on our Red Button offer in a connected world.

Viewers love playing along

The mobile and tablet app builds on the existing Red Button offer providing a much improved interface and the ability for multiple players to play along in the same room.

So far, over 1.5 million unique users have pressed red to play along and the response on Twitter has been incredibly positive. You can read some of our favourite tweets about the red button service on Tom Bedwell's Storify page (N.B: includes strong language).

Simple magic

At the heart of the app is a great bit of technology that's totally invisible to our audiences - audio watermarking.

We've embedded inaudible signals in the soundtrack of the programme that are picked up by the microphone of a phone or tablet.

These are used to identify the episode, line up the correct questions and then display them at exactly the right point in the programme.

In short it provides a way of joining up your TV and mobile/tablet without having to do anything complicated. In fact it makes the whole experience feel a bit like magic.

It has the added bonus of synchronising the app with the programme however you choose to watch it, whether on BBC One, a recording of the programme or on BBC iPlayer.

There's more information on audio watermarking and one of our early pilots in the R&D blog.

Collaboration

The app was built and designed in Salford by the BBC Future Media team. It's editorially driven by the television production team in Bristol, enhanced by onward journeys into the history behind the programme's top finds from Knowledge and Learning with invaluable contributions from R&D, Marketing and Audiences teams here in London.

It's been an amazing feat of collaboration across multiple teams considering that four-way video conferences were often the only way of linking the teams together.

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An alternative career beckons?

Give it a go and let us know what you think

The Antiques Roadshow website has details on how to download the app and information on when the programmes go out on BBC One.

If you can't wait until Sunday, you can play along now with the programme in iPlayer. Give it a go and see how you do. Are you novice, enthusiast, connoisseur or expert? We'll be keeping an eye out for the hashtag #AntiquesRoadshow if you want to let us know.

By the way, the image above shows my score last time I had a go so beat that if you can.

The app works on Android mobile devices up to 7" running firmware 2.2 & above and iPhones, iPads and iPod Touches running iOS 5.1 and above.

Tom Williams is development editor, Red Button and IPTV.

Links: BBC iPlayer, Sports app updates, Freeview in Wales, Online Votes and BBC R&D

Hi folks

After the relaunch of the blog it feels like a good time to have a roundup of news and stories about BBC Online over the last couple of weeks.

The most reported BBC Online story in recent days has been the record viewing figures of BBC iPlayer: 1.94 million requests gained in 2012. 

BBC iPlayer app

The Guardian reported on the increase of mobile and tablet viewing which along with internet connected TVs overall accounted for a third of the requests last year.  “A surge in watching TV shows on mobiles and tablets on the way to work fuelled a rise of more than a third in viewing on the BBC's iPlayer video-on-demand service last year, with Danny Boyle's London Olympic opening ceremony the most requested programme of 2012.”

December saw a significant spike in iPlayer usage via mobiles, tablets and IPTVs with seven million programmes requested on connected TVs alone, a year on year increase of over +1000%. 

There were also 13 million requests via mobile phones and 10 million on tablets, an increase of +596% from last year.

In the first week of January executive product manager for Sport Lucie Mclean blogged for us on the release of the new BBC Sport app for iPhones.  A large number of you commented with many people questioning the lack of a release on other devices.

This week updates have been released to the iOS app allowing users to watch live and on-demand video clips as reported by The Next Web.  “Given that almost a third of BBC Sport’s traffic comes from mobile during the weeks, rising to 40% at weekends and as high as 45% on a Saturday afternoon – it felt a little premature. People have come to expect video (and radio) through the main BBC Sport portal, so the omission was an odd one, even though we knew an update was imminent.”

BBC Sport App for iPhone

The Next Web point out until the release of an app for Android and other device users without Flash on their mobiles will have to watch video content by downloading the BBC Media Player app.

BBC News reported on the Freeview retune in South Wales as local airwaves are cleared for the roll-out of 4G mobile broadband, while BBC One Wales HD was launched.  

Martin Belam blogged on his past experiences of working in online voting at the BBC and the risks of basing insights on the information gleaned from online votes. “Although people will look at the technical details, and blame the website security and the programmers, in the end it is the editorial decision to take the number [of votes] at face value, and to commission content on the back of this kind of vote that has been their downfall.”

