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Next generation: up to a third of iPlayer views are children's programmes

2018-08-14T09:50:41+00:00

Children growing up today have never been bound by a linear TV schedule. Being able to catch up, stream or download box sets of new shows are native concepts to them. Some CBBC programmes receive a bigger proportion of iPlayer viewing than the TV channel.

In 2013 we began to curate children’s programmes on the BBC iPlayer, to make the dramas and comedies they love easier to find but also showcase hidden gems, such as our documentary strand about extraordinary children, My Life, or Newsround Specials, which give greater context for children to a news or current affairs issue.

The launch of the iPlayer Kids app in 2016 took this a step further in that we were able to serve up content relevant to a child’s age. We could be specific in our curation for the under 4s, for instance, by pulling together song or ‘sleepy time’ collections, as well as a playlist featuring their favourite characters. For the 8-9s, we were able to introduce more full series drama box sets and themed collections, such as cartoons or comedies.

This year, the creation of personalised homepages brings CBBC and CBeebies content together with programmes across the BBC that we know children enjoy, such as Blue Planet and Match Of The Day. It also means we can showcase cherry picked appropriate content from big events like Radio 1’s Biggest Weekend and Glastonbury.

Whereas previously under-13s visiting iPlayer would have seen the same homepage as their parents, they now receive an appropriate, carefully curated selection of programmes across the BBC, while still being able to find out what is most popular on CBBC and CBeebies so they don’t miss out.

In some weeks around a third of the total views across BBC iPlayer come from CBeebies and CBBC programmes. We want build on this success by giving our audience more what they love, and more box sets so that children can see programmes they may have missed out on first time round, or watch again and again at their leisure.

We have already changed the way we schedule our TV channels, showing back to back dramas in the daytime while children are at School so the full series is made available on iPlayer.

Our iPlayer pages should also reflect the lives of audience. This means highlighting topical content, for example a playlist for children starting school for the first time, getting excited about the World Cup or special collections for cultural events such as Christmas, Bonfire Night, Halloween, Diwali, and Eid.

Attention-grabbing images are important to highlight children’s content on iPlayer, in particular for CBeebies where we know some of the audience aren’t able to read yet and will be led by a compelling picture. They must give some idea of what the programme is about, but retain intrigue and stand out on a mobile device as well as a 4K TV screen.

Similarly, there are stronger titles for content - Episode 1 doesn’t really sell a programme as much as New House [Topsy & Tim], or Mean Twirls [The Next Step]!

We might also use the recommendations that appear for all iPlayer users to previews of a new show, or a story-so-far clip to explain the narrative of a long-running series.

Ultimately, as well as making the iPlayer easier to use for children, and keeping in mind that our remit is to educate as well as entertain, we’re taking on the challenge laid down by Tony Hall last year for all of the BBC to help change iPlayer from a catch-up destination into the UK’s best online TV service.

CBeebies Pablo: empowering young people with autism

2017-09-29T12:30:00+00:00

A new CBeebies series with a difference launches on Monday 2nd October, its central character and voice cast are all on the autism spectrum. Pablo is a significant show for CBeebies - reflecting our desire to be as inclusive as possible and cementing our ‘Everyone's Welcome’ campaign.

Pablo has been a true collaboration between CBeebies and RTEjr and is something only we would do - empowering young people with autism to tell their own stories and perform them. Every episode is grounded in their real-life experiences, bringing their ideas and perspectives to life in an honest and humorous way. I have such respect for the team at Paper Owl Films for creating this distinctive and authentic series which will resonate with so many families.

This week there was an official launch for Pablo in Belfast before Monday's TV premiere. Head Writer Andrew Brenner was joined on stage by fellow writers Sumita Majumdar, Tony Finnegan, Michael White, Rosie King and Paul Isaacs who talked about how they see the world in different ways and how their experiences became the inspiration for Pablo's adventures.

They shared the experiences which led to stories like 'The Super Place', where the supermarket is an overwhelming environment where objects cry out for attention. Or 'The Aroma', in which an unusual smell becomes a swirling character which makes it hard to think or speak.

Andrew explained how this process of collaboration threw up so many stories that were completely new and unexpected - and yet, stories which will be so relatable to our pre-school audiences. It was wonderful to see the creative talent which makes Pablo genuinely original, and thoroughly entertaining.

Kay Benbow is Controller, CBeebies

Pablo starts on CBeebies on Monday 2 October

Read also At BBC Children’s 'Everyone’s Welcome'

CBeebies named Channel of the Year at the Children's BAFTAs 2016

2016-11-21T10:20:00+00:00

CBeebies Controller Kay Benbow with the Children's Channel of the Year BAFTA

Last night (Sunday 20 November 2016) the Children’s BAFTAs were held at a ceremony in London. CBeebies took home the Channel of the Year award and BBC programmes were awarded in more than half of the categories.

Other CBeebies wins included Hey Duggee which was named Pre-School Animation of the year, and Topsy and Tim selected in the Pre-School Live Action category.

BBC Learning's Ten Pieces II took home the prize for Learning - Secondary in 2016; star of Hank Zipzer, Nick James, was named performer of the Year; and Presenter of the Year was Iain Stirling for CBBC’s The Dog Ate My Homework.

CBeebies Hey Duggee

All the BBC winners are listed below:

Channel of the Year in 2016: CBeebies
BAFTA Kids' Vote - Television in 2016: CBBC’s The Next Step
Comedy in 2016: CBBC’s Horrible Histories Special: Sensational Shakespeare
Entertainment in 2016: CBBC’s Sam & Mark's Big Friday Wind-Up
Factual in 2016: CBBC’s The Boy on the Bicycle (My Life)
Interactive: Adapted in 2016: CBeebies’ Get Well Soon Hospital App
Interactive: Original in 2016: CBBC’s Secret Life of Boys
Learning - Primary in 2016: BBC Learning’s I Can't Go to School Today
Learning - Secondary in 2016: BBC Learning's Ten Pieces II
Performer in 2016: Nick James (star of Hank Zipzer)
Pre-School Animation in 2016: CBeebies’ Hey Duggee
Pre-School Live Action in 2016: CBeebies' Topsy and Tim
Presenter in 2016: Iain Stirling for CBBC’s The Dog Ate My Homework

Congratulations to all the winners, a full list can be seen on the BAFTA website.

