An interesting post on the BBC Internet Blog about the service’s strategy for getting its younger audience more engaged again. “We’re missing a trick here,” explained BBC interactive music expert Mark Friend during a seminar held at the London Radio Theater. “If we look at the numbers of people who listen to our radio stations every day . . . the numbers of people coming to our sites is relatively small. Lot of room for growth.”
The amount of time spend listening is falling across all youth groups, Friend noted, dropping 0.9 percent for ages 15 through 19; 1.0 percent for ages 20-24; and 0.6 percent for ages 25-29.
“Our aim in launching a new product later this year is to bring back those younger listeners.”
The ambition of the “new product” will be to take the BBC beyond listening to sharing, interacting, and watching. I’m not entirely clear that the end result will still constitute “radio,” but watch the video of Friend’s presentation and decide for yourself.
