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The next stage of a more personal BBC for everyone

2017-05-11T10:45:00+00:00

Last September, we outlined our plans to make the BBC more personal and relevant to you. We’re doing this by making some changes that mean you will need to sign in with a BBC account to access BBC iPlayer, BBC iPlayer Radio and some other services.

By personalising your BBC, we can help you find the best of public service broadcasting. By finding out more about you and what you like we can make better content, make it more relevant, and bring it to you more effectively.

Signing in allows you to receive recommendations for programmes you might like. You can receive alerts about world events, hot topics and things you’ve told us you’re interested in. You can also get other benefits like starting to watch a programme on one device and picking up where you left off on another.

What we’ve been up to

On average three million people who are signed in are now using the BBC’s websites and apps per month.

They’re already benefitting from this better, more personal, BBC. We’ve been making millions of personalised recommendations each month – with one billion recommendations made in the last year.

And people who have signed in are getting more value from the BBC. From October to December 2016, people who were signed in spent over 20 per cent more time watching, listening and reading content on the BBC’s websites and apps each week than people who were not signed in.

Back in September, we also updated our sign-in system to be even more robust and secure than the previous one.

What’s changing today?

We don’t want any of you to miss out, so we’re now taking the next steps to ensure everyone gets the best from your BBC.

From today, if you’re not already signed in, a window will pop-up when you go to watch and listen to programmes on our BBC iPlayer and BBC iPlayer Radio website and mobile and tablet apps.

If you already have a BBC account but haven’t signed in yet, you just need to sign in here. If you haven’t, then you can register for an account here. We’ve made it really easy, and we only need your email and a few other details to make sure you get the best possible experience.

Knowing what you watch, read or listen to will help us recommend more programmes you might like. And having basic details like your gender and age helps us better understand how different people use our programmes and services so we can continue to improve them and give everyone the best possible value for their licence fee.

At the moment, you won’t be required to sign in if you’re watching on a Connected TV. But if your TV supports it, and you choose to do so, then you’ll be able to benefit from features such as starting to watch a programme on one device and picking up where you left off on your TV.

Is this linked to my TV Licence?

Another question some of you might be asking is whether any of these changes are linked to TV Licensing. Last year the law changed so you now need a TV licence to watch BBC programmes on iPlayer.

The reason we’re making these changes isn’t about enforcing the licence fee – it’s about giving you a better BBC and helping you get the best out of it.

We’ve also been clear that we’re not going to use mass surveillance techniques or ask internet providers for IP addresses. However, the information you provide us with can help TV Licensing ensure that people are abiding by the law and minimise licence fee evasion. By matching email addresses we may be able to identify someone who has told us they don't need a TV licence while at the same time having signed in and watched iPlayer. So we will now use this alongside our existing enforcement techniques to help identify people who are watching licence fee-funded content without a licence.

Both the National Audit Office and Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee have focused on the need to reduce evasion recently. The Government has also asked us to consider whether a verification system is required for BBC iPlayer so that people who are not paying the fee cannot access licence fee-funded content for free. This is something we’re continuing to look at.

Your data

We know data privacy is really important to you – especially knowing how your data is being used and for what purposes. That’s why we’re being really transparent.

Our stance is really simple. Wherever we collect and use your data, we will use it to bring you the things that matter to you, surface hidden gems from the BBC that you might not otherwise have found, and improve the BBC’s services to make them the best they can be.

We’ll be open and transparent about what we’re using your data for. You will always be able to change your details or delete your account. We promise to never sell your personal details to anyone.

And we’ll guard and protect your data. The BBC is set up to serve the public, and to help everyone in the UK get the best out of digital technologies and the BBC. We will use your data to serve you better.

More to come

With a summer of live events coming up – from Glastonbury to Wimbledon - plus a host of new and returning programmes, we’re really excited to start giving these new experiences to everyone. From live alerts from Centre Court at Wimbledon to personalised recommendations in the BBC Music app from Glastonbury’s Pyramid Stage – we want to bring you the best experiences wherever you are. And it doesn’t stop there. We’re working away here to keep bringing you even more tailored services and experiences to make sure you get the best from your BBC. More on that soon.

Andrew Scott is Launch Director myBBC

Read also A more personal BBC for everyone

A more personal BBC for everyone

2016-09-27T08:00:00+00:00

We’ve just had one of the most successful summers of sport for the UK – with huge medal tallies from our Olympic and Paralympic athletes in Rio, Andy Murray winning Wimbledon and an action-packed Euro 2016.

Now, with the autumn TV schedule in full swing and the return of favourites such as Poldark and Strictly – we’re looking forward to bringing the nation together with the best British content.

But like others– from Twitter to eBay, Facebook to Netflix, from Channel 4 to Amazon - in addition to these shared moments, we’re also seeing more and more of you want to have an experience that’s personalised and tailored to what you like.

We’ve already started delivering these kinds of services – like helping you catch all the action you wanted during the Olympics. Throughout the summer of sport, millions chose to get alerted the action anytime (day or night) – with 2.8 million people subscribing to alerts.

And it’s not just sport. On BBC iPlayer for example, viewers received 70 million personalised programme recommendations - making sure they got more of what they love or discovered something they might not have otherwise found from the BBC.

For those who opted in, we also sent out 22 million emails highlighting great new and returning content from across the BBC - increasingly personalised to their interests. And, we’ve launched new personalised BBC Music, BBC Bitesize and BBC+ mobile apps – bringing the BBC content you care about to your finger-tips.

It’s time for a change

With over seven million of you signing into the BBC or registering for the first time over the last year, it’s time to make some changes to ensure all of you get the best from your BBC. These changes will happen in two stages.

