From today, we’re rolling out a new look for BBC iPlayer’s playback on TVs. It’s a cleaner, sleeker and more pared-back interface, with some changes to how things appear during playback and new, improved subtitles you can customise and control. j5840

The first thing most viewers will notice is the playback bar along the bottom. You will now see a simple, elegant bar that shows how far through the programme you are.

Gone is the play/pause button - play and pause icons are now briefly displayed in the centre of the screen when pausing and resuming, whilst rewinding and fast-forwarding brings up visual stills from the programme, so you can easily see when to press play again.

All the extra controls for more episodes, subtitles and settings and the button to add a programme to your list to watch later have all been moved to the top left of the screen.

As part of these changes, we’ve also made significant improvements to the way viewers can control subtitles on iPlayer. The new position of the subtitles and settings menu makes it easier than ever to turn subtitles on or off, as well as making it easier to choose the audio described and signed versions where available; plus, we’ve also added the ability to change and control the size of the subtitles.

Previously subtitles on iPlayer were automatically displayed as a larger size than we use on broadcast, so as part of these changes, we’ve made the default setting a smaller size. For those who need larger or, indeed, even smaller text, they can now choose from a range of five options. That choice is ed for other programmes they watch in the future.

These changes follow some other recent improvements we’ve made to subtitles on iPlayer on TV. Previously subtitles would appear as coloured sans serif text with a black outline, always at the bottom-middle of the screen. This was far from ideal as, for example, it could be difficult to read the white text if the video image behind it was also white or was patterned. And if the part of the video image behind the subtitles contained something that viewers needed to see to understand the programme – for example, the clues on Only Connect – they could only see it by switching subtitles off.

The improvements we’ve made recently mean when you’re watching iPlayer on a TV, subtitles are now clearly readable, in the BBC Reith Sans typeface, with a black background behind the text, and the correct colours to show who is talking. They are also now positioned to take of what’s on-screen, so they will no longer be covering important information, and mean our viewers who use subtitles can play along with Only Connect and enjoy Victoria Coren-Mitchell’s witty and withering jokes at the same time.

Currently, the new size controls are only available on our on-demand content but will be coming to live channels on iPlayer in the coming weeks. Let us know your on the new look playback interface, the new subtitle controls or anything else at bbc.co.uk/.

> BBC iPlayer - Accessibility

> BBC Technology + Creativity - Accessibility

> BBC R&D - Casualty - Accessible and enhanced audio trial

From the introduction of colour TV on BBC Two for Wimbledon in 1966, to championing free-to-air HDTV for terrestrial viewers, we’ve always been working to improve picture quality for audiences.

Lately, our experiments have seen us make select shows available to watch in Ultra-High Definition (UHD) on BBC iPlayer. So far, we’ve focused on providing on-demand programmes in UHD, but now we’re taking the next step by streaming live UHD content.

On Sunday, we streamed a full Rugby League match between the York City Knights and Catalans Dragons live in UHD and High Dynamic Range on BBC iPlayer Beta. It’s the first time we’ve streamed a live event in such high quality.

For those unfamiliar with the terminology, UHD takes advantage of higher resolution TVs to provide exceptional clarity of picture, while HDR takes this further with greater detail in the shadows and dark areas of the picture, as well as more natural and brighter highlights and mirror-like reflections.

Here at the BBC, we use a type of HDR called Hybrid Log-Gamma (HLG), invented by BBC Research & Development and Japanese broadcaster, NHK. Due to the way HLG represents light, audiences get the most natural colours possible on their televisions at home. In our last experiment, which saw the whole series of Blue Planet II on BBC iPlayer in UHD HDR, this meant that the spectacular animals, vibrant coral reefs and deep blue oceans were brought to life like never before.

The BBC chooses to use HLG for BBC iPlayer because it fits very well and reliably into existing live production workflows. It also provides a great picture not only to HDR devices, but to standard dynamic range (SDR) devices that the BT.2020 wide colour gamut as well. Being able to both HDR and SDR TVs with the same bitstream is cost-effective for the BBC and makes the content available to as wide a range of devices as possible.

However, making the move from on-demand UHD programmes to live UHD footage presents significant engineering challenges for our teams. High quality real-time HEVC encoding of UHD is still in its infancy, and is much more demanding for live programmes than for on-demand. That means we need to use higher distribution bitrates, and that people’s TVs will need to work harder to show the best picture.

We’re always looking to provide our audiences with the best possible viewing experience, and live UHD could be the next step in that journey. We’re now looking at the results from this latest experiment to help us build our understanding for how we might be able to provide live events in UHD in the future.

Predicting the future of TV 3x1n3a

Colleagues right across the BBC, in TV, Strategy, Marketing and Audiences and here in Design & Engineering, are giving a lot of thought at the moment to the future of TV.  Things have changed a lot since the launch of BBC iPlayer 10 years ago, and, if the corporation is to stay relevant to its audiences and their changing habits, it will need to address some big trends.  

In a series of reports entitled Foresight, BBC strategists are looking at the emerging technological developments that will change viewing habits in the next 5-10 years.

The report, entitled The Revolution will be Televised, found 5 main challenges for the future of TV:

• Connectivity: The infrastructure that supplies our homes is improving. Over the next three years, the number of homes with connection speeds of 30mps or more will grow and it's expected that by 2037 most TV will be delivered by IP rather than traditional broadcast technology
• The TV set itself is changing. Until recently most viewers saw the EPG (electronic programme guide) or a broadcast channel by default when they turned on their box. Now TV service providers are putting on-demand or pay TV options ahead of the linear EPG. Others are offering TV  sticks so you can plug their services straight in....or have voice controlled apps built into the TV
• Personalisation:  Through subscription information, companies like Amazon and Netflix are providing content tailored for the viewer, while the BBC is experimenting with different endings to programmes or even food programming depending on what's in your fridge
• Tech giants are making big inroads into TV content.  Facebook is eyeing up sports rights such as cricket and baseball, partly to attract more rs. Google is investing heavily in Youtube as its video platform.  Netflix and Amazon appear to be in a spending war worth billions on original content while Apple is also entering the market with a reported initial fund of $1 billion.
• generated content:  Cheaper TV making equipment is making it easier for the amateur film-maker community to deliver more sophisticated content...and through a growing number of platforms and channels, its easier to deliver it to their growing audiences.

