BBC online revamp embraces mobiles, podcasts and user content

The BBC has unveiled its Creative Future strategy and its plans for a revamp of its online arm which could see it taking on the likes of MySpace.

The move towards a more tech-savvy BBC is prompted by the broadcaster's fears it may be failing a younger audience who are shunning TV in favour of spending time on the internet.

Research by the BBC found that 60 per cent of those aged between 16 and 24 watch fewer than three hours per week of BBC programming and around a quarter of those watch no BBC programmes at all.

Announcing the strategy, director-general Mark Thompson said there was "a big shock coming" because the audience's relationship with the BBC and technology in general is changing.

The broadcaster is lining up some major changes as it approaches 'the digital age', including the growth of user-generated content and an emphasis on new distribution channels such as mobile phones and iPods.

Thompson said: "We should aim to deliver public service content to our audiences in whatever media and on whatever device makes sense for them whether they're at home or on the move."

Among the other changes set to result from the Creative Future strategy is a greater emphasis on online music across all the BBC's properties - radio, TV and online. As part of the drive to become a music brand, the BBC will be aiming to become the "premier destination for unsigned bands".

The BBC will also begin to focus on encouraging its audience to participate and contribute to Auntie's online content. Thompson said: "We need to reinvent [BBC Online], fill it with dynamic audio-visual content, personalise it, open it up to user-generated content."

Simon Grice, founder of etribes, which provides publishing tools for user-generated content, questioned the move.

He said: "I think you have to step back and say is [user-generated content] what the BBC should be rushing after? Is that their core competency? The BBC should be focusing on what it's really good at: creating high-quality, non-user-generated content."

While details of the form the user-generated content will take have not been made clear yet, the BBC may be able to learn lessons from the successes and failures of other web 2.0 companies.

JupiterResearch senior analyst Julian Smith said the BBC's new found interest in 'citizen journalism' poses questions about how user-created content will be managed.

Smith said: "The BBC plays an interesting role as a public service provider. In the past, they've provided educational information and had a paternalistic attitude almost. How will they embrace this?

"A lot of these [user-generated content] sites can be rubbish. They have to play a role in identifying what is quality. If the BBC is to continue to be seen as a source of authority, it will need to have some sort of filtering process."

With an emphasis on both music and user communities, the Beeb seems to be squaring up for a battle with MySpace, the popular social networking site Rupert Murdoch's News Corp bought last year.

A MySpace representative declined to comment.

MySpace has already proved one of the rising stars of web 2.0, receiving more than 1.5 million visitors per month, according to Nielsen/Netratings, and credited with starting the career of indie band The Arctic Monkeys, responsible for the fastest selling debut album of all time.

User-generated community sites such as Bebo and MySpace have one key advantage for media companies trying to build brand loyalty: community site users tend to view more pages within that site than elsewhere.

Nielsen/Netratings found that the average Faceparty user will view more than 700 pages in the site each month, more than the BBC, eBay and Google averages combined.

Thompson also revealed that as part of the Creative Future strategy, the BBC is less than five years away from allowing viewers to create 'drag and drop' personalised TV and radio stations.

The BBC's on-demand service, which allows viewers to download programmes broadcast within the last seven days, will be renamed BBC i-player and the Beeb will also start to open up its archive and put it online.

Auntie will be running a competition asking the viewing public to help in redesigning its website, using popular tech sites such as Technorati, Wikipedia and YouTube as examples.