Don't underestimate toddlers, they like Shakespeare too

2016-09-19T09:17:51+00:00

CBeebies Midsummer Night's Dream

CBeebies Controller Kay Benbow gave an interview to The Telegraph's arts correspondent, Hannah Furness. Talking about the BBC's pre-school audience she said: “the very young deserve the very best”. The article goes on:

"There are so many things that people assume young children won't be interested in, and I think that's very much an adult perspective,” she said. “If you give children the opportunity to listen, to look, to participate, they will seize it.

“Of course not everyone's going to love classical music, but it's about putting the opportunity out there and giving them a chance to experience things.”

She said previous broadcasting wisdom had laid down that young children can concentrate for between three and 15 minutes before becoming distracted.

“I've never really subscribed to that,” she said. “If you engage a child, they will sit for a huge amount of time.

“You mustn't prejudge what children will and won't like: give them the opportunity to experience and make their own choices.”

You can read the piece in full on The Telegraph website.

Read also Tears at the CBeebies Prom
Watch the CBeebies Prom on iPlayer

Tears at the CBeebies Prom

2016-08-31T08:00:00+00:00

Image credit: Guy Levy

Last year when they announced the first CBeebies Prom I thought: "that's a good idea" and then failed to get off my bum and book tickets before it sold out. So this year when I discovered it was back again - and this time for two performances - I made it my mission to get there.

Tickets acquired, my four-year-old and I headed to Kensington. An admission: I am not the sort of mum who gets pleasure from being around a lot of children. But there was something intensely inspiring about seeing the Royal Albert Hall - this iconic, historical institution - taken over by under-5s. Everywhere you looked there were children and they didn't care this was the RAH, they were coming to see their CBeebies friends.

Presenter Gemma Hunt, image credit: Guy Levy

Mini-me and I took our places and she asked me if she was allowed to talk during the show. I told her not to worry just to listen and respond to what happened on stage.

Then the lights went down and the presenters (all familiar to any CBeebies aficionado) came out on stage - Andy Day, Ben Faulks (AKA Mr Bloom), Gemma Hunt, Chris Jarvis, Rebecca Keatley, Steven Kynman and Cat Sandion.

Ben Faulks (AKA Mr Bloom), Image credit: Guy Levy

My daughter was mesmerised, they said "hello" and then introduced the BBC Concert Orchestra and the conductor Jessica Cottis. The orchestra wore bright t-shirts and came on in an ad-hoc, informal way: there was nothing remotely intimidating about this performance. They played the opening piece - an Overture of CBeebies theme tunes, and we all clapped along.

That done, Jessica turned to us, the audience, and said that the orchestra now needed to warm up. My daughter looked at me questioningly - I explained it was to make sure they were all in tune with one another, and she replied she didn't want them to, as they already sounded perfect.

Image credit: Guy Levy

That's when a strange thing happened: you expect crying at any event for under-5s ... but not from the parents. Yet tears were running down my face and continued to at points during the concert, as I scanned the auditorium looking from excited face to cheeky grin, I found it hard not to cry. I can't quite attest as to why this happened - but on reflection it feels like a few things both came together to cause the waterworks. Firstly, a very personal thing, watching my little girl listen intently to music by Prokofiev, Beethoven, Korngold, Maxwell Davies and Richard Strauss - she looked so grown up and was so engaged, I couldn't help but imagine her as an adult perhaps sitting in this very concert hall one day in the future listening to music.

The second reason is something my ed Jon Jacob put eloquently into words in his Proms blog from last year, he wrote:

"A Proms experience is difficult to shake ... I do have a weakness for live broadcast. And in addition, I adore being amongst a crowd during a live broadcast too: there is an infectious kind of energy... There is a thrill to be experienced when one sees a mass of people all sitting in attendance for the same reason you are. It is a collective experience. Regardless of the actual performance, just being in the presence of 6,000 people is an incredibly moving experience."

And I think it's that collective experience that I found so very affecting - especially knowing this would be many of these little people's first experience of live classical music. I also can't deny feeling proud that the BBC produces this kind of event and caters to this very important audience of pre-schoolers.

The performance ended with Marquez’s Conga del Fuego, which got people dancing in the aisles, and as we headed into the sunshine my daughter said she'd decided she wanted to be a conductor like Jessica. I wonder how many kids that were there left with similar aspirations as a result of that Prom. And you never know - some of them may even fulfill those dreams... Excuse me I seem to need a tissue.

The CBeebies Prom will be broadcast at 9.50am on 10 September and at 5pm on 15 September on CBeebies

CBeebies A Midsummer Night's Dream come true

2016-04-22T14:27:35+00:00

Ahead of the broadcast on Saturday 23 April of CBeebies A Midsummer Night's Dream, we spoke to the controller of the channel, Kay Benbow about how the production came into being:

Where did the idea for a CBeebies production of Shakespeare come from?

I heard everyone talk excitedly about the plans around this year’s 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death. It all sounded marvellous - I love the theatre and although I'm not an expert, I've learnt to love Shakespeare as I've got older. I always enjoyed it but I think is one of those things you have to experience, and go and see it to appreciate it and understand it. I started thinking just how CBeebies could be a part of the celebrations.

I thought to begin with about the things we have done on CBeebies - the way we did our Christmas show and a few years ago when we produced a version of A Christmas Carol, very much an adaptation and very much more theatrical. I also thought about our CBeebies drama’s Topsy and Tim and Katie Morag. We have all that talent, I thought, and we're good at telling stories. We know how to put on a show, we've done adaptations. I pondered what Shakespeare was if not a brilliant storyteller. Why couldn’t we just tell a story in a CBeebies way?