The BBC challenge 4s4e6w

So what does this mean for BBC services? Clearly there will be challenges ahead of creating new formats, new types of programming and even new ways of delivering programming. The BBC has a history of combining technical innovation alongside its content from the beginning of radio and TV and into the internet age.  Can it keep pace now though?

A recent of TV and D&E senior management was quizzed on this. One of the main conclusions of the discussion was that keeping up to date with new trends had to be balanced with offering value for money for the licence fee and providing universal services for all audiences.  So it's a tricky balance.

While there's unlikely to be an immediate revolution, there will be plenty more evolution of TV services to update you on via this blog.

Casualty: Robyn’s Story is a pilot project now live on BBC Taster and created via BBC Connected Studio’s Future of Content programme, where teams from across the BBC are invited to develop innovative digital content ideas around a specific brief. Casey Stander, Production Manager, discusses the creative process - from workshop through development to launch.

The theme for this Connected Studio brief was 'Smartphone Storytelling’, based on giving audiences a starring role in the form of internet-first ideas that look specifically at participation. The successful concept we developed was for The Casualty Storybook project, inviting fans to share in the life of one of the show’s most beloved characters, Nurse Robyn Miller. We have created a social media presence for Robyn, posting content for her across multiple social s that audiences can follow and interact with.

 To deliver relevant, topical and character-specific content is a challenge the project team continues to enjoy. In order to weave an engaging story on Robyn’s social media platforms we start by reading scripts and watching episodes. We use story lines and real-world events, such as the 2016 Olympics, to write and schedule posts as far as eight weeks in advance. This provides the framework of our story telling, which is then nuanced by live posting, commenting and replying out of hours, and during the show’s transmission.

To really capture the attention of fans, we aim to give them a real insight into both Robyn’s life and the life of the Emergency Department. We deliver this by carefully planning photo shoots, filming short videos (from Robyn’s point of view), as well as creating trailers and more formal content such as Q&As.

Each piece of content is painstakingly matched to storylines, and timed to ensure the fans enjoy a constant flow of scoops and behind the scenes action. An excellent example of how this careful planning can translate into doubling followers is the Date Night trailer we filmed and posted to coincide with episode 43 of series 30; Robyn and Glen getting back together was a major peak in our story, and this storyline coincided with the cliff-hanger ending of episode 43. All round this was a fantastic opportunity for us to ride the wave of excitement and enthusiasm generated around the episode.

While planning certainly helps, we have to ensure we are flexible and responsive to our audience. For example, the project team had decided to shoot a series of Holby Olympics videos to post over the show’s summer break. We kicked off with Robyn posting a beautiful photo of the opening ceremony. What we very quickly discovered is that Robyn’s fans were far more interested in watching Casualty than the Olympics – so we changed our plans instantly and filmed a series of short videos focusing on Robyn and her pals instead.

Striking the balance between content directly relating to episodes and content which is personal to Robyn and her friends is something we pay close attention to. The project team works closely with the actors, story producers and script editors to ensure our content is true to the character’s personality – this is absolutely vital. We are Robyn’s voice after all, and we take this responsibility very seriously.

Working as Project Manager on the Casualty Storybook has been a fascinating and unique experience – having the opportunity to interact directly with fans and to lead them along this roller-coaster adventure continues to be rewarding, eye-opening and thrilling. We are far from over though. There is much more to come and it is going to be epic!

As I mentioned in my previous post, the television industry is currently gearing up for a big change in the way programmes are delivered to broadcasters. For many producers, tape was previously the only way of delivering a TV programme. However, as most productions are now shot and edited digitally, it is clear that programmes need to make the transition to digital delivery too.

The BBC Academy has been preparing useful content around this shift to provide a central resource for producers and technical operators alike. From 29th September to 5th October, the Academy is hosting a file delivery takeover week, to coincide with the new AS-11 DPP standard being rolled out today (‘File Delivery day’ as some are calling it). We will be dedicating our homepages to articles and videos to help those in the television industry with this big transition.

 

For those new to the subject, our "File delivery demystified" short film gives an overview of what exactly the switch to tapeless delivery means and the sort of changes it spells out. In the words of Andy Quested, head of technology for BBC HD and UHD, the move to file delivery represents “one of the biggest changes we’ve seen in television since colour”.

One of file delivery’s big headlines for producers is a reconfiguring of the ‘quality control’ (QC) process. A final quality control check needs to be carried out before the programme is delivered to make sure it is editorially and technically ready to go to air. As broadcasters will only be carrying out spot checks, the ultimate responsibility for sign-off lies with the producer. This review process is two-fold, and requires both an ‘eyeball QC’ and an automatic quality control (AQC) check. The former involves watching back the final version of the programme, checking the overall quality and consistency by eye and ear, whilst the latter uses software to check for technical issues which would otherwise be hard to spot manually.

For readers eager to try their hand at an eyeball QC test, we have ed a real One Show clip which has had editorial and technical faults deliberately added. You can watch this and test your QC prowess. See how many errors you can pick up on and tweet @TheBBCAcademy to let us know how you get on.

