BBC Studios Launches Aviation-Specific BBC Player Streaming Platform
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BBC Studios is revolutionizing the way passengers consume BBC Studios content in-flight with the launch of its BBC Player streaming platform dedicated to the commercial aviation market. APEX Insights secured an exclusive interview with BBC Studios SVP Out of Home and BBC Commercial News Zina Neophytou to find out more.
On April 8, BBC Studios announced it has created a bespoke version of BBC Player, its streaming app for users outside the UK, specifically for the aviation industry. Set to launch later this year in partnership with Panasonic Avionics Corporation (PAC), the platform will initially be available to airlines using PAC’s seatback in-flight entertainment (IFE) systems.
“Taking the position that the content offering must have Worldwide rights directly addresses the issues faced by rights fragmentation.”
Once it takes to the skies, BBC Player will be the first fully rights-cleared streaming platform designed for use onboard commercial jets. Moving on from the traditional model of individually licensing content on a per title basis across an airlines’ relevant geographies, the content included with BBC Player comes cleared for worldwide distribution in the air, drastically simplifying a complex and frustrating process. Neophytou explained “Taking the position that the content offering must have Worldwide rights, directly addresses the issues faced by rights fragmentation. We can surface thousands of hours of content with these rights available and combine that with years of licencing experience to really curate an offering that will be attractive to airlines, and their passengers wherever they fly.”
It comes at a pivotal moment for airlines and their content partners, with many pondering whether the advent of high-speed in-flight connectivity will result in the adoption of a Bring-Your-Own-License (BYOL) model. The topic is something being actively explored by APEX, which Neophytou is involved with as a member of the Board of Directors. as part of its APEX STREAM and APEX FlightTrack initiatives.
Neophytou added, “Currently, when we license BBC Studios content or any of our brands, it sits in an environment that the airline controls, either within the airlines own genre category or listed under a BBC brand.” A good example is the recent launch of the BBC Nordic channel with SAS. However, she continued, “One of the value propositions of BBC Player is to have a fully curated environment that gives you the same experience as you’re used to with BBC Player on the ground. It will offer a rich experience, across eight different genres and four to five brands.”
“Now, passengers will be able to watch that next episode or new series that premiered yesterday.”
These brands include BBC Earth, BBC News, BritBox, BBC Kids and CBeebies. Neophytou continued “BBC News on BBC Player at this stage will lend itself more to certain types of news programming than others: “It will include half-hour shows that are more evergreen. However, if an airline wanted to offer a couple of news bulletins each day, then yes, BBC Player could refresh those, but I feel, news is always best as a live offering in a linear channel environment.” While live news won’t be supported on the platform at launch, it will become available later down the line.
As well as providing an improved experience in-flight in terms of a more dynamic user interface, BBC Player will also bring passengers closer than ever to broadcast premieres. “At the moment, a BBC show [onboard] is not fresh, because we have to work with timelines 10-12 weeks ahead of the play period,” Neophytou said. “Now, passengers will be able to watch that next episode or new series that premiered yesterday. We can make programming available within days, if not the next day.”
She established that airlines can either opt for a small or large bundle of content, which comprises 250 hours or 500 hours of curated programming, respectively. Each will be refreshed regularly.
“We currently license our content to about 80 airlines globally, and we want to be able to partner with all of them.”
On choosing a partner for the platform, Neophytou shared that PAC made sense as a partner both because of its market penetration and their innovative approach. “We needed to work with a trusted partner that we knew could move quickly. There are so many technical teams developing this and we still have a lot to work on, but it’s really exciting.” Both partners will be actively marketing the app to their existing and potential customers.
Panasonic Avionics Corporation SVP Andy Masson said, “For years our industry has talked about services like streaming and OTT but, until now, there has not been a robust, reliable solution to deliver these kinds of services to aircraft. By delivering the world’s first fully rights-cleared streaming platform developed for airlines, Panasonic Avionics and BBC Studios are significantly enhancing the onboard entertainment experience by delivering timely, relevant, and exciting content.”
Neophytou confirmed the aim is for this service to be available as broadly as possible and has volume and compliance considerations built in to ensure all airlines are catered for. For the richest experience, the all-singing all-dancing 500 hours package will allow for plenty of themed collections and enough content to satisfy the most frequent of fliers.
“We currently license our content to about 80 airlines globally, and we want to be able to partner with all of them,” she concluded.