This week I attended some of the Digital Bristol events organised by the BBC Academy.  As well as a chance to meet BBC teams at the Technology Showcase and get a glimpse of some cutting edge camera technology from various Bristol providers, I also attended a panel discussion on The Right Environment for Exploiting New Technologies which included BBC Research & Development’s Dr Libby Miller.

The Loudness Meter demonstrated at the Technology Showcase at Digital Bristol

Libby recently published a post on the Research and Development blog on Visualising near-real-time iPlayer usage data. “Our approach is to think about how real-time data might benefit our audiences and also BBC programme makers, and then develop some initial application ideas and prototypes from those discussions.”

You can catch up on more content from BBC R&D including videos from their In-Session series, a “curated series of video interviews that explore the key engineering issues defining the future of broadcasting and content distribution” by visiting the R&D blog.

BBC User Experience architect Paul Rissen writes for The Literary Platform blog on closing the gap between the storyteller and the audience and how BBC R&D can facilitate this: “as new technology, and yes, new media, become ever more commonplace in our lives, enquiring minds are toying with the ways in which the process of writing, delivering and experiencing stories might change.”

While in the same place R&D senior researcher Chris Lowis outlines some resources either in use or in development which allow BBC staff to deliver these new storytelling experiences. 

An example of this is the Mythology Engine which “allows the storyline [of a TV programme] to be described using an Ontology. This storyline can then be presented either in a linear way, mapped to the traditional TV structure of episodes and series, or deconstructed to let you examine a single story arc within a complex narrative.”

Have a good weekend!

Eliza Kessler is the content producer on the BBC Internet blog.

Christmas 2012 on BBC iPlayer

I'm Dave Price head of iPlayer here at the BBC.

Christmas is always a highlight of the TV calendar. If you're anything like my family, after a long Christmas dinner and a busy day unwrapping presents we gather around the telly watching the celebs on Strictly or the drama from Albert Square.

Happy 5th Birthday BBC iPlayer

Christmas Day is also a particularly special day for my team as it's BBC iPlayer's birthday. Five years ago we unwrapped iPlayer on the PC. Fast forward five years and it's the number one brand in the UK and now on over 650 devices and platforms ranging from TV platforms and games consoles, to mobiles and tablets. In October we broke the 200 million-requests-per-month mark for the first time.

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BBC iPlayer - total requests for streams and downloads, TV and Radio programmes (millions)

BBC iPlayer at Christmas

Christmas is a popular time of year for iPlayer. And with so many new gadgets given as gifts this year many of you downloaded the iPlayer app to watch and catch-up on the programmes you've missed.

On Christmas Day itself most viewing is via broadcast TV with families flocking around the best screen in the house. It's the days afterwards, especially Boxing Day and New Year's Day, when requests on iPlayer really start to peak - when many of you are catching up on those essential Christmas programmes.

During the festive season last year Monday 2 January was the best day BBC iPlayer ever had with 5.4 million TV programmes requested. This year Tuesday 1 January (New Year's Day) was the most popular for TV viewing with 6.7 million request for TV programmes.

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Online requests for streams and downloads 22 Dec - 1 Jan

Christmas 2012 on BBC iPlayer

This year we saw 77 million requests for TV and Radio programmes throughout the festive period (22 Dec - 1 Jan, excluding Virgin Cable data which is not yet available).

Throughout this period:

The most popular day in terms of TV programme requests was New Year's Day.
Doctor Who - The Snowmen was the most popular programme, followed by Eastenders and Miranda. Other top performing programmes were Outnumbered, Call the Midwife and Merlin (see table below for the top 20).

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 BBC iPlayer - whenever and wherever you want it

As I've talked about before one of our key goals for iPlayer in 2012 was to take it beyond the PC and onto a host of different devices from mobile smartphones and tablets to smart TVs and games consoles. We want to make it as easy as possible to watch and catch up on your favourite programmes.

It appears the UK was particularly generous with gifts this Christmas! We've witnessed a significant spike in users installing iPlayer on new tablets and smartphones with devices such as the Nexus 7, iPad and Kindle Fire HD proving popular.

Throughout the festive period we saw more and more viewers accessing programmes on mobiles, tablets and internet-connected TVs.

Please note: all the following data is for TV only, for a fair comparison across devices, some of which are not primarily used for radio listening.