We had already produced CBeebies ballets where we partnered with Northern Ballet to make a version that was accessible to our viewers, where one of our CBeebies characters explained the story to the children. We thought that that was the starting point.
The in-house CBeebies production team Alison Stewart, Tony Reed and Angela Young have done the most wonderful job, working up what I think is a brilliant adaptation of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. We’re combining the CBeebies stars our viewers will recognises such as Stephen Kynman, Justin Fletcher, Ben Faulks, Cook and Line, Andy Day, Rebecca Keatley, Pui Fan Lee and Chris Jarvis with members of the RSC too. We also are delighted that Josette Simon and Roger Griffiths are playing Titania and Oberon. There’s going to be a wonderful mixture.

This external content is available at its source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umcn-JmmWX4

Creatively do you get that extra push of motivation because perhaps people make assumptions that CBeebies can’t do certain things?

I love doing things that surprise and so far the audience have just lapped it up. Like when we saw what the Northern Ballet were doing for very young audiences. The next thing you know we'd done a production of the ballet The Ugly Duckling and it won a BAFTA.

I think that a lot of people think you can’t do Shakespeare for pre-schoolers. I think that’s more that people aren't sure how it can be done. But, the minute you start thinking about it, it sort of becomes obvious, because Shakespeare plays, just like anything, are just about telling stories

Is there something about the receptiveness of the CBeebies audience that makes Shakespeare as a first experience all the more immediate?

I think there is, yes. They have no preconceptions. If it's a great story, it’s a great story back to that: Children are totally open, then adults change their views, and it is a huge responsibility. CBeebies is about opening up opportunities and experiences to our audience. I think it’s very empowering for them.

If we regularly did Shakespeare like this for a young audience, we'd have a whole generation of children growing up knowing the stories, and loving the language. Shakespeare should be performed, it shouldn't just be sweated over in the classroom. It's physical, it's brilliant language and they’re great, great stories.

So it's challenging a lot of our adult perceptions about Shakespeare too?

Absolutely. And I think that's fine, and actually quite a lot of adults struggle with Shakespeare because they’re intimidated by it. But, when you see it performed, although you may not understand every word, you absolutely understand what's going on. If you just read it, it can be a bit of a struggle, but if it's well performed and they do the language properly you can follow what's going on from the rhythm.

What we have to remember is Shakespeare was popular. Shakespeare was for everybody. There were lots of in-jokes and references to things everyone would understand at the time.

What did you have to change in order to make this for CBeebies?

Obviously it's a much shortened version. The performance is 45 minutes and it tells only the basic story. There are key scenes in there and we use Shakespearian language, but there are also established CBeebies characters like Steve Kynman (Robert the Robot from Justin’s House) who's playing Shakespeare and Swashbuckles’ Cook and Line acting as trusted guides for what’s going on on stage. We've also had special songs written so that helps with explaining the story.

There is supporting content on all the other platforms as well. We’ve got a 'Behind the Scenes' section online, and there are members of the RSC talking about why this is important that they get to know the language and get a sense of the love they have of it. I’m hoping our viewers will be able to get enjoyment out of whatever level they choose.

The cast performing at The Everyman Theatre in Liverpool

What were the challenges you faced making this?

My worry was that people might say we've only just scratched the surface. I didn't want people thinking we'd dumbed down, and I don't think we have. We've got the language in there and what's wonderful is the children do follow the story. They followed the magic.

What do you experience when you witness members of the audience loving the thing that you've made?

A really brilliant moment of the play was when Puck has to get the magical flower and he throws it to Oberon. There was some theatrical visual trickery and the performers did it so beautifully that the children audibly gasped. They saw it, they understood it, and they also reacted to the magic of the theatre. They were completely immersed.

Witnessing the audience’s reactions I experienced enormous pride. It's emotional. I was very close to crying at the end. It's that feeling of doing something really, really special. It is unbridled joy when you watch the audience and you think ‘Yes, they've got it.’

You just never know for sure it’s going to work. It's not always plain sailing. There are always challenges. What was lovely was that after the performances of A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Everyman, I went to see the cast and crew afterwards. Absolutely everybody said that it was such a special thing to be part of. That's when you know you've done something right.

Where do you get your energy from?

It’s funny, just before we started talking I commented on how tired I am, I haven't stopped all day. Talking to you about CBeebies however, the energy comes back, because I love what I do. Let's be honest, it isn't just me: I have fantastic people working with me. I hope that what I do is encourage them to be passionate and give their best to the audience. The audience always drives everything for me and I’m an absolute believer in you give the youngest the very best and that is what makes the impact.

I believe that what I've done as Controller of CBeebies over the last six years is help to create a multi-genre channel. We connect with the harder to reach audiences, because we allow children and families to see themselves reflected back in what we do, from observational documentaries like Our Family, to Magic Hands a programme for deaf children but which is totally inclusive - there are five Shakespeare episodes of Magic Hands that are also part of the CBeebies Shakespeare content, they’re equally beautifully produced and also include the Shakespearian language.

I do look at CBeebies and think I wish it was around when my boys where little. It's the most joyful channel, and we get so much praise from parents and viewers alike.

Kay Benbow is Controller of CBeebies.

CBeebies A Midsummer Night's Dream will be broadcast on CBeebies at 11am and 4.30pm on Saturday 23 April.

Elmo, Phoebe and Danger Mouse visit Broadcasting House to help launch BBC iPlayer Kids App

2016-04-12T10:25:41+00:00

Earlier this morning, Elmo and Phoebe joined Danger Mouse at Broadcasting House in London for the BBC iPlayer Kids App launch. Us and our colleagues at BBC North followed them on their journey.

Phoebe and Elmo set out on their journey to London for the BBC iPlayer Kids App launch

Elmo and Phoebe set foot on the tube at Baker Street.

Elmo and Phoebe stop for a bit of a sit down.

A stickler for time, Danger Mouse waits for Elmo and Phoebe to arrive.

Our intrepid travellers made out they understood the map, but the truth is that they did need a little assistance.

Phoebe and Elmo en route to meet up with Danger Mouse at Oxford Circus.

Crossing the road requires teamwork.

Elmo, Danger Mouse and Phoebe arrive at Broadcasting House in London in time for the BBC iPlayer App launch this morning.