Before, programme tapes were often physically sent off by courier to the broadcaster. Now programmes will be sent from computer to computer, from the edit facility to the broadcaster. The Digital Production Partnership (DPP) has outlined a standard for delivering a programme as a file. This involves wrapping the programme and its corresponding metadata as something called an AS-11 DPP file. When it’s ready to go, the packaged file needs to be sent via a secure link to the broadcaster. This will ideally have a fast speed to cope with the large file sizes. An hour-long AS-11 DPP file could be around 50 gigabytes in size. That’s a bit too large for a domestic broadband connection if you want to send your file quickly.

For more in-depth details about the file-delivery process we have a series of instructional films based on the File Delivery Made Real tour of events that we organised around the country. In these, you can see the particular processes and tools in action. Our ‘5 things you need to know’ overview summarises each of these videos, which include: finishing your edit, performing an eyeball review, wrapping a file, carrying out an AQC check and delivering your file.

You can also read this post on the BBC R&D blog: "Delivering File Based Delivery".

Finally, today the College of Production hosted a live Q&A session on Twitter with post-production consultant Neil Hatton and the DPP’s Production Technology Lead, Rowan de Pomerai. Catch up on tweets here.

Frederick Botham is a researcher at the BBC College of Technology

Have you got square eyes?

BBC R&D are collecting information about television screen sizes and viewing habits in the UK, to help us make sure that the technical parameters of any future services are appropriate for UK homes. Click here to to view our project page and take part in the survey. You'll need to be at home with a tape measure, and it should only take about 10 minutes. We'd like to reach as wide a range of people as possible, of all ages and from all corners of the UK, so please share the link widely!

We're collecting this information because knowledge of how people watch their televisions is important for planning the technical details of our future services. For example, your screen size and viewing distance will determine whether you are able to see the full resolution of the screen.

Since we carried out a similar survey 10 years ago, flat displays have become much more common, larger screens have become available, and the switch to digital broadcasting is likely to have been an additional prompt for people to upgrade their televisions. So, we need some updated information that is valid for today's viewers. We're also looking to understand any changes in typical screen sizes that might happen in the future: what size of television would people ideally like to have in their homes?

The data we collect will help us to make sure that any new services will deliver the best quality and value to audiences of the future.

Katy Noland is a Project Technologist in BBC Research & Development

BBC Marketing & Audiences is in a unique position to be able to research and understand media behaviours and influences and it's great that we've had the opportunity to share our insight with digital suppliers and partners at the recent Online Briefing.

My presentation shows that despite the range of competing delivery methods linear TV remains remarkably resilient, with the majority of viewers still finding content via the EPG, and many watching the same live programmes every week. In this video I discuss various scenarios for the future of TV based on our research.

Carmen Aitken, Head of Audiences, BBC Future Media

Hi I’m Michael Kibblewhite, a producer for the Fusion project. We are part of the BBC Academy and the development of new skills in creativity and technology both within the BBC and for the wider industry.

We recently held an event in London called Future Fiction and I want to share some of the insights from the day here.

Future Fiction posed the question: where next for drama? In recent years there has been a surge in new and disruptive platforms to distribute content. From Netflix’s distribution of House of Cards to Toshiba funding social media-driven films, change is in the air.

We gathered speakers from across the world of digital distribution and drama production. They discussed how the digital revolution is changing not only the way we consume drama but the way it is developed, produced and commissioned.

You can watch them in action on our YouTube channel or I have distilled some of their key points below.

Introducing ‘espresso fiction’

Shot-sized stories are winning, YouTube’s Rosie Alimonos told our audience of writers and digital creatives. Rosie noted the pulling power of online formats such as The Last and The Lizzie Bennet Diaries where the story develops in real time and the main character talks directly to the audience.

“Be a catalyst, pack a punch and leave them wanting more” is Rosie’s mantra for success for original programmes.

For writer Luke Hyams broadcasting original short-form content through YouTube and other online distribution channels is successful because it enables a connection to the audience, instant and therefore more reactive storytelling.

Producers are able to make use of the specific data available to them and can adjust storylines according to audience behavior as in his popular online series KateModern.

Watch the Espresso Fiction playlist.

Does digital limit storytelling?

“Computers are stupid”. You don’t hear that often, but they remain inferior to writers in the storytelling process technologist Paul Rissen believes. (Best to watch this video of him belowexplaining why.) Essentially, more human touch is the key to development in this space said Nicole Yershon, director of innovative solutions at Ogilvy.

Watch the Limits of Digital playlist.

Keynote speech: Q&A with writer Peter Moffat

Box-set culture “is a great moment for television and the opportunities are profound.” Writer Peter Moffat says that video on demand combats audience inattention and lets the writer take more control.

Commending House of Cards and it’s method of distribution, he is still wary of the future for the series. Netflix reputedly used big data to determine the success of the show so he is mindful of the possibility that statistics will shape its future more that the writers.

Watch our keynote Q&A with writer Peter Moffat.

How can drama production be agile?

We talk of agile development in software teams, but iterative and incremental working can yield results in drama too.   ITV’s head of digital soaps Danny Whitfield is an advocate. It’s about “taking away that comfy chair, making the audience share the story, and create familiar frames in different places” to make innovation easier. 

Watch the Agile Drama playlist.

Formats for the future of fiction

Author Naomi Alderman wants objects to flow from the story world she creates into the real world of her audience. She’s had great success in turning the average jog into a zombie apocalypse in her app Zombies, Run!

Meanwhile, the case for perceptive media was offered by Ian Forrester from BBC Research and Development.  He sees a future with more immersive drama experiences, as the connected experience reacts to body gestures and analyses your data to offer a tailored experience.

Get closer to the discussion and Watch the Future Formats playlist.