On mobiles and tablets:

Requests increased on Christmas Day +40% on tablets and +66% on mobiles compared with Christmas Eve. Mobile and tablet viewing requests grew even further on Boxing Day and saw another catch-up viewing peak on New Year's Day.
During the whole festive period the iPlayer app was downloaded nearly one million times - with almost 300,000 downloads on Christmas Day alone.
By the end of 2012 the iPlayer app had been downloaded nearly 13 million times.

Popular programmes on mobiles and tablets:

While Doctor Who was in the top three most popular programmes for all types of device, the Christmas Day EastEnders was number one on mobiles and tablets across the festive period.
Some comedy programmes such as Outnumbered also ranked more highly on mobiles and tablets.

But people still want to watch TV on a TV and with increasing numbers of TVs being connected to the internet iPlayer requests were also strong on these devices throughout this period.

On internet connected TVs (such as smart TVs, games consoles and TV platforms):

These devices followed the overall pattern of viewing on PCs, since they saw stiff competition from live TV screens - dipping on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day and picking up for catch-up viewing from 27 onwards. Requests from PCs saw their largest peak on New Year's Day.


Most popular programmes were in line with the overall trend - Doctor Who, Miranda and EastEnders - with family films and comedy also very popular. [image error]

Daily online requests by device type for TV programmes (millions)

Happy New Year from BBC iPlayer

I hope you've had a great Christmas and are looking forward to the year ahead.
We've got lots of exciting plans to make iPlayer even better and look forward to sharing them with you in the months to come.

As always, it's great to hear your feedback, so please leave a comment below. Have a great 2013.

Dave Price is the head of BBC iPlayer, Programmes and On Demand, BBC Future Media.

What's on BBC Red Button 22 December-5 January

It's the last Red Button blog of the year - but with Christmas and New Year nearly upon us it's also one of the biggest.

We've a bumper line-up to keep you entertained over the next fortnight including a glittering array of sporting highlights from the past year, Karen Hardy's expert analysis of the Strictly Come Dancing final and special mini-episodes of Doctor Who and EastEnders. There's also Christmas fun for kids from CBBC, highlights from Radio 1's spectacular Hackney Weekend and the triumphant return of the Antiques Roadshow play-along quiz - not to mention a preview of next year's big shows on BBC One.

Here's a look at what's in store - and if you want to stay updated on Red Button throughout the festive season, be sure to follow us on Twitter or visit http://www.bbc.co.uk/redbutton.

Sports Review 2012
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Look back at a stunning year of sporting action on the BBC

It's been an incredible year of sporting action and over the holiday period you can relive some of the most memorable moments on the BBC Red Button.

We've picked out an array of events to watch again in full including the Wimbledon men's singles final, the Brazilian Grand Prix and Wales's clash with England in the Six Nations. There's also another chance to see highlights from this summer's Olympics featuring gold medal-winning performances by stars including Jessica Ennis, Mo Farah, Usain Bolt, Nicola Adams, Andy Murray, Chris Hoy and Greg Rutherford.

Available on Freesat/Sky/Virgin Media/Freeview - visit the BBC Sport website to find out what's on when.

Strictly Come Dancing - The Final

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Who will get their hands on the famous glitterball?

This year's thrilling series reaches its two-part conclusion tonight with four celebrities still in the running for TV's glitziest title. Dani Harmer, Louis Smith, Kimberley Walsh and Denise Van Outen have wowed judges and viewers throughout the competition - but which of them will be able to perform when it really counts?

Join Karen Hardy on Red Button during the final for expert analysis of each couple's crucial routines. She's also joined by a familiar face from Strictly's past - former England cricketer Mark Ramprakash, the man she partnered to the title in 2006.

Available on Freesat/Sky/Virgin Media/Freeview:

Sat 22 Dec, 6.30pm-7.55pm, 8.50pm-10.05pm

EastEnders - All I Want for Christmas

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Can Fatboy give Poppy the Christmas she deserves?

EastEnders fans can get an extra helping of fun from Walford on Thursday 27 December as we join young lovers Fatboy and Poppy for a special festive episode.

Fatboy is thrilled when Poppy returns for Christmas but not all goes to plan. Unless he mans up the big lad may lose the best Christmas gift he's ever had...

Available on Freesat/Sky/Virgin Media/Freeview:

Thu 27 Dec, 8.55pm-12.30am

Doctor Who

The Doctor returns to BBC One on Christmas Day - and Red Button viewers can get ready for this year's festive adventure by watching a mini-episode.