Download the BBC iPlayer Kids app
Read Director of BBC Children's Alice Webb's blog post about BBC iPlayer Kids App
Find out more about the app on the BBC Media Centre website
Dan Taylor Watt has written about the app on the BBC Internet Blog

BBC iPlayer Kids: the kids are in control

2016-04-11T16:50:40+00:00

Launching the BBC iPlayer Kids app is a really exciting moment for us – and we can’t wait to see millions of children get excited about it too. You can download it here.

Children have always been a priority for the BBC - they always will be. And the BBC iPlayer Kids app is an important milestone because it’s a sign of our continued commitment to young audiences.

It’s the first product delivered as a result of our Big Digital Plan for Children –which recognises just how differently kids consume media in today’s digital age. Children’s programmes are currently the largest single genre on BBC iPlayer and were requested almost a billion times in 2015! So our audience has already shown us just how important on demand viewing is to them.

The BBC iPlayer Kids app builds on what we know about young audiences and media consumption and meets needs we know are deal breakers for kids and parents. We’re offering, choice and control, wrapped up in a child-friendly design and home-grown content on a platform parents can trust.
In a nutshell, the app is CBBC and CBeebies in their hands – a BBC iPlayer re-designed for a new, digitally-savvy generation. A place where children of all ages can watch and download content created just for them whether they’re fans of Danger Mouse, Topsy and Tim, Go Jetters, Blue Peter or anything else we show on our popular TV channels.

It’s free of charge, free from commercial influence and brand new today. But to help us get it right, we’ve already tested it with our imaginative, funny young audience – and I’m delighted to say they’re impressed! Have a look below

Kids in the driving seat

More than anything else, kids’ viewing habits today can be characterised by choice and control. Rocketing figures for mobile device ownership means that, today more than ever, kids are controlling their own viewing and playing, with millions of choices in the palm of their hand.

They still love the big screen in the corner too of course – two-thirds of all CBeebies and CBBC viewing still happens on our channels at the time we schedule it. But things are changing. TV is now one of a range of options – a choice they make about how to spend their screen time.

As well as the long form TV shows they’ve always loved and continue to watch in their millions, children love social media, short-form content, creative online tools and games.

All this choice is exciting, empowering and entertaining. And when kids choose CBBC or CBeebies, it’s educational, informative and inspirational too. We’re delighted UK kids are still choosing the BBC in their millions - we reach 44% of 0-12s - and we really want to keep them with us – watching our two channels or the mainstream BBC iPlayer, browsing our websites and now using our bespoke app.

As the only Public Service Broadcaster for kids in the UK and the only large investor in British content for children, broadcasting more than 8000 hours of content a year, we have a duty to make this content accessible and deliver it how and when kids want it. As long as kids and parents continue to watch our output on our TV channels, we’ll continue to put our programmes there, but we need to meet their on-demand needs too.

Child-friendly design and content

For all their sophistication, it’s important to remember that our audience aren’t grown up yet. They approach finding content in different ways to adults - and as valuable as BBC iPlayer has always been to them, it hasn’t been designed for their specific needs.

Research tells us that for kids, ease of access is absolutely paramount – and if something is too hard to find or open, they’re quick to find an alternative. BBC iPlayer Kids is designed to deliver what kids want from a digital platform, so they can explore it with ease.

An on-demand service parents can trust

Of course, parents are one of our most important audiences and we’ve developed this app with their safety expectations in mind. We’re proud to be the media organization that children and families trust more than any other and, in this digital age, we know how important that is.

With a simple online set up that uses just the child’s age (and doesn’t capture any personal data) we’ve filtered content to be age appropriate. So, whether it’s in the back of the car on a long journey with a tablet, or on the bus to school on a mobile, parents can be confident their children are only watching content that is appropriate for them. And with features that show the availability of subtitles, audio described and signed versions of shows, we’ve made the app accessible to all of our audience.

Inform, entertain, educate…inspire

Last year, I spoke about what an exciting time it is to be a member of our audience. The digital changes happening now are far reaching and allow kids to connect with us in more ways than ever before.

In his speech setting out the future vision for the BBC last year, Tony Hall made clear that children are front and centre of it and we remain absolutely committed to that vision.

This is just the start of what we’ll be offering them in the future, as we keep on providing the home-grown content children need in a way that continues to inform, educate, entertain and inspire.

Alice Webb is Director, BBC Children's

Download the BBC iPlayer Kids app
Read a press release about the launch of the BBC iPlayer Kids app on the BBC Media Centre website

New CBeebies Storytime App library now available

2015-06-03T11:40:05+00:00

Senior Content Producer at BBC Children's Elizabeth Leadbeatter writes about the latest update to the popular CBeebies Storytime App.

Nearly two years ago BBC Children’s launched its first app, CBeebies Playtime. The app was incredibly successful and led to us launching the CBeebies Storytime app in August 2014. To date, the CBeebies family of apps have been downloaded 5 million times in the UK. We’re all incredibly proud of that achievement.

Children love stories: listening to them; reading them; inventing them. Storytelling excites children’s imaginations. We wanted to bring the BBC’s long-held tradition of storytelling, promoting reading amongst young children and, importantly, providing an opportunity for families to enjoy reading together.

Today, I am thrilled to announce that we have launched another significant update to the CBeebies Storytime app, one which we hope will excite parents and children alike: Storytime now has its very own library.

The new library feature allows families to choose their favourite CBeebies stories to download (for free) and save in the app. Just like a real library, you can return any story you want, or download a new one. Refresh the app whenever they like and see what's available.

The new download feature also allows you to select stories that reflect your child’s reading level. It creates a personalised experience too, giving children the freedom to select their favourite characters and stories. In this way children are able to make the app feel like their own.

Through the new Storytime feature, parents and children can visit the library regularly, keeping up to date with the latest stories as they become available (we’ll be launching regularly throughout the year).

With CBeebies Storytime we have created something unique: a complex concept for a child, not only easy-to-use but beautiful, fun and rewarding.

The CBeebies Storytime app was created, designed and built by the BBC’s in-house team here in Media City UK. I’m particularly proud of the way we have worked closely with children, parents and carers to help shape the design and content of the app.

