NDM Case Study ..

How has the impact of new and digital media allow the audience to time shift and watch their programmes online such as BBC Iplayer and 4OD instead of following scheduled timing.

7- What concerns/ considerations are there (if any) for the media institutions involved in your case study as a result of the impact of new and digital media? 

What concerns are there for the BBC traditional television as a result of the impact of new and digital media (BBC iplayer)?

The traditional ways of watching television is slowly dying, there's a concern that people will no longer need TV because everything's online, being able to watch something whenever and wherever they want. However, is the BBC really effected? No, because of the TV license, the audience having to pay £145.50 annual which covers BBC iplayer. The BBC don't suffer as much as, for example ITV because they rely on adverts to make their money and if the audience no longer watch their channels, advertising will go somewhere more popular. At the BBC, the proportion of public service expenditure attributed to online activities (including mobile) has gradually increased over time and reached 5.8 per cent in 2007–8.

Its Time To Break Up BBC iPlayer

Steve Hewlett published an article in the press last week that suggested Tony Hall’s big challenge was to sort out the BBC’s ‘digital’ strategy. Steve was onto something in latching onto ‘digital’ as a key area requiring attention, but we think he erred in thinking that ‘digital’ was somehow a separate problem to core strategy. This article makes the case that you can’t separate ‘digital’ from the rest of BBC strategy. More importantly, it makes the case that there is a fundamental flaw in the way new media, and iPlayer in particular, are organised and managed within the core of the BBC. We believe that this flaw is now having a significant impact on the arguably more important BBC broadcast brands. BBC announcements in the last month have highlighted the need for a fundamental re-think.

The announcement of poor BBC2 viewing figures spoke a broadcaster that is losing sight of its core broadcast function. Our research indicates that poor scheduling and weak brand support for BBC2 has played its part in the audience decline, but the failure to support broadcast brands online, in favour of iPlayer is a big factor – particularly with young audiences. It is instructive that iPlayer has become a more recognisable brand than the BBC’s second most important TV brand, even though it delivers a fraction of the total viewing time.

-But What Is The Flaw and Why Does It Matter?

The central flaw that concerns us is that the iPlayer team control not only innovation and future developments of iPlayer, but they retain operational control of day-to-day delivery of BBC online output. They also control, and have dramatically reduced the wider web presence of the channel brands and restrict their ability to express themselves and build connections with their viewers.

The same applies to YouView, which should have been a broadcast centric platform, designed to maximise the interests of the channels. Unfortunately, it was colonised early by iPlayer people and went ‘platform-centric’. It is possible to spend an evening watching BBC3 content, and come away with the YouView and iPlayer logos lodged in your brain. The emphasis on iPlayer has also robbed the broadcast channels of the tools to build audience relationships on the web and mobile. 

What people appear to have forgotten is that iPlayer was designed and created as an alternative destination to broadcast, at a time when people still feared that the internet would beat TV and not the other way round. It most certainly wasn’t designed as a support component of a broadcast centric organisation. It was created by a team led by Anthony Rose who declared at a conference that year that ‘broadcast is dead’. Its look and feel, was created to sit outside the core branding of BBC channels and genres, and it was intended to eventually develop its own content strategy. It was effectively set up as the ‘anti-BBC’. The world of TV has changed significantly since iPlayer’s inception.

-Why Does This Matter?

Decipher make the case that this matters for two reasons: Firstly, this is our licence-fee money that is being used to prop up personal fiefdoms, and fund huge amounts of over-lapping or unnecessary activity. The current structure reflects the personal egos of Eric Huggers and Ashley Highfield, not the current needs of the BBC. To have a separate Head of FutureMedia and BBC R&D while claiming poverty under the DQF process is iniquitous.

Secondly, and more importantly, it hampers the proper evolution of the BBC as a broadcast centric organisation. In 1997, the BBC was 3 years ahead of any other UK broadcaster. It is now well behind the curve with ITV and Channel4 having done a much better job of integrating new media into a wider broadcast operation. The BBC like to hold themselves up as a template for other broadcasters. Not only can they no longer do this, but unless this flaw is rectified, they will fall further behind in defining the 21 century role for broadcasters.