Madame Vastra, accompanied by her loyal companions Jenny and Strax, is called upon to investigate a Victorian murder mystery. But where is the Doctor?

Available on Freesat/Sky/Virgin Media/Freeview:

Sat 22 Dec, 6pm-6.30pm, 7.55pm-8.50pm, 10.05pm-1.25am

Mon 24 Dec, 7pm-6am
Tue 25 Dec, 3pm-5.15pm

CBeebies Christmas Karaoke

If you love Christmas and you like singing then press red for the CBeebies Christmas Karaoke. You can sing along to songs from a whole host of CBeebies Christmas specials including Mr Bloom's Nursery, Baby Jake and Mike the Knight. Why not get your family and friends to join in too and follow the words as they appear on your screen?

Go on, press red... You know you want to!

Available on Freesat/Sky/Virgin Media/Freeview:

Sat 22 Dec, 6am-2.30pm

Sun 23 Dec, 6am-1pm

Mon 24 Dec, 6am-7pm

Tue 25 Dec, 6am-3pm

Wed 26 Dec, 6am-2.30pm

Thu 27 Dec, 6am-7pm

Fri 28 Dec, 6am-12pm, 2pm-4pm

Sat 29 Dec, 6am-2.30pm

Sun 30 Dec, 12pm-4pm

Mon 31 Dec, 6am-2pm

Hackney Highlights

Radio 1 helped kick off the build-up to the Olympics in June by hosting a huge weekend of live music at Hackney Marshes headlined by two of the biggest stars in pop - Jay-Z and Rihanna. Catch highlights from the festival that took east London by storm this fortnight on the Red Button.

Available on Freesat/Sky/Virgin Media/Freeview:

Fri 28 Dec, 4pm-8.30pm

Sat 29 Dec, 12am-6am, 7pm-8.15pm, 9.10pm-1.15pm

Sun 30 Dec, 9pm-6am

Mon 31 Dec, 9pm-6am

Tue 1 Jan, 6am-12pm, 9.40pm-6am

Wed 2 Jan, 6am-11am, 10pm-6am

Thu 3 Jan, 6am-11am

Antiques Roadshow Play-Along Game

Are you one of the 1.5 million people who've played along with our Antiques Roadshow game? If so you'll know how much fun it is to join Fiona and the team to guess the value of the items featured in the programme. If you haven't played yet, then don't miss your chance this Sunday and find out if you're a novice, enthusiast, connoisseur or expert - and don't forget to tweet your scores to #antiquesroadshow.

Available on Sky/Freeview:

Sun 30 Dec, 7.55pm-9pm

Sound of 2013

Discover which bands and musicians who have been tipped as the Sound of 2013 from 7.15am on Friday 4 January by tuning into the BBC Red Button. Huw Stephens will reveal the top five acts and the longer top list of 15, all nominated by music critics, editors, broadcasters and bloggers. Huw is also joined by Radio 1's Zane Lowe, Annie Mac, Ally McRae and 1Xtra's Mistajam to tell us why we should love these new artists. Find out more now at www.bbc.co.uk/soundof2013.

Available on Freesat/Sky/Virgin Media/Freeview:

Fri 4 Jan, 7am-7pm, 9pm-6am

Sat 5 Jan, 6am-11am, 7pm-8.25pm, 9.15pm-10pm
Sun 6 Jan, 4am-6am

Love 2013

2012 was a big year for BBC One with shows including Call the Midwife, The Paradise, Last Tango in Halifax, Citizen Khan and The Syndicate capturing the imaginations of audiences across the nation and a fortnight of dedicated Olympic coverage bringing viewers closer to the Games than ever before.

It leaves us with a lot to live up to in 2013 so we've put together a showcase of new series and returning favourites to whet your appetite for the coming year. Check out what BBC One's got in store over the next 12 months with our special preview package on the Red Button this January.

Available on Freesat/Sky/Virgin Media/Freeview:

Tue 1 Jan, 8pm-9.40pm

Wed 2 Jan, 11am-7.30pm

Thu 3 Jan, 5pm-6am

Fri 4 Jan, 6am-7pm

Casualty - The Crash

There's a brand new mini-episode for Casualty fans to enjoy on Saturday 5 January as one of Holby's most hard-bitten characters gets a rude awakening.

Paramedic Jeff Collier thinks he's seen everything the job can throw at him and there's nothing left to shock him. But nothing can prepare him for what he sees when he arrives at the scene of a school coach crash...