The existing CBeebies Storytime app currently features eight interactive storybooks and provides a safe, fun and enjoyable way for children to access stories, featuring much-loved CBeebies characters. From today, we’re adding six brand new stories including CBeebies Fairytales – Cinderella, Tee and Mo – Who did the Footprints? and Swashbuckle – A Band of Naughty Pirates, featuring some familiar voices such as Lauren Laverne and Maxine Peake. We'll continue to release new stories regularly throughout the summer, so watch this space.

The relationship we have with you and your children is key. Over the last ten months we've been delighted to receive feedback and comments from parents, teachers and children that has helped us refine and CBeebies Storytime app.

For example, when the app launched originally launched it came with six CBeebies branded stories, it was fantastic to hear that children and parents were asking for more. It had always been our plan to release more stories, but when we recognised there was an appetite for them, we decided to speed up production to satisfy the demand. While we were working on the new download feature we released an update in December 2014, adding two new stories: Peter Rabbit and Sarah and Duck. Since then, we’ve been working to create a library of stories meaning we could launch the new library with a varied mix of stories.

A foundation stage teacher suggested that a change to the order of our ‘grown-ups tips’ would help each child follow a recognisable developmental path. This, too, was important to us. We recognised that the teacher was passionate about promoting a love of reading first, laying a strong foundation with which to explore the sounds and meanings of words when children are prepared and ready. So, we have developed the grown-up tips’ so they provide support to parents and carers in aiding a child’s reading development.

Parents also told us that the way in which the ‘red arrow’ buttons currently worked within the storybook attracted the attention of very young children and distracted them from the story. Our designers reviewed this and looked for ways of improving the way in which these navigation buttons work, making it easier now for children and parents to simply focus on enjoying the story.

We also heard from a lot of parents who explained how they felt about the download feature. They wanted us to ensure that we continued to provide a safe environment within the app. For them, a safe environment allowed children to explore and discover the joy of reading in a way that parents felt comfortable with. This latest update creates what we hope is the right balance.

We’re really pleased about the latest update. As ever, I’d love to hear what you think about it. We are always interested in your thoughts, suggestions and ideas. So, please do get in touch, leaving a comment below.

Elizabeth Leadbeater is Senior Content Producer, BBC Children’s

The CBeebies Storytime app is available on mobile and tablet devices and you can find more information via our CBeebies website.
Read more about the Library update to the CBeebies Storytime app on the Media Centre website.
The CBeebies Storytime app is available to download for free within the UK via the Apple iTunes, Google Play and the Amazon app store.

Clangers: made from wool and love

2015-05-31T21:06:20+00:00

Colouring in some Clangers. Who doesn't like colouring in?

For those of us of a certain..ahem...vintage, the Clangers have a very special place in our hearts and being part of the team involved in the new series has been an utter thrill. Believe me, I didn't know it was possible to get so excited by wool.

The production of the new Clangers series has been a joy - an outstandingly talented crew - all working to the same vision, wanting do the very best for the pink knitted creatures and do justice to the original series. So how lovely then, to be present at the first public unveiling of the full Clangers episodes Saturday 30 May and to witness the audience reaction at first hand.

Tiny and Small Clanger pose for the camera.

It was a day of great excitement. To be greeted by, and have photographs with, Tiny and Small Clanger would have been enough for me quite frankly. But, the fantastic Firmin family (Peter Firmin, the co-creator of the original Clangers is Executive Producer on this series and has been part of the production from the word go) had put together something more: an array of craft activities for children large and small to take part in. My plasticine Clanger was a triumph, if I say so myself.

Jackie's plasticine Clanger.

After much colouring in and felt flower-making we entered the screening theatre to be welcomed by our host for the day, space scientist and CBeebies Stargazing presenter Maggie Aderin-Pocock. Maggie has been a Clangers fan since she was three years-old and, as she told the audience, it was the Clangers that inspired her whole career in science. Maggie explained how she hoped that this new series would be similarly inspirational to today's audience.

An excited audience prepare themselves for a special Clangers screening.

To kick things off, composer John du Prez and BBC Young Musician of the Year finalist, Sophie Westbrook, gave a virtuoso performance of the Clangers theme tune. Sophie plays the melody on recorder, so think of her when you listen to the music on the opening titles and marvel!

We screened two episodes on Saturday. 'I am the Egg Bot' and ' The Knitting Machine' are, in classic Clangers style, surreal and funny. But, they also show beautifully the warmth and kindness of Clangers. The Clanger family are on another planet for sure, but the universal trials, tribulations, foibles and funnies of family life are instantly recognisable - something everyone in the audience seemed to connect with. The laughs, oohs and awwws were in all the right places.

Clangers narrator Michael Palin speaks during the Q&A.

In between episodes we hosted a Q&A session with executive producers Peter Firmin and Dan Postgate, the son of original co-creator Oliver Postgate, who is also a writer on the show. They shared the stage with narrator Michael Palin. Asked why he wanted to become involved in the show Palin answered: For a narrator, what’s not to like?'

Then came our chance to speak Clanger. Or, more correctly, Clangerese, the point in proceedings when series producer ‘whistling Dan Maddicott’ as he has now become known, instructed us in the art of the Swannee whistle.

Playing the swannee whistle. A very serious business.

You might think giving Swanee whistles to a room full of kids was a noisy 'mistake' but the parents didn't complain. They were, in fact, unable to tell their children to be quiet, rendered hopeless by having a mouthful of Swanee whistle themselves while trying to emulate how to say 'Woooooow' in Clanger. And I am afraid I was one of the worst offenders. It was a great finale!

We like to say that like the old series, the new one is made with wool and love. There seemed to be a lot of love for the Clangers on Saturday and I really hope you'll enjoy the series when it starts on CBeebies at 5.30pm on June 15th.

Happy whistling.

Jackie Edwards is an executive producer for CBeebies

The Clangers airs on CBeebies on Monday 15 June 2015

Footy Pups

2015-05-22T12:10:00+00:00

My mother always said that as soon as I could walk I would run around, want to play some sort of game. As soon as I was able to move I did, I just couldn’t sit still. My earliest memory of football is being at primary school where there was a big field out the back with a football pitch. I remember playing there at lunch time with my classmates, and then, outside school, going down to the park and playing football on the street.