-Recommendations

We would make the following recommendations:

• Clarify the key centre of gravity for TV and Radio in the BBC – We believe that this should be the broadcast channels and their brands, with new media distribution strategy rebuilt to support not compete with them. The BBC is, at heart, a broadcast organisation and it needs to be communicated clearly internally and externally.

• Retire the black and pink iPlayer branding completely- It is a divisive brand livery and the BBC should unify the branding and presentation of on-demand content with the broadcast genres (TV and radio) that its meant to support. This means there should be a single brand architecture for TV at the BBC, with individual channel identities built within it. BBC iPlayer look and feel should reflect this TV brand architecture not compete against it as present. This is what ITV have successfully done with the recent ITV Player re-design.

• Stop trying to build iPlayer as a BBC ‘platform’. However hard you want it to be true, no consumer views content that way any more. It is a strategy that will eventually isolate the BBC, not help it retains its position as the dominant beast in the broadcast TV pack. It is a strategy that works well in the export market, as a US iPlayer demonstrates.

Case Study Digital Media Story ..

Google: 80% of news organisations are targeted by state hackers

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/mar/28/google-news-organisations-targeted-state-hackers

More than four-fifths of the world's top media organisations, including the Guardian, have been the target of likely state sponsored hacking attacks, according to research from two Google security engineers. Presented at the ongoing Black Hat Asia 2014 conference in Singapore, Shane Huntley and Morgan Marquis-Boire's research shows that journalists are "massively over-represented" among the targets of state-sponsored hackers. While the pair didn't go into detail about their methodology, they confirmed to Reuters that Google "tracks the state actors that attack our users". Those who the company suspects have been the target of such attacks are notified by a banner across the top of their webmail login, such as this displayed to Guardian staffers since mid-Mar:

Huntley told Reuters that "if you're a journalist or a journalistic organisation we will see state-sponsored targeting and we see it happening regardless of region, we see it from all over the world both from where the targets are and where the targets are from." Google's advice to those it suspects of being a state target is simple. "Be careful about where you sign in to Google.

It does not, however, share information about what specifically prompted the warning, in order "to help defend the integrity of these systems". Instead, the company explains that "it's likely that you received emails containing malicious attachments, links to malicious software downloads, or links to fake websites that are designed to steal your passwords or other personal information."

In April 2013, the Guardian was the victim of a hacking attack by the Syrian Electronic Army, activists linked to Bashar al-Assad's regime. The Twitter accounts for Guardian Music, Guardian Film and Guardian Books, as well as a number of staffers, were taken over by the group following a "spear phishing" attack: targeted emails designed to trick users into revealing their passwords.

NDM Case Study ..

How has the impact of new and digital media allow the audience to time shift and watch their programmes online such as BBC Iplayer and 4OD instead of following scheduled timing.

5- Who are the primary target audience now and has this changed? Who was it before and how do you know?

Who are the primary target audience that use BBC Iplayer and watch the BBC, has it changed from before? Who was it before and how do you know?

BBC Audience Information

BBC One has the highest reach of all the BBC channels with nearly 80 per cent of the UK population (4+) tuning in for seven and a half hours each week on average. Certain BBC television channels (BBC Three, CBBC and CBeebies) have specified target audiences. For example:

• BBC Three is targeted at 16-34 year olds. Those 16-34 year-olds who view BBC Three watch, on average, for longer per week than the average viewer of the channel (2h 02m vs. 1h 43m). 
• The target audience of CBeebies is 0-6 year olds. As BARB measures 4+ year olds only, the CBeebies target audience’s viewing is captured by measuring the viewing of 4-6 year-olds and housewives with children up to 3 years old. 45 per cent of this group watches 
• CBeebies and in January – March 2011 they spent 4 hours 54 minutes with the channel on average per week.

Service Review Younger audiences: BBC Three, Radio 1 and 1Xtra

The BBC is a major media provider for younger audiences, with more than 9 out of 10 young people using BBC services each week.  The BBC delivers some of its public purposes well to young people but faces challenges to deliver news to them, and to serve teenagers on television. Despite the huge growth in choice of media, the BBC remains a very important part of young people’s media consumption. The BBC reaches around 92 per cent of 15-34 year olds each week and BBC television remains successful at reaching younger audiences, although its usage has declined significantly in recent years.