Available on Sky/Freeview:

Sat 5 Jan, 10pm-4am

The Dumping Ground Quiz

If you have been enjoying CBBC's drama The Dumping Ground then you are going to love The Dumping Ground Quiz hosted by Tyler and Carmen. There are 11 questions about previous Tracy Beaker series to test your knowledge. You simply answer by pressing the coloured buttons on your remote control. So go on, press red... and get involved!

Available on Sky/Freeview:

Sat 5 Jan, 11am-2.30pm

In It To Win It Play-Along Quiz

Dale Winton returns with another series of In It To Win It, the game show where people compete on general knowledge for a big money jackpot.

Think you can do better? Every Saturday press the Red Button during the show to pit your wits against our studio contestants. Come the final round will you still be In It To Win It?

Available on Sky/Freeview:

Sat 5 Jan, 8.25pm-9.15pm

Secret Fortune Play-Along Quiz

The National Lottery: Secret Fortune is an ultra-tense quiz show with lots of twists, hosted by Nick Knowles.

Studio contestants compete to win their Secret Fortune, anything from £100 to £100,000. Press the Red Button during the show to play along at home with the contestants.

Available on Sky/Freeview:

Sat 29 Dec, 8.15pm-9.10pm

BBC Sport

Catch up on all the latest Sport here on the Red Button.

Highlights of the festive fortnight include:

Live NFL on Sunday 23 December, as the Atlanta Falcons take on the Detroit Lions
Final Score keeps you up to date on all the latest goals from across the country including the Boxing Day and New Year's Day fixtures
Memorable sporting moments from throughout the year - visit the BBC Sport website for more information

For the latest information refer to the BBC Sport website.

**Note all Red Button times are subject to change at short notice

Have your say on BBC Online and BBC Red Button

The BBC Trust carries out an in-depth review of each of the BBC's services at least once every five years. This time the Trust is looking at BBC Online and BBC Red Button Services.

The Trust wants your views and suggestions on these services and how they can be improved. There is also space in the consultation to raise any other points not covered by our questions. The consultation is open until 23rd January 2013.

To find out more about the consultation and how to take part, visit the BBC Trust site: BBC Online and BBC Red Button Service Review

If you would like a paper version sent to you, email onlineandredbutton@bbc.co.uk or call 0800 0680 116.

To request the questions in audio or braille please call 0800 0680 116 or textphone 0800 0153 350.

Large print is also available to download via the BBC Trust site:
BBC Online and BBC Red Button Service Review

CBeebies Red Button

CBeebies Red Button welcomes younger viewers and grown-ups with a sense of adventure to the big, bright and fun world of CBeebies interactive!

Your children's favourite characters are at the heart of the interactive TV experience. Satellite and digital terrestrial viewers will have slightly different offerings from one another. This has enabled the Red Button team to offer the best games tailored to each system.

CBeebies Red Button is available on the CBeebies channel, and via page 5900 on other channels.

Visit the CBeebies website to find out more.

Available on Freeview and Sky only

If you'd like to stay up-to-date with more news from the Red Button follow us on Twitter.

2012 on the Internet blog

Hi I joined the Internet blog as the content producer in November.

There is a distinct feel of Christmas in the air in our office today and as this will be the last blog post of the year I thought it would be a good place to do a quick 2012 round up, Clive James style (without the jokes).

So here is a look at some of our most popular posts as well as some of the topics that have got our audience talking. It would be impossible to cover everything and sorry to any loyal and enthusiastic blogger who hasn't got a mention here.

First off, no one could avoid the Olympics this year (believe me I tried), including the blog. We had a great series of posts on the BBC's role in the coverage of what was hailed by many as the first 'truly digital Olympics'.

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24 streams of Olympics

The Story of the Digital Olympics by Cait O'Riordan attracted an audience of 27, 480 users to date. For me one of the key insights gleaned from this post is the incredible speed with which users are able to adapt to new technology and tools to get the maximum personal enjoyment out of the content that appeals to them:

Audiences quickly grew accustomed to being able to switch between up to 24 streams. In between the peaks of Team GB medal moments, our data clearly shows people moving across streams to check out a whole host of different events. For example, around 6pm on Saturday 4th, audiences finished watching GB Gold in Women's Team Pursuit Cycling on stream 7 to take a look at the end of Brazil v Honduras in the football on stream 6, before switching back to stream 7 as the cycling action kicked off again.

