Beeb Broadband TV Trials Attract Younger Audience

BBC Two could rejuvenate its brand to attract a younger demographic by making more of its content available online. The broadcaster, whose main audience is said to have an average age of 54, has successfully trialled new ways to connect with its audiences via broadband downloads.

The trials, which were the biggest experiment of their kind, gave viewers the chance to watch each episode of The Apprentice for free via the BBC Two website for up to a week after it had aired. All 12 episodes were available for viewing for a week after the series ended (see BBC Launches New Web TV Trials).

C4 carried out similar trials earlier this year with new show The IT Crowd, premiering the program online, with each episode available for free a week before it aired on TV. This marked the first time a channel had premiered a made-for-TV series online (see Channel 4 Heralds The IT Crowd An Online Hit). According to a report in Broadcast, the channel plans to launch a full broadband on-demand service in the autumn once a deal regarding online rights has been finalised.

Channel executives at the Beeb are said to be encouraged by the results of the trials, which revealed that the age of those viewing programs online is a lot younger than the broadcaster’s traditional audience. 56% of those viewing BBC Two content online were aged 34 or under, with 26% between the ages of 16 and 24.

“This is still unchartered territory and very hard to predict, but the growth in these figures has exceeded my expectations,” said BBC Two controlled Roly Keating. “It is almost as if the audience is just waiting for us to do something like this.” Keating also said that the trial showed no signs that broadband pulled audiences away from linear television and that broadband experiments would continue.

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