User Content Moves Right to the Mainstream
Posted on December 5, 2006
Filed Under What's New |
There could hardly be two announcements in the media world coinciding to such effect, though,ironically, you may have to search for them in the news.
1. The BBC
The BBC’s BBC News 24 channel is launching a news program based on user-generated content. Entitled “Your News,” the new program, which began a pilot run on November 25th (note: the pilot run will last through the end of December), draws on what the BBC says is a “wealth” of user-generated content sent to it every day by visitors to the BBC News Web site.
2. Yahoo and Reuters
Reuters and Yahoo are set to team up and create a site for user generated content. The site will be titled “You Witness” and will allow readers to submit photos and videos. The site will at first just provide content to Yahoo, but will eventually be available to all of Reuters’ customers.
It is truly extraordinary how quickly user content has gone from a curiosity at the margins of TV and newspapers to the centre. Not everybody is happy with it. According to ITVT the BBC’s annoucement was “not welcomed by Michael Oxley, founder of user-generated content service, YourKindaTV.”
But he’s blowing against the wind. On a personal note I don’t approve of the Reuters move necessarily, even though my blog is syndicated there but can’t argue with the BBC. What does it mean? Price pressures to reduce all Tv content will grow. Newspapers will realise they have to move and move fast. Jan 2007 is going to be some kinda month.
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the bbc initiative is also under fire from channel 5, on the basis that they already have something called “your news.”
more interestingly though, from the bbc side of the story, is the attempt to get ugc for newsnight - apparently, they’re having a dreadful time getting viewers to submit any form of meaningful content (though paxman sneering trrough the calls for users to submit video probably doesn’t help all that much).
I remember twenty years ago we were playing with user content. Actually what we did was have members of the public edit programmes - ie become editorial advisors. Channel 4 dumped that after a year. So it’s been something like, actually, 24 years before the public have really been allowed back in.
not quite. technically ugc is an age old phenomenon. look at the letters pages in newspapers. in terms of tv, video diaries were the thing not too long ago - give a handful of people a video camera and see what they come back with. channel 4, in its early days, was a prime mover in the ugc market, in a variety of ways. and, of course, at the bottom of the bucket, you always have programmes like ‘you’ve been framed’, which are pure ugc. today though, given all the hype and the hoopla, we’re expecting viewers to be capable of submitting professional-like content for broadcast purposes. the bar has been raised. but are users upping their game to meet the new challenge?