The post also offered some valuable insights into the way that BBC audiences consume content on different devices.



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The post Olympics: User and Design was shared over 1000 times (which we think is a record number of shares for the blog) Nick Haley explains:

Shaping, structuring and arranging Olympic content for many different contexts and devices was a big challenge but hopefully the end result is an overall experience that feels joined up and cohesive, and most importantly something that you enjoy using. I also hope I've been able to shed some light on the design process involved in the first truly digital Olympics.

Some of our most popular posts of the year were related to BBC iPlayer.

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iPlayer app on your mobile

BBC iPlayer: iPhone app & 3G streaming by David Madden continues to generate traffic a year after going live on 12 December 2011 and has now been viewed nearly 100,000 times.

In the first three months this post received 123 comments. The long tail traffic for this post as well as the level of debate generated on this as well as our other posts dealing with Android indicate that this is a hot topic for the readers of the blog. The frustration of some is clear:

Icono wrote: While your goal of having one universal app which also runs on old 2.x versions is commendable, it seems to be doing little more than diminishing the experience for more modern devices (which probably have the highest consumption rate of the app) since the Adobe Air framework imposes its own limitations.

Kevin Chadwick wrote : Flash was the obvious choice for cross platform at the time of iplayers design, but the landscape even within adobe has changed with linux and android flash updates now set to a 5 years maximum. It would be good if the BBC moved all their services onto HTML 5 video and dumped flash.

For the latest on the BBC's approach to this read Dave Price's post and his latest comments as well as Rory Cellan Jones' interview with Daniel Danker.

Elsewhere on iPlayer there was the launch of the (hugely popular) Live Restart function as blogged about by Henry Webster as well as the new iPlayer Radio on PC and mobile which was introduced by Andrew Scott. The User Experience and Design team chimed in with a video post on how they developed the product.

Blogs about BBC Sport products and updates also attracted a lot of attention. Launching the new BBC Sport website by Cait O'Riordan was commented on 164 times, showing the huge level of anticipation around this relaunch.

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Rhythm of sport on the BBC Sport site

A follow up blog by Scott Byrne-Fraser, creative director of Future Media User Experience and Design which went into the redesign in much greater detail was commented on 244 times, further emphasising the high expectations BBC users have for this product.

It also gave a chance for dedicated users to take part in a dialogue with the people directly involved in building these products:

bezbarber wrote: in terms of user experience did you look at how easy it was to read the horribly cramped headlines? Please make the middle column wider so they are readable.

Scott Byrne-Fraser replied: @bezbarber: The usability of the homepage and sports indexes was tested. The feedback in the earlier rounds indicated that the pages were too long, so the amount of content on the pages was reduced and simplified to help people find the content they were looking for.

The blog featured an on-going series of posts about BBC Connected Studios from a range of contributors. These gave a really good overview of the different ideas and innovations rumbling away under the surface of the BBC.

Personally I find it fascinating hearing about the new ideas coming out of these workshops and events. I look forward to reading more about what they get up to in 2013 when we hopefully start to see some of these pilots launched as new functions and products across the BBC.

Major changes were made to BBC Red Button this year which were introduced by Daniel Danker in his blog post:

Red Button might have started simplistically as a way for the BBC to provide audiences with instant, highly relevant information right on the TV [ ...] But while some might have expected Red Button to slowly be replaced with the web across an assortment of devices, no one would deny that the simplicity and ease of Red Button is as important today as when it was first introduced. So rather than anticipate a transition away from Red Button, at the BBC we're bringing the very best of Red Button together with the very best of BBC Online, to reinvent the experience on any screen.

Tom Williams gave us some more detail about how and why this is being done:

On 15th October the video component of BBC Red Button on Sky, FreeSat and Virgin Media will be reduced from five to one stream, bringing it in line with our Freeview offer. We are doing this because these services rely entirely on linear broadcast technologies, which are not cost-effective for an interactive service like the red button.

While towards the end of the year the launch of Connected Red Button on Virgin TiVo was welcomed by some, but not so much by others:

ChrisCornwall wrote: Good move, but also concerned at the target launching. I would expect the Corporation to have a broad range of release platforms at the start, even if this means delaying launches to accommodate this.

Expect more posts in the new year about the release on other platforms.