We would always play football as it was such an easy, accessible game; all you needed was a ball. You could make a goal out of anything, make sure you knew who was on what team by wearing coloured T-shirts - you didn’t need anything else; so we would play and play, me and the boys. Kids that age don’t really care if you’re a boy or a girl. If you’re a girl and you are good enough then you’re going to get picked, if you are a girl and not good enough then you won’t get picked, and it’s the same for the boys. That’s the simplicity of how kids see things – it is about winning and who will be the best for the team.

When I was eight, the two boys across the road joined the boy’s football club and I tagged along and joined in. I cut my hair short and disguised myself by calling myself Ray! It was easier to pretend to be a boy rather than everyone say, “Oh you’re a girl and shouldn’t be playing football,” - to be a boy and be someone else meant no one questioned what I was doing; it was just about being good enough. At that age I was definitely the same level as the boys, and as I was good enough to be able to play so I joined the football team on the estate.

While I was there though I was stopped from playing in a match - I was asked to leave the pitch in a Final. The manager at the time, who was one of the dads, thought this really unfair as I was good and wanted to play. So at the AGM meeting he spoke to the girls football teams there and got me into a local-ish girls team, Mill Hill United. He organised for me to travel up to training with one of the other players and that’s how I got into girls football: A little bit by luck, due to the generosity of someone really looking out for me, seeing my talent and passion and pushing me forward.

Football for me was something where I could be me and express myself. Most people, especially in this country, are playing it – you don’t need a lot of equipment, you don’t even need to speak the same language as somebody, the game is just understood. You just put the ball down and you play.

I wanted to be the footballers I saw on the TV (but obviously they were all guys back then). I would run round the playground pretending to be Ian Wright – I’d watch him score goals on a Saturday and I would go into school and try to score that goal and do those celebrations. He always played football with a smile on his face and was so passionate, which is so important to a child playing football: When you lose you’re really grumpy, then you score and everything is ok and you’re beaming, then someone else scores and you’re grumpy again! Ian Wright showed all those different emotions and as a child I could really relate to that, I found him very inspiring. That’s what it was about for me as a child, being able to go and re-live what my heroes were doing.

When I left school at 16 to play at Arsenal, I joined the youth training scheme ‘Arsenal in the Community’. This taught us how to coach kids and we’d deliver sessions to local primary schools - I just found it fun. Being a female footballer back in those days wasn’t a career and I wanted to find a job that I could have fun, coaching, passing on my experience as that’s what gave me that special buzz.

The most rewarding thing about working with little ones is seeing someone not being able to do something, then after 10 minutes or even six weeks being able to do something - that sense of achievement is just amazing. Breaking down a skill to help someone learn something - that for me is really fulfilling.

Idid the pilot show for Footy Pups and found it so much fun. The kids are just brilliant. I didn’t understand too much about the animation parts though so I had to learn about that! I think it’s really catchy and I’m pleased to be involved. The focus is indeed football, but I believe that through my life football has taught me so many life skills - how to work in a team, how to be a good loser - those things that all come into everyday life. That’s what is great about Footy Pups, even if those children watching or playing don’t become footballers there are different skills they can take away.

It’s hard for me to pick out one special moment of my career because I’ve been fortunate enough to have so many, which mean different things for different reasons. If there’s a crowd watching and you’ve made people cheer, or you’ve done something that other people would be proud of, those kind of feelings are what it’s really all about.

Footy Pups starts on CBeebies, 4.30pm Monday 25 May

Rachel Yankey is a professional footballer, who plays for England and Arsenal Ladies, and presenter of CBeebies Footy Pups

Reflecting on five years at CBeebies

2015-05-12T12:30:00+00:00

After five years as Controller of CBeebies I still love what I do and never forget how fortunate I am to be leading the UK’s most loved children’s channel. At CBeebies we want to be able to support all families and help open up the world to our youngest viewers. I’m really proud we are a part of so many families’ lives. It is a privilege to be – in the best traditions of the BBC – entertaining, educating and informing our youngest audience.

At the weekend I looked back at the things I said I would do when I had my interview for this job: encourage greater connection with viewers; create opportunities for all the audience to see themselves on screen and participate in our programmes over the past five years. I think we are particularly good at reflecting the wonderful and diverse nature of children from throughout the UK and we’ll continue to do that with shows like Magic Hands, Melody (both co commissions with Abigail Appleton in BBC Learning) and the iconic Something Special.

The Elves and the Shoemaker

Connecting with our viewers is incredibly important to us at CBeebies, so inevitably it’s the occasions where we get out and meet our viewers to hear what they think, that are really exciting for me. \the most recent event was in the Trinity shopping centre in Leeds, celebrating the launch of The Elves and the Shoemaker – our third collaboration with Northern Ballet. Almost 83,000 people saw live performances and got involved (even if they were only planning on popping to the shops). So many of our team gave up their weekends to help – which shows the passion we all have at CBeebies.

I love the fact that we now do big shows in front of a live audience it's at these events you can feel the excitement of the children. The CBeebies Prom is certainly a highlight of my time as Controller – bringing classical music to a huge (and very young) audience in the Royal Albert Hall has been simply amazing. Sitting there, I felt six years old again and wondered if it was really happening! Christmas too is special and I am delighted that we now do a Christmas show each year. We didn't really go big on Christmas when I took over the channel and we weren’t sure if it was the right thing to do but thought "let's give it a go" and now it has become the highlight of our Christmas schedule. Each year we’ve built on the last - Jack and the Beanstalk at the Palace Theatre in Manchester, A CBeebies Christmas Carol at the Crucible in Sheffield and Peter Pan last year at the Lowry Theatre too. I can’t share the details yet but we’ve got another lovely one this year and are going to go to another theatre in the UK...

So the Prom, the ballets , the Christmas Show, wherever we get out and connect with our audience is really special and I have to say that I’m pretty proud of CBeebies Land at Alton Towers too. It's a successful example of how things can be commercial and stay true to the ethos of CBeebies. When it's done right I think it really allows children to interact with the BBC in new and exciting ways.

