I'm Dan Taylor, Executive Editor for TV and iPlayer and part of my job is ensuring the TV programmes the BBC commissions and produces are as discoverable as possible online.
As well as giving information about when our programmes are broadcast on BBC TV and Radio and when they are available in BBC iPlayer we also want to let s know when they are available to buy or access on a commercial basis.
The new Buy Online module
We therefore provide a module on our programme pages which shows the commercial availability of that programme and links through to product pages which list the various formats and suppliers.
Last October Roly Keating wrote about improvements to BBC Online's Buyer's Guide/Commercial Availability feature on the About the BBC blog.
Today I'm updating on further improvements we've recently made to the feature.
The motivation remains the same: help licence fee payers to find the programmes their licence fee helped create, even when they are no longer on television, radio or BBC iPlayer.
So, what's changed and why?
Firstly, a more common sense label: 'Buy Online' replaces the rather stuffy 'Commercial Availability'.
Secondly, a new design where the product page that lists the availability of a programme in different formats inherits the styling of the original programme page (e.g. Doctor Who).
Previous product page for Doctor Who
The new page
Thirdly, the addition of links to digital and on demand streaming services such as iTunes and LOVEFiLM alongside links to physical formats (CD, DVD and Blu-ray).
We carried out extensive testing during the development cycle to make sure that the new presentation made sense to s and tweaked the designs and labelling accordingly.
Future plans include the integration with the Episode Guide on BBC programme pages so you can see at a glance which series and episodes are available to buy online.
We'll also be continuing to add new products and suppliers to make the most comprehensive possible view of BBC programme availability.
Dan Taylor is Executive Editor, BBC TV & iPlayer.