The day was ed with workshops, such as lessons on the five-act structure by former BBC Drama Controller John Yorke. He argues that despite recent advances in technology, the fundamentals of storytelling remain the same.

So the future of fiction is not all about reinventing the wheel after all.

What do you want the future of fiction to look like?

Michael Kibblewhite is a producer for BBC Fusion.

Hello there I’m Simon Mackie, an assistant producer for BBC Factual, but I don’t make telly programmes. Instead I work with TV production teams to develop and publish online content that complements their programmes. So I’m a web producer really.

Here I’m going to talk about the online side of the BBC Two series Stargazing LIVE and in particular how we use social media. With around 276,000 visitors/unique browsers to the website in a week and 27,000 followers on Twitter it’s one of the biggest and best things I work on. I won’t lie, I love it.

Stargazing LIVE is about so much more than watching telly. It's about giving people the info and encouragement they need to get involved with real astronomy. There are stacks of s, videos and other goodies on the Stargazing website including the Star Guide 2013 which alone was ed 60,000 times in January.

Managing all the content on the website and liaising with the people who make it is a big part of my role. The analogy I use is that of the website as a shop where I’m the shopkeeper. Helped by colleagues I need to make sure everything is on the shelves and in the shop window in time for the grand opening - when Professor Brian Cox and Dara O Briain tell over three million viewers go to the site. Yikes.

On location at Jodrell Bank I’m part of an experienced web team that includes Peter Harvey, Brett Tremble and Irene Kalkanis (all from BBC Learning) plus Alex Dackevych (BBC Factual). We share desks with the TV team in a makeshift production office. It’s hectic, cramped and cold but for those few days it feels like the centre of the Universe.

Before going on I should also thank the BBC social media experts, web developers, content producers and commissioning executives (bosses) who weren’t on location but did make it all happen.

 

So there’s all the stuff on the website but to make it a two-way conversation we use Twitter, Flickr, live web chats and online citizen science projects.

This year the time was ripe to run a Twitter , @BBCStargazing, rather than flashing up an onscreen hashtag. More people are tweeting with each ing day and the TV team had a real appetite to make Stargazing more participatory than ever before.

By the way, at the Beeb we can’t open Twitter s willy nilly. First we speak to our social media experts who ensure that we’ve got the right experience and a long-term plan to offer relevant and fun content. As I run another Twitter at the BBC it made sense that I'd kick things off for Stargazing before sharing duties with colleagues from BBC Learning. They’re still tweeting even though the programme is off air, so keep following.

And what did we use Twitter for? Well the ’s description (or ‘promise’ as I call it) at the time said 'news, event details and behind-the-scenes photos'. The wording was very deliberate. That’s all stuff I knew we could tweet quickly and easily. With little time to prepare it was a case of tweeting by your wits and being alert to photo opportunities. Oh and being nice to people – everyone likes a free badge.

One thing I didn’t want to do was invite loads of questions that we couldn’t fully answer on Twitter. The place for those was on Stargazing: Back to Earth, an extra programme that immediately follows the main show. It’s more relaxed and chatty, the perfect format for the presenters and guests to answer viewers’ questions.

So in the days or even minutes before each show we sent out tweets asking for astronomy questions. And so that the Back to Earth team could search for the questions in their Twitter feeds we asked people to include #QStargazing in their tweets.

I think we did pretty well on Twitter. Only one person manned the decks at a time but by the end of the series we’d tweeted over 700 times to 27,000 followers. Altogether there were more than 66,000 tweets made by people about the show. We even had a direct message from Chris Hadfield, an astronaut on board the International Space Station (still boggles my mind).

Saying that, the fantastic response to the programme on Twitter meant it was hard to stay across it all. Indeed, #stargazinglive trended worldwide for 15 minutes during the first episode. Next time (if they ask me back) I’d like to plan even more – though you still need to be spontaneous and react to unfolding events.

 

Right, I’ll quickly whizz through the other ways we grabbed the audience with our social tentacles, starting with Flickr.

Ever since Stargazing started in 2011 it’s shared a Flickr photo group with The Sky at Night. I wasn’t involved back then but it was a smart move to tap into this existing and ionate astrophotography community and great to up a revered BBC astronomy show with the new kid on the block.

Beyond the simple pleasure of sharing your starry snaps with others, there’s a further incentive: national fame! Each night on Back to Earth astronomer Mark Thompson discusses his favourites. And it’s a handy resource for making extra online content too, such as this audio slideshow. As I write the Flickr photo group comprises almost 5,000 and over 31,000 s.

 

Another way we spoke directly with the audience was through three live web chats with bona fide scientists. Each night several astronomers, including a NASA expert in Houston, answered s’ questions as the show aired. We also used the chats to post pre-prepared behind-the-scenes photos, news and relevant facts.

There was an average of 3,350 s taking part each night and next year if we do them again I’d like Brian and Dara to shout from the rooftops that the chats also work on smartphones and tablets. And maybe we could look at doing them at different times - possibly earlier in the day when we could even coordinate with schools for a new and captive audience.

Finally, let’s explore Mars. Yes, really. Last year we teamed up with Zooniverse, the pioneering online citizen science group, and made quite a discovery. After that success we wanted to offer something similar again and so Planet Four was born. The gist is to help scientists understand more about the surface of Mars by getting the audience to spot particular features in photos taken by NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.

My part was easy. I just had to speak to Dr Chris Lintott, the man behind Zooniverse, about when to put a big fat link on the Stargazing website. So far almost 70,000 participants have contributed to this real science by classifying over 3.6 million images. In most cases no human eye has ever seen these images before, I think that’s just brilliant.

I hope that gives you some insight into my role on Stargazing LIVE and how we use the web to interact with the audience at home. The Beeb’s mission is to inform, educate and entertain – hopefully we’ve added a little inspiration and discussion too.