I know we can’t rest on our laurels and I know too there are certain areas where we still need to work harder. More women are now fronting shows on CBeebies but I’d like to see even more on screen. We have a brand new series called Footy Pups (pictured at the top) this spring which is fronted by Arsenal and England striker Rachel Yankey, which really plays to my passions - one of which is football. Colleagues in BBC Sport and the Get Inspired team here at Media City have been incredibly supportive and our partnership demonstrates how powerful cross departmental collaboration can be.

The collaboration with Sesame Street that led to The Furchester Hotel was also very special for me. I’m a big believer in partnerships and building relationships and I think that’s how a lot of our projects on CBeebies happen. I’d known the people at Sesame Street for some time from a previous role and when I started as Controller we talked about how lovely it would be to work together. So we said, “Lets create something together from the ground up”. The in-house team at CBeebies Productions led by Alison Stewart and the team at Sesame came together and created something wonderfully unique. Bringing together the best talent from both sides of the Atlantic has produced a show with real heart that helps children deal with real problems and issues in a fun and entertaining way.

I'm fascinated to see how the audience has changed over the last five years and adopted new platforms. Our wonderful apps – Playtime and Storytime – have been developed by our dedicated teams. We launched our own CBeebies iPlayer too which allows children to watch what they want, when they want and download favourite shows for journeys and trips away. I'm also delighted that CBeebies Radio is now available on the iPlayer Radio dial and going from strength to strength. Digital is by far both the biggest opportunity and the biggest challenge for us – not only in Children’s but across the BBC.

I remember signing off the trail for the Playtime app when it was ready to go and I literally grabbed my eldest son and said, “Look at this! Look at this!” – it was a very proud moment for me. It came at a difficult time personally, as I was having chemotherapy for breast cancer. The BBC enabled me to carry on working from home at that time and my teams were wonderfully supportive - they knew me and how I think, so we kept things moving forward. Even on the really bad days when I had no hair and I felt dreadful, I’d look at the development of the app or at the rough cuts of Topsy and Tim or Katie Morag and I'd think, “This really matters”. When I came back to work, CBeebies won the BAFTA for Children’s Channel of the Year, so 2013 was really memorable, for lots of reasons.

Five years on, I count myself incredibly fortunate. I love what I do, I work with great people, both in front of and behind the camera and, yes, it’s an amazing job and a huge responsibility. I’m very proud - we have won three Channel BAFTAs and we manage to reach almost half of our available audience every week - an incredible achievement - but we cannot be complacent. There are so many other great offerings for children out there, but I hope we are at the heart of what they do when they are very young. Someone said, “CBeebies is one of the jewels in the BBC’s crown,” and I really believe that. At the heart of the channel is opening up the world, sending children on a voyage of discovery, empowering, inspiring them and hopefully making them resilient little people as well. Five years ago I took on a channel I loved and I hope I’ve nurtured it and helped it evolve, I hope its part of the essence of UK family life.

Kay Benbow is Controller, CBeebies

CBeebies Playtime starts its countdown to Christmas with new Advent Calendar

2014-12-01T09:15:13+00:00

CBeebies Playtime App

This year our CBeebies elves have been working hard to create a very special Christmas treat for children all over the country; Christmas has come early to the CBeebies Playtime app and from today, it is ready for the countdown to Christmas with an interactive Advent Calendar.

Over the past year we’ve released some exciting new games, from Andy and his Dinosaur Adventures in February, Swashbuckling antics in July and monster problem solving with our Sesame Street Co Production; the Furchester Hotel in September. So as the weather outside gets frightful, you and your little ones can curl up warm and cosy with the Playtime app and enjoy this special CBeebies Advent Calendar which features all of your favourite brands and CBeebies characters.

If you haven’t got the Playtime app yet, you can download it for free on iOS and Android devices, and start enjoying the Christmassy treats from the 1st December. If you already have the app installed, simply update and open it, then click on your child’s balloon and watch as it floats into the CBeebies world and wait for the CBeebies Christmas present to appear. Tap on the present to open it and begin your countdown to Christmas with CBeebies.

CBeebies Playtime App

Every day a new calendar window will be unlocked and little ones will be able to wake up to the wonder of opening the app and discovering which CBeebies friend is there to play. Behind each of the 25 windows seasonal mini games are waiting to be discovered such as; shaking the snow from Tee and Mo to see them laugh and giggle, helping Peter Rabbit and friends to round up all the Christmas gifts, decorating the tree with Topsy and Tim and lots, lots more…

We wanted to give children something new and engaging to experience in the Playtime app for Christmas, and an Advent Calendar was ideal to create a fun and magical experience that allows children to delight in the anticipation, and excitement of this time of year.

We hope children and parents will enjoy this special new addition as much as we enjoyed making it for them.

Oh yes, I nearly forgot, there is one more treat waiting for you in this new release! The Make a Picture game has been treated to a 'Bing' make-over too, which means fans of Bing can have fun creating beautiful artwork, using paints, stickers and stencils to then frame and save to your device and show to friends and family around the Christmas tree, perfect for inspiring your child’s creativity without all the mess.

Earlier this year we also launched our second CBeebies app: CBeebies Storytime, designed to help support early years reading and is a great way to enjoy reading books with your little ones. The app features six CBeebies stories and we have two brand new additions coming soon; Sarah and Duck in The Balloon Race and Peter Rabbit and friends in ‘The Tale of the Unguarded Garden. We are busy creating lots more ‘big stories for little fingers’ to keep you and your kids entertained, along with some new exciting features. Keep an eye out for updates coming to CBeebies Storytime next year!

Merry Christmas from all of us at CBeebies HQ!

Elizabeth Leadbetter is a Senior Content Producer, BBC Childrens

Download instructions for Playtime App can be found on the CBeebies Grown-Ups website.

CBeebies Playtime launch Furchester Hotel Game

2014-09-26T09:56:50+00:00

Filled with great games designed to aid child development and allow our young children to learn through play, the CBeebies Playtime App has reached 3 million downloads since its launch one year ago.

The latest update sees things get a little furry.