This was the year when BBC Online went responsive with sites relaunched throughout the year. Designer Ste Everington blogged about responsive design for the new TV Channel Homepages:

To achieve a truly consistent experience across all devices we opted for responsive web design - a single code base with an optimised layout for the device or screen size you're viewing it on. While the idea of fluid websites is nothing new, the way in which we design them is rapidly evolving. In our research phase we quickly noticed that the majority of good examples are mainly blogs and news websites.

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Interaction and layout changes for browser orientation for channel homepages

Lucie Mclean updated us on the responsive Sports sites:

Pages are assembled on our platform using PHP. The PHP or page assembly layer obtains all the data it needs for the final page by calling several RESTful services (for stats, stories, live event updates) before serving the final, complete page to the audience. Since we assemble a single page for each request it also means that we become extremely cacheable and can benefit from efficient serving of pages using Varnish and Content Delivery Networks in order to reduce the load on our own servers.

While Dan Forys blogged about the new One Response Barlesque which will work across all BBC sites.

And finally, we may live in a high tech world of fast-pace technological change and adaption, but some things will never alter: we are all still obsessed with the weather.

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New 10 day forecast on BBC Weather

Some of the most popular blogs for 2012 were about the changes made to the BBC Weather pages. Jo Wickremasinghe, head of product for BBC Weather in BBC Future Media blogged three times for us this year reflecting a number of changes to the service from an easier user experience for localisation, an extended 10 day forecast and a more granular approach to the service.



Let's hope it will predict a good festive season and we can all get home ok!

That's it from the blog. Comments will be closed for the festive period, reopening again in January 2013.

Have a great holiday and a very merry new year - see you all in 2013!

Eliza Kessler is the content producer on the BBC Internet blog.

BBC Learning Indie Commissioning Event

Hi, I'm Chris Sizemore executive editor for the BBC's Knowledge & Learning product. Alongside Ian Myatt, head of product for Knowledge & Learning, I'm privileged to be responsible for the BBC's digital output around the factual and educational genres.

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In November BBC Learning held its annual Indie Commissioning meeting at MediaCityUK in Salford. This event gives BBC Learning a chance to share our plans for the coming year with partners and indies.

We also presented an update on the BBC's new Knowledge & Learning online product, discussing both the progress we're making and the strategy behind the product.

Saul Nassé, controller of BBC Learning, spoke about the BBC's overarching vision for Learning: to "inspire a life full of learning for all our audiences".

Saul laid out BBC Learning's three main areas of focus:

We commission TV programmes (and occasional radio programmes).
We commission and produce face-to-face events.
We commission and produce online content for lifelong learners and students aged five to 19 and their teachers.

Saul described BBC Learning's job as influencing and collaborating with other parts of the BBC, with partners and with indies to get this "life full of learning" to happen right across the BBC's output, not just within the Learning department itself.

In that sense the department's mission is to act as a kind of 'glue'.

In keeping with this strategic approach, Saul, Ian and I want the Knowledge & Learning online product to play a 'glue' role too, helping bind the different parts of BBC Online together for audiences.

I'd like to thank all the independent companies who gave their time to join us and share their questions and experiences. I met a lot of folks I didn't know before and from my point of view the event was a big success.

You can download the presentation from the BBC Learning Indie Commissioning session at the About BBC Learning website.



The range of commissioning briefs that were mentioned on the day can be found now (or in a couple of cases will be posted very soon) on our page about Learning commissioning priorities and opportunities.

Chris Sizemore is executive editor for the BBC's Knowledge & Learning product.

User Experience and Design Connected Studio

Hi I'm Yasser and until recently I was the head of User Experience and Design for TV & iPlayer, Radio & Music. Back in October I took part as a judge for the BBC User Experience and Design Connected Studio.

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BBC People presented by Faith Mowbray at the BBC Connected Studio

The brief for the event was focused around One Service. We want to create experiences and connections across the BBC portfolio so that whichever of the ten BBC products you are using it's possible to move between them seamlessly through features and interactions.

It's a brief that conveys the role of User Experience and Design at the BBC. The team work right across the BBC portfolio ensuring that whatever product we are working in we are reflecting the Global Experience Language (GEL) which informs the way our products look and behave.

But GEL is something that is continually evolving and it's important for us to look to the future. Multi-platform, personal, participatory and live experiences are all things that are influencing the future outlook of our products and the challenge is how we integrate all these things into one coherent experience across the BBC that we call One Service.