Many thanks to the TV production team and our hosts at Jodrell Bank for yet again being so web-friendly.

Feel free to ask me anything in the comments below.

Ad Astra!

Simon Mackie is an assistant producer for BBC Factual.

I’m Sarah Clay, online exec for BBC Drama and Entertainment. I look after programmes such as The Voice UK, The Apprentice, Britain Unzipped and Being Human, brands that work really well online as a way of expanding the viewers’ experience beyond TV.

The Voice is a Saturday night entertainment show on BBC One. Coaches Jessie J, will.i.am, Sir Tom Jones and Danny O’Donoughue search for the UK’s best singing talent based purely on the quality of their voice.

The show is exciting as digital is at the heart of the format. Social media gives fans a direct line to the talent and to the show. Where else would you get will.i.am tweeting on stage mid song?

The first series of The Voice was huge from a digital perspective and the website was one of our top performing BBC programme sites during the period it was on air.

The show dominated social chatter, trending regularly on Twitter both globally and in the UK. It attracted 215k Twitter followers plus 250k Facebook fans.

There have also been over 113 million global YouTube views to our video content since launch.

Series two is going to be even bigger online than last year. Fans can look forward to more exclusive online videos, informal backstage images and content created especially for our Facebook and Twitter fans to make the experience feel more personal and fun.

We’re also expanding our social media platforms to include Instagram, Pinterest and Tumblr.

Content will be tailored to each platform: showcasing our style and fashion related content on Pinterest, delivering more light hearted fun content and animated gifs on Tumblr and giving fans access to a wealth of backstage pics via Instagram.

We’re bringing the content to the fans so they can connect with The Voice whenever and wherever they choose.

This year, we will also be introducing a new live blog that will curate the best social media content and conversation from across the web and showcase it on The Voice UK website.

A great example is the recent Q&A with David Attenborough run on a live blog alongside the BBC One show Africa. ’s tweets, questions, pictures and even clips can be pulled into a stream and displayed on the BBC website.

On top of all this we’re launching a brand new companion experience called The Voice Predictor Game.

We’re always looking for fun and exciting ways to expand the viewers' experience beyond TV, especially as more and more internet connected devices make their way into people’s living rooms.

How can we tap into the ions and behaviours that the show inspires and give people something extra?

The Voice Predictor Game builds on the success of the recent Antiques Roadshow play-along game and will be available on the BBC Voice UK website as a Flash game and later on mobile iOS and Android devices to ed as an app.

As we saw with the blind auditions in series one, fans really loved the idea of second guessing the coaches. They also liked the idea of experiencing the show as the coaches do: listening to the artists without seeing them. Cue the audition predictor game.

Players get to listen to six exclusive audition previews from the show and have to predict, based on their voices, whether or not the acts will make it through on Saturday night.

They can share their predictions on Facebook and Twitter and see how well they know the coaches by tuning into to Saturday’s show.

Viewers can also play-along during the show. As each artist auditions, the players have to predict which team they will end up on.

We're hoping the game will appeal to our younger fans but also mirror the success of other BBC companion experiences, such as the Antiques Roadshow play-along game where we saw mainstream BBC One audiences getting involved, making their viewing experience even better.

We’ll be updating you throughout the series, sharing developments and letting you know how it’s going. We’re hoping lots of you will want to in, either by predicting who will get through via the app, or ing the conversation on social media.

It’s always great to hear what you think, so looking forward to hearing your comments below.

Where to find us...

The BBC Voice UK website

Twitter

Facebook

Tumblr

Instagram

Pinterest

Sarah Clay is online exec for BBC Drama and Entertainment.

Hi I’m Andy Quested, chief technologist HD & 3D, BBC Technology.

It’s been five years since my first blog about the BBC HD Channel and I can’t believe so much time has ed and so many things have happened since the channel and high definition began!

BBC Two HD starts on the 26 March and already several of you have spotted that this means the end of the test card and AV sync test signals.

The test card returned in December 2008 after a long break in a new ’turbo charged’ high definition format along with the brand new AV sync check signal.

The test signal package was added to the BBC HD promotion after we had many complaints about lip sync and ‘odd’ looking pictures. We took some time to have a long look at all the issues and suggestions coming in but we also looked at how the then new high definition televisions were set up when they were delivered.

The biggest issue was definitely lip sync however the complaints suggested we could have up to a four frame audio lead and a two frame video lead – often on the same programme and at the same time!

To get to the bottom of this a colleague from BBC Research and Development (BBC R&D) and I did an end to end sync check of the channel and all its processes. This included a couple of on-air tests to confirm the transmission encoders were not introducing sync errors.

We did find a couple of small problems and after they were corrected I could safely say the system was ‘alright arriving at you’ – a modification of the old engineering phrase ‘it’s alright leaving me’!

The test card and AV sync signal started to go out just before Christmas 2008 and were accompanied by my blog A Christmas Present from HD Channel that included help setting up new high definition televisions and the many (and varied) AV surround systems being attached.

I was very pleased to see a drop in lip sync complaints to virtually zero over the next few weeks. Now whenever we get complaints we can investigate the source, especially when people say they have confirmed their system is correct by using the test signal.

If you want to know more about the tests carried out and the processing involved, the BBC R&D White Paper is worth a read!

The last transmission of the BBC HD Channel promo is actually the morning of the 25 March through to the start of programming later that day. However, after the last programme at around 1.30am on the morning of the 26 (still to be confirmed) and the start of BBC Two HD programmes at 6.30am there is a gap and I made what would be called a ‘land grab’ for the time!

To say goodbye to the test signals we will be transmitting them continuously overnight!