BBC Online has become an important part of the BBC’s offering to young people. More than one-quarter (28 per cent) of all 16 to 34 year olds use BBC Online each week, the same proportion as all adults, making BBC Online the fifth most popular website for this age group in the UK, behind Google, MSN, Facebook and Yahoo. Reach to BBC Online among younger audiences has risen by around 9 percentage points since 2003. Some sections of BBC Online have particularly strong appeal to younger audiences, notably the formal learning websites for children and young adults. BBC Online reached an average 42 per cent of teenagers per month, compared with 51 per cent of all individuals. 

6- How have the audience responded to the changes? Is there more customer choice? Is there evidence of a more pluralistic model? What evidence do you have to support this?

How have the audiences responded to the changes (the development of digital media)? Is there more customer choice? Is there evidence of a more pluralistic model? What evidence do you have to support this? 

I would say the audiences have adapted to the changes of the development of digital media by giving them a better choice. The audiences are given more choices, they have a range of programmes and they're enabled to watch their programmes whenever and wherever they want. The audiences are allowed to time-shift, using the red button, online services, on-demand or the plus channels. People would argue that the world has changed to a more pluralistic view, people being in control of everything, having the power and not being controlled by the media because of all the options they have now. 

Case Study Digital Media Story:

MORE CONTROL AND MORE CHOICE: PICTURING THE TV AUDIENCES OF TOMORROW

http://www.redbeemedia.com/blog/more-control-and-more-choice-picturing-tv-audiences-tomorrow

Expect a media revolution.

The way we consume media is changing forever, driven by new technologies that are turning traditional thinking on its head. At the same time, viewer attitudes and behaviours continue to evolve at a pace, with the great experiences from BBC iPlayer and Sky Go stimulating an increasing desire for “anywhere, anytime” viewing. With these seismic changes taking place, we’re hoping to shed some light on the needs and wants of the TV audiences of tomorrow at our second Tomorrow Calling event, when we will reveal and discuss findings from an in-depth consumer survey.

We are in no doubt that the appetite for TV viewing is growing. The way it is delivered, how content is watched and the way content is found are some of foundations of the media revolution. The ubiquitous uptake of connected TV sets will start to blur the boundaries of how TV is delivered. It is at this point where the audience will not care how their TV is being delivered, and the connected TV will enable them to seamlessly shift from a live linear viewing experience into a catch up or VoD environment. This will dramatically change the landscape of the content aggregator.

A different but equally important change to the future viewing experience is led by the explosion of companion devices, opening up TV to benefit from technical innovations. With this change there will be expectations of a “media grade” TV experience across all devices, no matter what piece of glass you are looking through.

The consumer wants more control and more choice and they get frustrated because they can’t find content they want to watch. Within this context the electronic programme guide (EPG) along with the remote control navigation is set to change dramatically over the next few years. A new and intelligent form of content discovery will help guide viewers through a potentially baffling array of content and give them more. Fast forward to 2020 and great TV content has an exciting future, the communal TV experience seems set to stay, but it will increasingly be in a virtual sense.

NDM Case Study ..

How has the impact of new and digital media allow the audience to time shift and watch their programmes online such as BBC Iplayer and 4OD instead of following scheduled timing.

4- Is the size of the audience any different now than before the impact of new and digital media (or has the pattern of usage changed)?

BBC Audience Information

January - March 2011 - BBC TV Research ..  

Average Weekly Research and Average Weekly Time Spent per User:

Television viewing in the UK remains strong, despite the wide range of media competing for viewers’ time. Across its nine television channels the BBC reached nearly 88 per cent (50 million) of the UK public aged 4+ on average in January – March 2011. And they spent over 11 hours a week on average watching BBC television. 

BBC Digital Media Services Research ..

How does the BBC measure research of BBC digital media services? 