You may have heard that CBeebies and Sesame Workshop joined forces to produce ‘The Furchester Hotel’ - a children’s show set in an ‘almost’ world-class hotel run by a furry family of cheerful monsters. Chaos ensues, as you’d expect. Furchester introduces brand new characters, welcoming the beloved Elmo and Cookie Monster from Sesame Street. Coinciding with the show’s premiere this September, the CBeebies Playtime app launches a brand new Furchester Hotel Game in its latest update.

App users can explore the hotel and solve some monster problems, like making music for Elmo to dance to, or helping Furgus to drain a flooded room of water. There are different ways to solve each problem - even the silliest ideas might work.

To mirror the TV show, CBeebies Playtime’s Furchester Hotel game promotes and builds on open-ended problem-solving skills too. It focusses on the idea that there can be more than one way to solve a problem - encouraging the player to experiment with potential solutions, and even make mistakes in the pursuit of finding an answer. Whenever possible we’ve used playful animations for incorrect answers so the child doesn’t feel prohibited to take risks.

Each problem is fun-filled, and calls upon intuitive app features. Shake your device like a snow globe to create a blizzard for the Penguin Bobsled Team, or sing to Elmo and give him something to dance to. These features provide lots of opportunities for fun and engagement and are designed to encourage the little ones to play them again and again. We really hope they will love it.

That’s not all. The Furchester family are not the only ones to check into the CBeebies app.

New Alphablocks words: The Alphablocks ‘Word Magic’ game helps support the development of early year phonics skills. This update features a completely new set of words for kids to have fun making and reading. It also includes an added element giving children the chance to help the Alphablocks use their new word in a sentence too.
New Octonauts missions: Kids can expand their Octonaut Cadet Training with four brand new missions, guided by Kwazii and Pesco, exploring the ocean floor helping to rescue and protect creatures in need of help, including helping to clean a shark’s teeth.
New features to the Andy’s Dinosaur Adventure game: We have squeezed even more into the Andy’s Dinosaur Adventure game with two brand new features: play ‘fetch’ with their dinosaurs; and help Andy to keep the dinosaurs clean with a swipe action on their device creating soapy bubbles.

The CBeebies app has been played over 15 million times at an average of 9 minutes each time over the last three months… That’s a total of over 135 million minutes of CBeebies Playtime fun enjoyed by little ones across the UK. We understand summer is always a great time to be out and about, and family trips sometimes involve long car journeys. So we’re hoping we’ve managed to keep CBeebies fans entertained as they have been on the go this summer, with over 11 million app plays across July and August alone.

Over the next few months we’ll be working hard to add a very special surprise into the Playtime app, for little ones to get ready and countdown to Christmas.

And for you grown-ups… many of you have told us what you and your little ones love about the app, what their favourite game is and what you’d like more of. We really appreciate that feedback, so thanks for letting us know. We’re always interested in your suggestions and ideas. Please do leave a comment below.

Lucy Beckett is Content Producer, Children's.

The Furchester Hotel starts on CBeebies on Friday 26 September at 5pm.
Read a Q&A with the Furchesters and the performers on the CBeebies Grown-Ups blog.
Read more about CBeebies activities online on the Internet blog.

CBeebies Storytime App now available

2014-08-01T08:47:02+00:00

As Senior Content Producer for CBeebies Apps, my role is to lead editorially on the development and delivery of CBeebies apps.

Today, I'm very excited to announce that our second app - CBeebies Storytime - has launched and is free to download from Apple iTunes, Google Play and Amazon app stores.

Following our success with CBeebies Playtime, which has seen almost 3 million downloads since launch, our second app builds on the BBC’s long held tradition of storytelling, bringing it into the digital era in a safe and trusted environment for our youngest audience members. The app is free from advertisement, in-app purchases and features a parental passcode, so parents can feel safe to allow their children to read, play and explore Storytime.

The app is voiced by CBeebies Presenter Alex Winters, which helped to really reflect the CBeebies channel. It was significant for us to visually represent a book within the app, as our hope is to incite a genuine interest in reading, storytelling and to demonstrate that reading - both digital and ‘normal’ books - is fun!

CBeebies presenter Alex Winters with the CBeebies App he voiced.

CBeebies Storytime is filled with playful and imaginative stories designed to help support early years reading and is a great way to enjoy reading books with your little ones. We felt that a pop-up book would be an engaging and tactile way to navigate to our content, as children experience turning the pages to see what is next. So simply turn the page and choose your favourite storybook from six CBeebies classics: Something Special, Charlie and Lola, The Octonauts, Old Jack’s Boat, Show Me Show Me and Grandpa in My Pocket.

CBeebies Storytime aims to make reading fun for everyone, with entertaining things to touch, swipe and play with in each story. And we focused on making an app that lets you and your children enjoy reading, playing and learning together.

The learning element of the app is really important to us. We worked closely with educational consultant Dr Sarah McGeown, Lecturer in Developmental Psychology, School of Education, University of Edinburgh to create ‘recall questions’ at the end of each story. This is a fun way for children to develop their comprehension skills by; reflecting on what happened in the story, what their favourite part was or how they think or feel about a certain aspect of the story. We have also included a few handy hints for Parents/Carers at the bottom of the screen to help extend the learning benefit and to enrich the experience of this section.

We have squeezed lots of great features into the app, including an accessibility mode which helps children with a range of abilities to enjoy reading stories. Adults are able to activate this mode via the Grown Ups section of the app.

It’s for Big Kids too: As with the CBeebies Playtime app, we have included a dedicated Grown Ups section to provide parents with useful information, tips and support on how to get the most out of the app and help encourage their child’s reading development.

Safety: Making our apps safe is paramount for CBeebies and any external links are protected by a parental passcode to ensure that little fingers don’t wander too far.

The CBeebies Storytime app is available on mobile and tablet devices and you can find more information here via our CBeebies Grown Ups site.

We’re really excited to be sharing this content with you and I’d love to hear what you think about it! We are always interested in your thoughts, suggestions and ideas, so please do get in touch and leave a comment below.

Elizabeth Leadbetter is Senior Content Producer, BBC Childrens

The CBeebies Storytime app is available for Apple iOS via iTunes and Android via Google Play as well as at the Amazon app store