To make it more interesting I have worked with BBC R&D colleagues to recreate some of the older test cards from a 30 line version through the 405 line era, on to 625, colour, widescreen and finally high definition.

I must thank all the current and past BBC R&D engineers who put so much expertise into creating many of these industry standard test cards.

The loop is 10 minutes long so set your PVRs for about a 30 minute recording any time after the last programme (please check the EPGs just in case there are last minute schedule changes) until around 6.00am.

Please that the majority of these cards are recreations adapted for the HD Channel and not the originals and also that the HD version is still the modified version which means the grey scale is not exactly correct, but I hope that doesn’t distract from the event.

As for a re-return of the test card I can’t say. Personally I would like to see it again sometime.

Many thanks to all of you who have contributed to the BBC HD Channel blogs in the past but I am sure there will be more blogs about HD and beyond to come.

Andy Quested is chief technologist HD & 3D, BBC Technology.

I’m Rowan Kerek Robertson, editorial lead for Social Media in BBC Vision.

My job, along with a small team, is about helping to ensure that the BBC’s TV programmes and channels use social media in ways which are as useful, entertaining and engaging as possible be it on BBC Online like the TV blog and other blogs, or in places like Twitter, Facebook or flickr.

My team and I are dedicated to bridging the gap between BBC producers and production teams and BBC audiences by using the social web.

The BBC as a whole has a strong tradition of engaging with audiences and a long history of using social media (relatively speaking…).

In the past I often found myself talking to producers about the differences between broadcasting and conversation. Broadcast is, of course, a one way route but conversation requires you to not only speak but also to listen.

But now more and more producers are getting used to social spaces such as Facebook, Twitter and photo sharing services like Instagram, Pinterest and flickr.

This means that our main challenge is now less about helping producers understand the nuances of social media but working together with people like our colleagues in BBC Marketing to think about what we do and how we’re going to do it.

It’s the same challenge that meets every of social media: if you can talk to the world about anything and everything that you do, how do you make sure it is interesting?  

In Vision’s Social Media team we help producers to get the most out of social in a number of ways.

We look at what content is coming up and which social platforms different types of audiences are using and help producers analyse activity that relates to programmes and brands as much as we can.

We then help production teams think about how much resource different kinds of social activity might require and the tone of voice or character their activity online might have.

Social media offers an increasingly elegant and effective way to ask people what they think, such as on the long standing Points of View message boards. It also helps people feed into our programmes in direct ways and to share extra content that isn’t part of what a linear programme can offer.

It can also help us get TV programmes and related content to people who might otherwise not have been aware of it.

The wide ranging output of my part of the BBC never ceases to amaze me. TV programmes which are so familiar that their theme tunes play in the nation’s subconscious like Eastenders and Strictly alongside series which mark the ing of the year like Springwatch, Eurovision and Comic Relief and brands which aren’t on TV but live primarily online such as Your Paintings, BBC Nature or BBC Food.

Because of the wide and diverse range of content there’s no one-size-fits-all solution to social media activity.

For Eastenders it’s all about sharing brilliant content and extending the programme for its real fans. So the Eastenders blog is full of photo spoilers and fun additional content like Queen Vic’s Speech 2012 delivered by the Queen Vic bust herself.

And alongside their official s on Facebook and Twitter (which have 2.9 million and 300 thousand followers respectively) you can also find fictional s from Eastenders characters popping up, like the one from cheeky chappie Fatboy who is followed by 30 thousand on Twitter. Those with an eagle eye will occasionally see references to his activity in the programme.

Stargazing Live is a lovely example of a BBC programme that’s using social media primarily to talk with its audience.

A of experts has taken part in live web chats during each series so far, answering peoples’ space-related questions as well as sharing behind-the-scenes photos and facts.

Stargazing and The Sky at Night also share a flickr group, which is crammed full of people sharing their honestly mind blowing photos. The group has five thousand and 30 thousand photos which are well worth a few minutes of your time.

And as well as their of projects like Zooniverse (you can literally help to map parts of Mars that you’ll be the first human to ever set eyes on) you can, from this series, follow them on Twitter along with 27 thousand others.

Perhaps because of the hardware divide between watching telly and being online, albeit a divide which is lessening all the time, UK television channels by and large haven’t been terribly big names in the social world.

Naturally it has been the younger channels which have led the way. For us, BBC Three has been digitally engaged with their audience for several years.

BBC Three’s social media offers on Facebook (532 thousand fans) and Twitter (140 thousand followers) are great ways of staying across the wealth of new programmes that the channel puts out, as well as voicing your opinions about their thought provoking shows.

BBC One has recently launched itself into the social whirl of Facebook too. BBC One’s Facebook page, currently with 33 thousand fans, is all about sharing the love for some of the nation’s favourite telly.

You can also check out and like images of the first televised coverage of the Olympics Games, the first ever Children In Need and of course the inception of Trotter’s Independent Traders.

We’re also seeing more and more TV programmes bringing social activity right into the heart of live shows like Free Speech on BBC Three which includes audience reactions from social media within debate on the programme itself.

This is done all the time in BBC radio but on TV it can take considerable planning due to the scale of TV productions.

If you’ve participated in any of the social spaces I’ve talked about in the post I’d be really interested in your thoughts.

Rowan Kerek Robertson is editorial lead for Social Media in BBC Vision.

Hi my name's Rowan and I work in a small team who look after the technology strategy for the TV making parts of the BBC. That includes everything from cameras and edit platforms to programme delivery and archive.

We work with production teams and other BBC s to understand what they need and design and deliver technology solutions to meet those needs.

We also help s across the BBC to understand new technology and how it might help them or enable them to work in ways which might be quicker, easier, cheaper or enable greater creative flexibility.

