BBCi HERALDS LATEST IN INTERACTIVE MEDIA OUTPUT

THE BBC have launched BBCi, a new interactive name for their new media output, emphasising their public service commitment to driving digital take up and offering an improved two-way relationship with their audiences.
It comes after a summer of success with the BBC’s innovative sporting interactive services for Wimbledon and Golf, and the eagerly anticipated ‘Walking With Beasts’ interactive service which is due to air, through BBCi next week.
BBCi replaces BBC Online, BBC Interactive TV and BBC Text. It has been designed to make it easier for audiences to find the content they want, with a view to encouraging more people to try out the web or interactive TV.
Because BBCi is not platform specific, it can be rolled out on any new device or platform that might appear in future, avoiding any confusion with sub-brands and providing audiences with a consistent beacon for trusted new media content.
BBCi also signals the start of a new two way relationship between the BBC and their audiences.
The BBC’s public service website address remains the same – bbc.co.uk – but the site has a new look and feel to it and new functionality has been added. This includes navigation that takes users to a series of mini-portals that collate content around particular subjects , and an improved search facility across all bbc.co.uk sites that will provide up to three best BBC sites for any given search.
On interactive television BBCi-bar provides top level information on news, sport, weather and lottery results, as well as a range of extra information on air vand links to related content on the web or radio.
An ‘i’ logo will also appear on screen whenever a programme has an interactive element to it to alert viewers that they can get extra information on the web or through interactive TV. (CD)