Unlike Television and Radio, there is no industry standard for online measurement within the UK; therefore the BBC uses a wide range of sources to assess performance of BBC Online. The number of people consuming BBC digital media services (BBC Online and Red Button) is measured via bespoke surveys - in which people are asked which services they have used within a week. Time spent Online is not included due to the lack of an industry standard and a consistent methodology for online measurement. 

How many people consume BBC digital media services each week? 

January – March 1 2011 - Online & Mobile

41.8 per cent (20.2 million) of UK adults used BBC Online and BBC Mobile in an average week. This equates to 57.4 per cent of those who have access to the internet in the UK.

Red Button 

30 per cent of UK adults with digital TV (12million) pressed the Red Button to access a variety of BBC Red Button services in an average week.

From all this research, I can conclude that the size of the audience isn't different than before the impact of new and digital media because the audience viewers is still higher than the BBC iplayer. 

NDM Case Study ..

How has the impact of new and digital media allow the audience to time shift and watch their programmes online such as BBC Iplayer and 4OD instead of following scheduled timing.

3- What impact has there been on how the media institution now has to produce the texts and the way in which the texts/ products are distributed and exhibited? This should involve a detailed textual analysis of at least 3 texts to demonstrate the point.

What impact has there been on how the media institution now has to produce the text and the way the texts are distributed and exhibited? This should involve a detailed textual analysis of at least 3 texts to demonstrate the point.

Text One:

BBC Iplayer

In terms of how the BBC produce a text is still the same as before because of the TV License, people having to pay £145.50 annual:

How the licence fee was spent in 2012/13:

Between 1 April 2012 and 31 March 2013 the cost was £145.50 – the equivalent of £12.13 per month or just under 40p per day. The BBC used its income from the licence fee to pay for its TV, radio and online services, plus other costs, as shown below.

TV
£7.69 per month per household

Radio
£2.08 per month per household.

Online
£0.55 per month per household.

The BBC hasn't had to change a lot in the way they produce a text because people are still paying to use BBC iplayer - 55p per month. Hence the reason why Tony Hall wants to extend the license fee because people now rely much more on BBC iplayer and use it through their tablets or ipads. The normal channels - BBC One and BBC Two, people are charged £7.69 per month which before used to be effective but because new and digital media has improved over the years people have adapted to using BBC iplayer more therefore, taking more out of the website than the channels - Tony Hall believes increasing the License fee would be better because people now use it more.

In terms of distributing and exhibiting the text, in the past the only way to watch TV was on the Television but now TV is distributed through E-Media, BBC iplayer. BBC iplayer consists of all the BBC channels, from BBC One to CBBC and the website has now introduced the download button, so people can now watch their programmes offline for up to 30 days, no longer needing internet. Slowly, slowly people have changed the way they consume TV therefore changing the way the BBC distributed and exhibited their texts.

Text Two:

4OD

Channel 4 is a publicly-owned, commercially-funded public service broadcaster. They don't receive any public funding and have a remit to be innovative, experimental and distinctive. Channel 4 works across television, film and digital media to deliver our public service remit. The media institution being Channel 4, is predominantly funded by advertising and sponsorships, the main source for consuming Channel 4 programmes is through E-Media therefore channel 4 has to provide more content online which means loosing money from adversing and sponsorships. 

In terms of the way the texts are distributed and exhibited, the website is targeted at the younger audiences, the way the website is exhibited is quite stylish and modern. Because people don't watch the traditional programmes it loses revenue and the money made through advertising. Unlike other broadcasters such as ITV, Channel 4 is not shareholder owned. In addition to the main Channel 4 service, their portfolio includes E4, More4, Film4 and 4Music, as well as an ever-growing range of online activities that includes channel4.com, Channel 4's bespoke video-on-demand service 4oD and standalone digital projects. Through its film arm Film4 Channel 4 is also a key supporter of British film making talent.