In the first stage, this week, we’ll be updating our sign-in system to be more robust, reliable and secure than ever before. For people registering for the first time we will make it easier and more welcoming. We’ll also be asking you for a little more information - including your postcode if you’re over 18. Why you ask? By knowing your postcode, it will help us understand how people from different places are using the BBC. It will also let us make local news and weather in your area easier to find - and recommend content and events which may be particularly relevant to where you live. It will also ensure we’re making something for everyone and inform what programmes we make in the future.

For those of you signed into the BBC already you will need to sign in again – but don’t fear, we’ve made it as easy and hassle-free as possible. At the same time, we’re launching a new area on our website called ‘Using the BBC’ – a jargon-free area which gives you more information around how we treat your data and ensure its privacy, your BBC ID account and what we will (and importantly won’t) do with your data. Our promise is simple. We will only collect data we need to give you a better experience, improve our services and fulfil our responsibilities as a public service. It’s up to you how you use our services – so you can manage or delete your BBC account at any time. And, because we’re a public service, we will help you make informed decisions about your data, so everyone can get the best out of digital technologies and the BBC. And finally - we promise to never sell your personal details to anyone and to only use your data commercially if you are using commercial BBC services, like BBC Store.

The second stage is that from early next year, we want everyone to enjoy the benefits of a more personalised BBC. To do this, we’ll be asking everyone to sign in to use BBC iPlayer, BBC iPlayer Radio and in future on our mobile apps.

We know that when others have done this, viewing often takes a dip as people take time to sign up - so we’re fully prepared for that. Over the next few months we’ll be encouraging as many of you as possible to log in early - and start enjoying some of these personalised features. And don’t worry, we’ve made it really simple, so once you’ve done it once on your device, that’s it - you’re good to go.

Some of you might be thinking that this is driven by the changes to the so-called ‘iPlayer loophole’ which means you now need a TV licence to download or watch BBC programmes on demand on iPlayer. It’s not – it’s about giving you a better BBC. As we said earlier this month, we’ll carry on using our existing enforcement processes and techniques which we believe to be adequate and appropriate. In fact, early TV Licensing data shows that – as we expected - significant numbers of new people have bought a licence since the new rules came into force. We will keep our processes under review to make sure they are effective. The Government has asked us to review whether a verification system for accessing the iPlayer will be required in the future.

Go on, sign-in

This autumn’s schedule is packed full of fantastic British drama, comedy and entertainment including the return of critically acclaimed series Our Girl, The Fall, Ordinary Lies, Dragons' Den and Asian Provocateur to name but a few. Not only do we hope you enjoy those more familiar programmes, but we also want to help you discover something you might not otherwise have found.

Give it a go. It will only take a minute. We think you’ll like it.

Helen Boaden is Director of BBC Radio and Executive Sponsor for myBBC

Read more on the Media Centre

myBBC – an update a year on

2016-05-07T08:00:35+00:00

Just over a year ago, BBC Director-General Tony Hall set out his vision for a more personal BBC in a world that’s ever more digital. A BBC that’s moving from broadcasting the same content and programming to everyone – to a much more personalised, two-way relationship. By knowing more about what you like (and dislike), we can ensure you get the most of out of your BBC – and help you find more of the content you like.

At the time he said: “It's the start of a real transformation – the myBBC revolution. How to reinvent public service broadcasting through data. But we will always be doing it in a BBC way – not telling you what customers like you bought, but what citizens like you would love to watch and need to know.”

What have we been doing?

Since then, we’ve been working hard to bring this ambition to life. And, today we’ve published a progress report – sharing how we’re getting on. This includes the launch of a host of new personalised features for those of you that have signed in to the BBC and changed some of the systems behind the scenes to help us know more about you – so we can give you more of what you want from the BBC.

These are already starting to benefit millions of you. In fact, in the last year, 6.4 million of you have signed in to the BBC – with over a third of you coming back to the BBC on a monthly basis to benefit from personalised signed-in experiences. And, since this time last year:

1.6 billion BBC programmes have been recommended to you - based on what you’ve previously watched/listened to and are interested in
1.4 billion personalised alerts have been sent via the BBC Sport app - along with 27 billion breaking news alerts from the BBC News app. Leicester football fans might have had a few of these over the weekend.
In the last 3 months alone, 1.7 million of you have personalised your myNews section on the BBC News app and website – selecting over 12 million topics to track.
Personalised experiences - including BBC iPlayer play, pause and resume notifications; and recommendations have been used by you an average 800 million times a day. I had a Calvin Harris doc recommended to me the other day – I wouldn’t have found without it being recommended to me.
There’s been an increase of 400% in the number of you signing up to our pan BBC newsletters – which we’re increasingly making more relevant to your tastes and preferences.
Over 400 editorial staff are using real-time analytics on a minute-by-minute, day-by-day basis to help them tailor our online experiences for BBC News and the BBC’s Homepage

What we’re up to next

Our plans are focused on you – and we’re not stopping here. In the next couple of months, we’ll be launching a new mobile app called BBC+, helping you discover collections of content you’re interested in from across the BBC in a simple, easy to use app. And, if like me you’re a big sports fan – we’ll be making everything from our coverage of the Euros in France to Olympics in Rio more personalised than ever.

This, along with rolling out more personalised features to our products, renewed privacy and data policy (in plain English) and a new more secure and simple ID system will ensure you continue to find the things you love from your BBC – and discover more hidden gems that you might not otherwise have found.

Phil Fearnley is Director Homepage and myBBC

Download the full myBBC Progress Report.