AFI BLOG: Media and Technology

BBC sets sights on youth - Variety Intl

Network chief unveils Open Media initiative to press

LONDON — “I feel a bit like Steve Jobs up here,” announced Bebo topper Joanna Shields at last week’s launch of the social networking site’s Open Media initiative.

Wishful thinking? Or does Shields have a point about Bebo’s marriage between new and traditional media that gives users access to free content from global media companies including CBS, MTV and the BBC.

The packed Nov. 13 press conference, staged at the British Academy of Film and Television Arts’ London HQ, a location long associated with old media, was heavy on hype.

But the message was powerful as Shields announced “a breakthrough business model for the entertainment industry.”

Under Open Media, content providers are not charged for access to Bebo. They use their own video players and pocket all related ad coin.

For Bebo, the hope is that having legal clips from, say “Doctor Who,” or “Robin Hood” (both popular BBC shows with young auds) will encourage users to spend longer on the site — making it more attractive to advertisers and sponsors.