 

Right now a lot of what's keeping me busy is related to file-based delivery and in particular Quality Control (QC). I've been speaking on the latter topic today at the Broadcast Video Expo in London and I wanted to share the story here too.

Believe it or not finished TV programmes at the BBC, as at most broadcasters, still generally get laid onto digital video tape in order to be shipped around the country, sent to our playout centre and archived on a shelf.

In an environment where we shoot on file-based cameras, edit in file-based suites and play out from servers you could say that's a little crazy.

However, transitioning to an end-to-end file-based process without disrupting the production and broadcast process and without affecting the quality of our output is a big piece of work. Yet it also provides a huge opportunity to improve the way we do certain things and one of those things is quality control.

In a tape-based world we review every programme tape in a high-quality viewing environment with lots of technical kit like oscilloscopes and audio meters. We call this process Technical Review, though it checks for a huge range of errors from making sure that the video and audio signals comply with international standards, to making sure the pictures are in focus and the credits are spelled correctly.

This ensures that the progamme will through the playout systems, transmitters and your TV without being degraded or causing equipment to fail and makes sure the finished product looks good once it gets there.

In a file-based world we'd like to remove a lot of those real-time, expensive and old-fashioned bits of equipment and replace them with an automated, software-based analysis system.

That would leave the human 'eyeball' check to focus on those more subjective issues like colour balance, graphics and general picture quality, taking the real technical headaches away.

I've been working on this project for almost two years now, starting with an assessment of the QC tools that are now available on the market and then looking into how we can use them in our workflows.

For example, wouldn't it be better if an editor could get the results of the QC test while still in the edit suite rather than waiting two days to ship a tape, book a Technical Review and get a response? Then any issues could be fixed straight away.

We've also been working with the wider industry on this transition as the BBC certainly isn't unique in using this technology!

Myself and Andy Quested are involved with the European Broadcasting Union's (EBU) strategic programme on Quality Control where we're trying to ensure that all the vendors and all the broadcasters in the group agree on common standards and terminology for the sorts of tests we do.

Within the UK the Digital Production Partnership (DPP) is looking at which of these tests are needed for new programme delivery with the aim of having a relatively standard process across all the UK broadcasters.

That would make it easier for independent production companies and facilities houses who provide programmes and services to many different broadcasters.

All in all we have one simple aim: to ensure that the TV we broadcast to you is of a high technical quality whilst spending as little of your license fee on that process as possible so that as much money as possible goes into making programmes in the first place.

We're on a long journey of changing and improving the QC process with much still to do but there are exciting times ahead.

If you have any questions or comments please feel free to leave a response below.

Rowan de Pomerai is a technologist in BBC Technology, Distribution & Archive.

I’m Michael Orwell a producer from BBC Knowledge & Learning specialising in science and based in London.

the Science Club

Dara O Briain’s Science Club was a six-part BBC Two series which began in November 2012 where the big ideas in science were taken apart and viewed from many different angles in an irreverent but penetrating manner.

While the number of viewers may not yet rival series like Horizon or Wonders of the Solar System, it has a dedicated, growing group of fans.

The ambitions of the Knowledge & Learning product are less about providing ing content for programmes and more about providing onward online journeys for a factual topic that might have ‘sparked’ curiosity in a BBC audience member.

As the product is still in development my team and I had the opportunity to experiment with existing content formats to let curious viewers get a bit extra out of an area or topic which is featured in a BBC programme.

We set up a Twitter - @bbcscienceclub, alongside live web chats which have been used in Stargazing and Volcano Live.

Finally we commissioned news features around ideas from the episodes to whet the audience’s appetite for those big science stories.

Trying something different with Twitter

With @bbcscienceclub we decided to tweet out highly relevant content, closely synchronised to what was happening on-screen.

Obviously other BBC Twitter s have taken a ‘live tweeting’ or second screen approach but we used early versions of the recorded programme to research and in some cases commission highly relevant, synchronised ‘micro-content’.

So if you liked an idea on the big screen there would be something extra on your laptop, tablet or phone right there waiting for you, straight away.
 

Engaging the audience

Each tweet’s success is measured in part by a term called ‘engagement’ that is calculated by the percentage of followers of an who reply, ‘re-tweet’ or ‘favourite’ it.

We aimed to make most of our tweets consumable in the Twitter browser itself so we expected quirky ‘micro-facts’, famous quotes, backstage photographs and our exclusive ‘doodles’ to engage well.

But we also found that tweets which linked to deeper content, by which I mean more in-depth content, could perform equally well if tweeted at the right point of the programme.

The following tweet linked to a BBC News Magazine feature about how phantom limb syndrome had been effectively treated with just a mirror.

It was tweeted after an in-programme demonstration of limb confusion caused by a prosthetic arm and a hammer!

This was re-tweeted 150 times and the link clicked on more than 2,400 times. The tweet also contained a surprising fact about the high proportion of amputees who experience the syndrome which people seemed to find interesting.

Generating discussion

Here you can see the social media analytics showing activity around episode three of Dara O Briain’s Science Club which had an extinction theme.

The big peak in activity at 9.35pm was in response to Alok Jha’s film about the ethics of ‘big species’ conservation. We organised an on-screen hashtag to be displayed and tweeted out the question to our twitter followers.

The benefit of taking a discussion like this to Twitter is that it includes people who aren’t necessarily watching the show, but it also encourages viewers to start posting their own links and blog posts to their take on the discussion.

Our programme-inspired ‘discussions’ trended once (#talktoaliens) and the general hashtag #scienceclub trended several times in the UK showing that the range of topics on offer seemed to get viewers strongly engaging.

Clicking through to deeper content

Over the course of the series links posted in tweets were clicked on 19,297 times often taking viewers into ‘deep’ content.