Text Three:

ITV Player

ITV Player is an online video on demand service accessible though the main ITV website itv.com. The service offers a variety of programmes from homegrown programming to imports across ITV, ITV2, ITV3, ITV4 and CITV. Some sports programming is available to watch again via the service, the 2010 FIFA World Cup and highlights being examples. Programmes are available for 30 days on the site after being first shown on ITV. The service was originally called ITV Catch Up but was then rebranded 'ITV Player' on 5 December 2008 as part of ITV’s aim to create a recognisable and consistent brand for video-on-demand content across the web and TV. This shows that the media institution ITV player has changed the way they produce the text because the E-Media side is more popular, they have to keep up with the new and digital improvements.  

In terms of distributing and exhibiting the text, they've changed the website to make it look more modern and interesting. They've made it easier to use which would attract more people. New and digital media's made the impact because people no longer use the traditional way of consuming a text, through television. They now want more from the website. This loses money in terms of advertising because ITV relies heavily on the money from advertising.

NDM Case Study ..

How has the impact of new and digital media allow the audience to time shift and watch their programmes online such as BBC Iplayer and 4OD instead of following scheduled timing.

1- Has new and digital media had an impact upon ownership and control of the media institution(s) involved in your case study area? Explain in detail any impact and what exactly has changed.

Has New and Digital media such as BBC iplayer, had an impact upon ownership and control of the media institution (The BBC)? 

My main focus is Television and the BBC, so the new and digital media aspect would be BBC iplayer, in terms of control and ownership - The BBC still have full control and ownership because of the TV license. However, BBC iplayer's main source is the internet therefore the BBC can't charge people to use BBC iplayer. In order to have full control and ownership, the BBC have considered to extend the license fee so it covers BBC iplayer. 

Tony Hall: extend licence fee to cover BBC iPlayer

BBC director general Tony Hall wants the licence fee extended to include the estimated 500,000 UK homes where viewers do not have a TV set but watch corporation programmes on-demand on the iPlayer. The move would enable the BBC to start charging the estimated 2% of households – 500,000 – in the UK which only consume on-demand TV content, rather than watching programmes live. Hall used a speech at the Oxford Media Convention on Wednesday to mount a robust defence of the BBC and the licence fee, saying it was "one of the finest broadcasting organisations in the world" and "great value for money" reaching 96% of the population ever week.

Far from the licence fee being abolished, as some critics have argued, Hall said it should be extended to take account of the different ways in which people consume TV and radio in the digital age, on their computer, iPad or smartphone. "One of the advantages of the licence fee is that it's flexible and has adapted over the years," said Hall. "When and how best to take the next step is, of course, a matter for the government. "Our view is that there is room for modernisation so that the fee applies to the consumption of BBC TV programmes, whether live on BBC 1 or on-demand via the iPlayer or other devices."

• Hall said the BBC's latest research showed that the public was prepared to spend an average of between £15 and £20 for its services, beyond the £12 a month (or £145.50 a year) households currently pay.
• He said the accusation that the licence fee was a "dinosaur from a pre-digital age, doomed to inevitable extinction" was inaccurate.
• "Around 90% of all television viewing is still live. Well under 2% of households consume only on-demand TV content. And this number is growing only slowly," he said.
• "Funding by licence fee therefore remains practical and sustainable."

Hall described the licence fee as "not a compromise, least-bad option. It underpins the success of the BBC".

Questioned about the statistic that 10% of magistrates' court cases are taken up by non-payment of the licence fee, Hall said: "Of course I'm not content [with that statistic]. "I go back to what I was saying: what better system could there be than a licence fee and if you remove any penalty on it then, you know, more people will say they won't pay … That is the system we've got."

BBC iPlayer Android app now allows downloads for offline viewing 

The Android version of the BBC's iPlayer mobile app can now download TV shows for offline viewing, a year after the feature was added to the iOS version of the application. Android iPlayer users can now store shows on their devices for up to 30 days, watching them for seven days after the first time they start playing the video. The new feature will work on Android devices running the Ice Cream Sandwich and Jelly Bean variants of Google's Android software.

"This is because these devices are able to provide the appropriate level of protection for our programmes," explained senior product manager David Berlin in a blog post. "Our figures show this will mean 70% of Android app users with compatible devices will be able to use this functionality from today – and over the coming months we will be extending this to include new Android devices as well as some older ones." The BBC has faced vocal criticism from Android users since it added video downloads to the iOS iPlayer app in September 2012 – criticism that will have been particularly sensitive given the BBC's public broadcasting remit.

