BBCi Unveils New Look To Foster Interactive Usage
The BBC has announced the second revamp to its interactive TV service, BBCi, in as many years, replacing the chunky white block lettering of its logo “i” with a circular red symbol designed to echo the red button functionality of its content.
The rebranding, which will be seen across all of the BBC’s digital channels this week, also features an overhaul for the service’s pages, with consistent red, white and black lettering unifying its look and feel across the Corporation’s portfolio of channels.
Rahul Chakkara, controller of BBCi, explained the move stating: “The new look and feel for BBCi is the second stage of our continuing journey to make the interactive experience easier for BBC viewers, following the introduction of page numbers last year. We also wanted to create a visual identity for our interactive TV services that would help raise awareness amongst those people who have not yet pressed red.”
Steve Conway, head of marketing at BBC New Media, added: “BBCi started life in 2001 as a cross platform brand. We renamed our website bbc.co.uk last year and gave it a refreshing new look. We wanted to do the same this year for our interactive TV services, creating an identity that really brought the brand to life.”
The redesign, created in-house by BBC New Media’s interactive TV design team, will roll out across the Telewest cable platform first, before appearing across digital satellite and Freeview in the next few weeks. A marketing campaign showcasing the new look will appear on air in May.
The facelift follows a similar revamp in 2003, with improved functionality added in an attempt to make the service more accessible to viewers. The improved service was intended to simplify the interactive experience by providing viewers with a single point of entry for all interactive TV programmes and information services regardless of platform. A range of video content was also added to enhance the viewing experience of interactive events such as Wimbledon and Test The Nation (see BBC Revamps Interactive Services For Digital Generation).
The BBCi service has been hugely successful for the BBC, with research showing that more than 10 million UK households with Freeview and satellite television accessed the service in 2004. The latest quantitative study commissioned by the BBC and Teletext revealed last year that 53% of viewers in Freeview homes used BBCi during May 2004, compared with 46% of satellite viewers during the same period (see More Than 10 Million Households Now Use BBCi Services).
Last year saw BBCi notch up some of its highest ever viewing figures, with coverage of the Olympic Games and Wimbledon enabling viewers to choose which event or match they watched from multiple live video streams. According to the Corporation, nearly 9 million digital satellite viewers pressed the red buttons on their remote controls during the Olympics, the highest interactive audience ever recorded (see Interactive Olympics Draws Millions To BBC).
BBC: 020 8743 8000 www.bbc.co.uk
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