Towards the end of the series exclusive web content was very popular with the online clip of Imogen Heap’s technologically impressive musical performance visited nearly 1000 times during broadcast.   

                                                                  Imogen Heap

Other surprisingly popular tweets resulted in 720 clicks to a scientifically proven motivational playlist and over 1000 clicks to the BBC’s seminal SEX ID test, demonstrating the continued appetite for BBC Lab UK style tests and surveys.

This level of engagement with deeper content is remarkable for a programme with a medium sized audience and small but growing number of followers.

Building a following

The BBC Science Club was only opened on the 1st of November 2012, just four days before the first programme transmitted.

However in under two months we built a following of over 20,000 which is still increasing. I think this is due in part to the engaging nature of the programme but also shows the benefit of a thoughtful and well-resourced social offer.

Chatting to an expert

We also wanted to experiment with using the webchat tool called Cover it Live to post the same scripted content but also to encourage more comments and questions from the viewers.

We recruited some experts to watch the programme as it transmitted, giving their thoughts and answering questions from viewers who were intrigued by the ideas in the programmes.

We had to be careful not to create an activity that distracted too much from the central activity of watching the programme but complemented it.

This approach opened up the question of whether it is better to invite people to ‘come to you’ or whether you should take the discussion to where the online audience already exists.

Throughout the series we encountered far fewer interactions with the webchats than in Twitter but the webchats provoked some fantastic questions which created excellent content for the rest of the live chat audience.

These chats clearly allowed ‘superfans’ to have a ‘deep-dive’ into the themes of the programme and this seems like a valuable part of the experience for factual online content.

What’s next?

Both these content platforms provided great, relevant content to curious and interested viewers of Dara O Briain’s Science Club.

The audience’s high engagement with the Twitter does suggest that scalable efforts for pre-recorded factual programmes could be very worthwhile and also offer hints at how connected TV / IPTV apps could help deliver extra digital content as you watch the best of BBC Science programming.

Many thanks to Joelle Allen and Jennifer Green for providing statistics and analysis.

Michael Orwell is a producer for BBC Knowledge & Learning.

I'm Tom Williams, development editor for Red Button and dual screen in BBC Vision.

Today we launched the Antiques Roadshow play along app for mobiles and tablets. It's a first for the BBC and builds on the hugely successful Red Button play-along game we launched last October.

Play along with Antiques Roadshow from your mobile

Here's how it works: launch the app while you're watching Antiques Roadshow, press 'Play along with the programme' and choose a value for each of the objects featured.

A clock tells you how long you have before the expert gives their valuation. The app keeps a running total of the objects you value correctly and gives you a ranking at the end of the programme: novice, enthusiast, connoisseur or expert.

You need to get over 75% correct to get to expert level and believe me that's quite a challenge. At the end of the quiz we'll link you to more information on the top finds of the episode you've just watched and from the series so far.

Why Antiques Roadshow?

As development editor my priority was to create a companion experience that would genuinely enhance a programme for a mainstream audience.

We piloted a number of titles but Antiques Roadshow stood out. As soon as we tested the first prototype of the app with audiences we saw what a buzz it created in the living room.

The interface is simple enough not to distract from the programme and the interaction builds on existing behaviour - who doesn't shout out what they think an item's worth?

Antiques Roadshow is a key title for BBC One regularly pulling in over six million viewers on a Sunday night.

It's now in its 35th year and Simon Shaw, the series editor, and his team are constantly seeking out new ways to keep the programme fresh while maintaining the core values that audiences love.

The new app does exactly that.

Play along with Antiques Roadshow

The app is one of BBC Vision's portfolio of companion experiences - a strategy driven by Victoria Jaye and outlined in her blog last year and part of the BBC's plans announced by Daniel Danker to build on our Red Button offer in a connected world.

Viewers love playing along

The mobile and tablet app builds on the existing Red Button offer providing a much improved interface and the ability for multiple players to play along in the same room.

So far, over 1.5 million unique s have pressed red to play along and the response on Twitter has been incredibly positive. You can read some of our favourite tweets about the red button service on Tom Bedwell's Storify page (N.B: includes strong language).

Simple magic

At the heart of the app is a great bit of technology that's totally invisible to our audiences - audio watermarking.

We've embedded inaudible signals in the soundtrack of the programme that are picked up by the microphone of a phone or tablet.

These are used to identify the episode, line up the correct questions and then display them at exactly the right point in the programme.

In short it provides a way of ing up your TV and mobile/tablet without having to do anything complicated. In fact it makes the whole experience feel a bit like magic.

It has the added bonus of synchronising the app with the programme however you choose to watch it, whether on BBC One, a recording of the programme or on BBC iPlayer.

There's more information on audio watermarking and one of our early pilots in the R&D blog.

Collaboration

The app was built and designed in Salford by the BBC Future Media team. It's editorially driven by the television production team in Bristol, enhanced by onward journeys into the history behind the programme's top finds from Knowledge and Learning with invaluable contributions from R&D, Marketing and Audiences teams here in London.

It's been an amazing feat of collaboration across multiple teams considering that four-way video conferences were often the only way of linking the teams together.

An alternative career beckons?

Give it a go and let us know what you think

The Antiques Roadshow website has details on how to the app and information on when the programmes go out on BBC One.

If you can't wait until Sunday, you can play along now with the programme in iPlayer. Give it a go and see how you do. Are you novice, enthusiast, connoisseur or expert? We'll be keeping an eye out for the hashtag #AntiquesRoadshow if you want to let us know.

By the way, the image above shows my score last time I had a go so beat that if you can.

The app works on Android mobile devices up to 7" running firmware 2.2 & above and iPhones, iPads and iPod Touches running iOS 5.1 and above.

Tom Williams is development editor, Red Button and IPTV.