Digital radio: restoring the theatre of our mind
That’s the goal of BBC’s John Ousby when it comes to online radio and interactive media. Whereas some from the days of transistors may think online media drains the users’ radio experience, John believes it can be socially enriched and relevant. He’s the head of distribution technology for BBC Radio, Music and Interactive. It was a pleasure meeting him and learning more about his digital initiatives at a recent Digital Media VIP roundtable hosted by the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB).
Roundtable talks
John spoke to a fantastic roundtable of digital broadcasting leaders and later facilitated a robust Q&A. Folks from NPR, AOL, Worldspace, the Integrated Media Association, DC Broadcaster Alliance, popular blog Mommycast, Michael Chinn Creative, and more joined in the night’s conversation.
“The best way to control your content is to be the best provider of it. “ -John Ousby
Shoot The Summer: think great music & lots of mobile video
The interactive media projects that John shared were robust and creative. They made me a fan of his work especially on the mobile front (and motivated me to think how the community behind them could translate the lessons to small business practice). A favorite initiative discussed: Shoot The Summer, a one hour digital video cut from compiled cell phone footage. It just rocked. To capture the inherently interactive pulse of the UK’s summer of music festivals, John’s BBC team distributed cell phones – equipped with video cams – to many festival goers and performers.
Throughout this project and throughout BBC’s overall interactive media approach, personalizing content remained key. And what resulted with Shoot The Summer were hundreds of hours of mobile video edited into a one hour long cut, creating a diverse, adrenaline packed story of the summer.
Magic ticket: making the inaccessible accessible
Another community-centric initiative with BBC listeners was a Radio 1 project involving web cams and hip software. There was a sold-out UK concert with an enormous waiting list to get in (to the tune of thousands). In order to make that event as accessible as possible, John’s team launched an online program to open up access. They made a certain software available that if downloaded – and with a webcam – concert viewers could virtually attend the concert from their living room. By scanning a printed ticket in front of the web cam, concert events would be visually activated, giving online viewers a concert-from-home.
I like finding interesting ways to tell stories; and we are our own studio.
BBC’s focus and forecasts for 2009
Continuing to drive valuable content and extend reach will be John’s focus along with choosing what conversations occur online related to BBC interactive. And at the top of the list of growing opportunity? mobile media. Throughout next year, BBC’s interactive radio team will definitely be on my radar on how to further involve community with digital and mobile tech.
Quick shout out:
Thanks to NAB’s Peggy Miles for letting me join the night.
(logo used with permission from Digital Media VIP Connector Peggy Miles)
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