For now, the new video download feature will work on devices including Amazon's 8.9-inch Kindle Fire, Google's Nexus 7 and Nexus 10 tablets and Nexus 4 smartphone, HTC's One, Sony's Xperia Z and Samsung's Galaxy S2, S3 and S4 smartphones and its Galaxy Tab 2 tablet. This shows that you no longer need the internet to watch catch up tv because once it's downloaded your able to watch it offline. So, the idea of Tony Hall extending the tv license is actually effective in terms of keeping control of their audiences. 

2- What impact has there been on the way in which the audience now consume the media products/ texts involved in your case study? How does it differ from what went before? Consider (SHEP)

What impact has there been on the way in which the audience now consume Television? How does it differ from what went before? Consider (SHEP)

Before BBC iplayer, catch up TV and on demand, people had to adapt their everyday lifestyle around the programmes they watched. It also caused a dilemma, in the sense that if a programmes showing on one channel and another on a different channel, people wouldn't be able to fully enjoy themselves. Now, new and digital media allows the audience to enjoy their programmes when they want, wherever they want. New and digital media has opened up a new flexible lifestyle, being able to "time-shift" instead of watching time scheduled programmes. Pluralist believe that people now have the power and are in control of the media, they decide because they now have the power to do so. However Marxist believe we're controlled by hegemonic leader and they still have all the power. 

Social: 

Socially, the audiences don't loose out with time out with their friends, audiences now don't need to worry, they can spent all their time out, knowing that they can catch up they're TV programmes once they do go home. Television has become more flexible and easier for people to socialise with friends and family.

Historically:

This shows and highlights the development of the world, from the beginning where there was only 5 channels, having to watch programmes during the time of the showing to now being able to watch and catch up TV online, when it suits you. Being able to have full control of your own TV. Time-shifting, being able to watch the programme wherever, on the train or in the car.

Economically:  

Economically, because people can now watch their programmes on BBC iplayer, eventually they'll get used to watching they're TV online, no longer needing to pay the license fee. The BBC will loose all control, also the discussion that's been going on about decriminalizing the license fee only provokes people to stop paying at all.

Case Study Digital Media Story ..

BBC licence fee: decriminalising evasion review delayed

http://www.theguardian.com/media/2014/mar/21/bbc-licence-fee-decriminalisation-evasion-delayed

The BBC is claiming victory in its bid to delay a review into decriminalizing* licence fee evasion, which it claims would lead to reduced revenue and force it to axe services such as BBC4. Tory MP Andrew Bridgen, who has been pushing for legislation to make non-payment a violation rather than a criminal offence via an amendment to the forthcoming deregulation bill, has made additional amendments in which he calls for ministers to spend up to a year reviewing the issue. The timing will bring the issue into forthcoming negotiations with the government over the renewal of the BBC's royal charter and licence fee agreement.

*"decriminalizating" usually means that it is no longer a "crime" but a "violation" to do the act.

A BBC spokesman said: "The BBC is content that this proposal balances a timely examination of this issue with a proper review of the options, while not taking any decisions prior to charter review." This is something the BBC has been pushing for since it first emerged last month that justice secretary Chris Grayling was looking into the issue of decriminalisation of licence fee evasion. Bridgen's first amendment was backed by more than 150 MPs. On Wednesday, he told Radio 4's The Media Show that he realised making the change in legislation to make non-payment a civil offence could not happen immediately, as the corporation has no alternative enforcement system yet and cannot switch off its programmes to households, but that he had made his proposal to "test the sentiment of the House of Commons."

His latest proposals give more detail, saying the review should start within three months of the deregulation act being passed and complete it "no later than" a year after it began. He also calls for a move "to replace the TV licensing offences with civil monetary penalties payable to the BBC." All three of Bridgen's amendments will be discussed by the deregulation bill committee on Tuesday.

Basically, Tory MP Andrew Bridgen believes payments towards the BBC license fee shouldn't be a crime but just a violation, by decriminalizing this law.