The UX&D Connected Studio highlighted how complex meeting this challenge is but it also brought some fresh perspective on how we might begin introducing some great new features that could make a really distinctive digital BBC service.

Six teams were shortlisted for the build studio on October 30 and 31. The outcome of those two days varied between the teams but the most successful projects did three things really well:

1. They had insight that illustrated that their idea was meeting a real audience need.

2. A clear articulation of why the project would help to achieve the One Service ambition.

3. A demo or prototype to bring the idea to life.

At the end of the second day all six teams presented 12 minute pitches with a Q&A afterwards from the judges. Here is an overview of each of the ideas.

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383 Project showing a demo of their project BBC Highlights

383 Project created a prototype called BBC Highlights. It's a feature that enables the audience to create and share their own personal highlights. Using Top Gear as an example they illustrated how their feature could work in the context of the current BBC video player that exists across bbc.co.uk.

When the team pitched the project they did some research using Twitter and found that lot's of people refer to particular moments within programmes, sharing timecodes or references. This sparked their motivation behind the project and it was great to see how they pursued and developed their idea from the pitch to a working demo.

The pitch was a good example of how the team took on board the brief and thought about how their concept addresses the BBC's four screen strategy.

In contrast the project Crowd Surf evolved quite a bit from the original idea that was pitched during the Creative Studio. The core idea of reflecting moments of popularity across content remained. However, the method of navigation and discovery moved away from the idea of zooming in and out of popular content and seeing the number of people watching/listening.

Instead the team chose to develop a multi direction nav that delivered onward journey's deemed most popular by other users.

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BBC and System Concepts demo Crowdsurf

The most radical idea during the connected studio was Face Value by Soda and Nottingham University's Mixed Reality Lab. The team developed facial recognition software that could respond to audience reaction. So it could tell you whether or not the person sat in front of their laptop with a webcam switched on was happy or sad watching something on BBC iPlayer for example.

For me the idea was reminiscent of the Meet the Listeners project by Radio 1 back in 2010 but that relied on people taking photos of themselves and sending them to the station.

This idea sounds fairly novel but it's an interesting concept to consider when many devices that people buy now have built in cameras. It's a method of input that is rarely considered when designing experiences for content, but as the recent version of iPlayer for Xbox (that uses kinect for gestural navigation) illustrates maybe that could change in the future.

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Soda and Mixed Reality Lab showing a demo of their face recognition software

The agency TorchBox teamed up with BBC to explore an idea called the Live Companion. It's an app that enriches a live event by collating relevant information from around the BBC and enables the audience to add their voice creating a mix of social and BBC content. The team put together a simple prototype using Javascript and CSS to present the idea.

Sarah Plant from TorchBox has written a good overview of her experience of the Connected Studio which is worth a read.

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Torchbox presenting their mobile app prototype Live Companion

I've always been interested in how you can use time as a method of navigation through content so it was great to see one team try and tackle this concept.

Mudlark and the BBC teamed up for the project Time Machine - an interactive timeline of BBC content that lets you explore the threads of a story. The used BBC News as their starting point. So, if I'm reading a story about the Leveson enquiry for example, Time Machine would enable me to go back in time and explore all the events leading up to the most recent event.

BBC People is a really compelling concept that explores the idea of using BBC talent, historical figures, contributors or subjects as a way to navigate content across products.



Professor Brian Cox was their example of choice and although the team didn't have a working demo to show they were able to tell a good story with some nice illustrations of user journeys that conveyed how their idea would meet the audience need they had identified during the creative studio.

It was a tough couple of days for the teams but as a judge I found it really inspiring. It was interesting for me to see the range of approaches that the teams took to convey their ideas and also the fidelity of their visualisations and prototypes.

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We Are Mudlark presenting their Time Machine concept

Hopefully the UX&D Connected Studio provided the teams taking part with an insight into the BBC, not only its complexities but also the opportunities that exist to create new kinds of experiences.

It was good to have people from my team at the BBC working together with external companies as it gave them an insight into how other teams work and think. This kind of collaboration is important to encourage innovation.

Although we only selected a couple of projects for the pilot stage each project that was presented during the build studio offered lots of food for thought in terms of how we might approach creating a One Service BBC.

Yasser Rashid was formally head of User Experience and Design for TV & iPlayer, Radio & Music. He has now left the BBC.