REVOLUTIONS provoke fear and anticipation in about equal measure. The revolution starting to hit broadcasting is no exception. “On-demand” is the slogan of this communications revolution and it will change everything in broadcasting, both for audiences and for the industry.
As it unfolds, the industry has begun to respond with a rush of sometimes unlikely-sounding alliances: ITV with Friends Reunited, BSkyB with Microsoft, NTL with Virgin Mobile. Meanwhile audiences, some hungry for the huge benefits that on-demand offers, others just confused by what it all means, watch and wait.
For audiences, the benefits are clear — much greater convenience and dramatically increased choice. Convenience comes because on-demand gives audience the chance to watch whatever they want, whenever they want, however they want, with services delivered via broadband to the screen of their choice, whether it’s a giant plasma or a mobile phone. Choice comes because on-demand holds the potential for many new providers to enter the market, bringing a vastly increased range of content.
In this new broadcasting world there are no fixed schedules. Channels become much less important. Search engines guide viewers to the content they want. Content is available in many different versions on many different platforms. Programmes no longer have to fit the scheduler’s imperative of 30 or 60-minute slots — they can be any length viewers want. And almost anyone can be a content-provider, from a big Hollywood studio to someone capturing a news event on their mobile phone camera.
While the benefits for audiences are obvious, many in the industry are worried. This revolution spells disruption in a big way. It is going to put huge new pressures on traditional broadcasters and content-providers, including the BBC. But my job is to represent the interests of our audiences — and from their point of view, this should be a revolution to celebrate. More convenience. More choice. Who can complain about that?
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But before we start celebrating, we need to be aware of two threats. The first is to quality. Technological change and intensifying competition may tempt some businesses to defend their profits by concentrating on tried and tested crowd-pleasers. If that’s the road to satisfying the shareholders, then it’s commercially the right one to take, but only in the short term. It is certainly not the road our licence-fee payers want the BBC to take.
All the research — and all my instincts and experience — tell me this: audiences value high-quality, distinctive content. They always have and they always will. In this new world the relevance of the BBC to its audiences in terms of stability and commitment to quality and creativity will be even greater.
But the very definition of quality may have to expand. Relevance and timeliness are going to matter to viewers just as much as great writing, direction and production: not what just what I want, but when I want it, and how I want it. The template of a successful creative team may have to change too. It may have to include great marketing people who really understand how to engage with and respond to the rapidly changing audience needs that will be revealed in this new world. There will have to be savvy rights experts too — an awful lot of wonderful ideas will founder on the rocks of intractable rights issues unless they are grappled with at the start of the creative process, not later.
And let’s not forget the smart software engineers to develop creative interactive elements and the right labelling so that new content is easy to find by the search engines. This is not to make a case for technology leading creativity. Creativity must always lead. But technology must have a seat at the creative table if our audiences are to gain maximum value from the potential that on-demand offers.
The second threat comes from the tendency of hardware makers to erect barriers round highly attractive content so that it can be accessed only by devices from a particular manufacturer. This is an understandable but short-sighted attempt to guarantee a share of this volatile new market. If the industry really cares about audiences, then it must put real effort into agreeing common technical standards. Too many new devices already only work with content from a particular source and are not universal.
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Recent history tells us this is madness. It will confuse and deter the audiences who rightly do not care who makes the device they use to access their media. But they do care that whatever device they invest in gives them access to whatever media content they want. The current situation is a gift for the pirates.
It comes back to this: What do audiences expect? What do they want? What do they need? How can these things be delivered in ways that are simple to access and universally available? I believe that, for both public and private sectors, simplicity and universality are key principles on which success will be founded.
These, alongside a renewed commitment to quality and distinctiveness and a willingness to experiment with traditional working practices, will ensure that audiences get the maximum benefit from the on-demand revolution. And if that can be achieved, then for the industry and audiences alike the future need hold no fears.
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Michael Grade is Chairman of the BBC. He is the keynote speaker at the convention of the National Association of Television Programme Executives in Las Vegas this week