11 minute read
Broadcasting
TRANSFORMING TV The digital revolution in broadcasting was accelerated at warp speed in lockdown. Alexander Garrett finds out what has been top of the agenda for the project managers at the heart of change
When Netflix announced the launch of its streaming service in January 2007, TV entered a new era. The way we watch TV programmes and movies has changed irreversibly, from linear – watching scheduled programming as it is broadcast – to a largely ondemand world, where it’s commonplace to devour an entire series in one go. Intensified competition for eyeballs has created an imperative for broadcasters to re-engineer their viewing experience or fall by the wayside. But that’s only the most visible aspect of a digital transformation that the entire sector has been undergoing, as technology offers new ways to recast every aspect of production and distribution. And project management, once alien to the creative and sales-driven culture of the TV world, has played a key role in that metamorphosis. So what does digital transformation mean in practice? Founded in 1922, the BBC has never stopped evolving. In the 21st century, the pace has quickened and it has taken rapid strides in introducing new digital services, while continuing to provide local, national and international TV and radio services. New director general Tim Davie has espoused a mission statement “to deliver for the whole of the UK and ensure every household gets value from the BBC”.
Rachel Baldwin is a programme manager overseeing multiple projects in the BBC’s design and engineering division. The new mission provides a clear focus for the transformation work taking place, she says. “We need to
THE BBC
TRANSFORMING OPERATIONS
know that we are serving all audiences in the UK, and so it’s important we have data to tell us that we are doing that. Last year was an amazing year; in the final week of 2020, the BBC reached 95 per cent of all adults in the UK.”
There are also four specific priorities that transformation work has to deliver against: “We will renew our commitment to impartiality. We will focus on unique, high-impact content. We will extract more from online. And we will build commercial income.” Much of this work is invisible to the consumer audience. The specific area that Baldwin’s programme addresses is transforming workflows for journalists in the BBC’s news operations. “We’ve delivered a range of projects, providing new tools, systems and products, which help journalists to maximise value to audiences, which
Lockdown smash hits: ITV’s White House Farm and (left) TRANSFORMING TV the BBC’s I May Destroy You
Alamy is more specifically making it easier for them to work together to produce content for all platforms, be it radio, TV, online or social,” she explains. “The tools also make it easier for them to collaborate on stories, be that locally, nationally or globally. Also to re-version their digital content into over 40 languages very quickly.”
One project that proved invaluable during the pandemic is the implementation of a new cloud-based planning and deployment system for journalists called Wolftech, which is used to plan news stories, deploy crews to location and enable news teams to collaborate in real time on stories across the globe. It’s now used on most news stories globally. Before the pandemic Wolftech had already been introduced in the UK newsroom, and the fact that journalists could access the cloud-based system using laptops and mobiles made the transition to remote working much easier, says Baldwin.
But thousands of other journalists around the world had yet to be trained on the system, and the classroom teaching they would have received normally had to be replaced by new, rapidly developed online modules, which could be delivered remotely in small groups over Zoom . “We’ve now got all journalists globally on the system and the feedback for the remote training and implementation has been excellent. So it’s a real story of success,” she adds.
Project and change management are well established at the BBC, says Baldwin. One approach that has worked well recently is the use of agile techniques to test new ways of working with pilot teams, then review and adjust, until new workflows are ready to roll out more widely. This test and learn approach builds people’s confidence in new ways of working, Baldwin finds.
ITV
EXTERNAL AND INTERNAL REVOLUTION
ITV is the UK’s biggest commercial broadcaster and so is also vulnerable to the growth of subscription-based services. Its current digital transformation drive began when new CEO Carolyn McCall arrived in January 2018. McCall revised the strategic vision to focus on bringing content to audiences “whenever, wherever and however they choose”.
June Stewart, head of project and resource management at the company (pictured), says the digital transformation effort has two strands. “How We Watch includes all the external-facing elements such as ITV Hub, Britbox and our new advanced advertising platform, Planet V. And How We Work is more about our internal ways of working,
looking at our core processes,” she explains. “This year, there is also a specific focus on ITV Hub and the user experience. So now you’ll hear Carolyn talk a lot about how we make the Hub a destination instead of just a catch-up service.”
The How We Work side is about transforming core systems and digitising end-to-end processes, enhancing the user experience for colleagues, working efficiently, and the wider adoption of digital ways of working. This year, the focus has been on transformation of HR and finance. “It’s not just about the systems, it’s about how the way we work is supported by technology,” says Stewart.
Dominika Phillips-Blackburn, one of ITV’s agile delivery managers, says that in this sector, solutions can’t always be bought off the shelf, so ITV has become adept at developing its own. A key project she has managed is the development and implementation of FreeCon, a system which manages the contracting of all freelance staff by ITV. “We had a lot of processes, databases and information on our freelancer community that weren’t all in one place. And it was very different across different productions,” she explains.
The project started as a proof of concept; a third-party consultancy helped with development, and once the decision was taken to invest, the project was delivered using scrum methodology, says Phillips-Blackburn. “We have fully automated the sending of a contract to a freelancer and integrated Adobe Sign so that they can sign it all online. And then we are scheduling in the days that they’re going to be working for us, which is the basis for them getting paid.”
This kind of system is completely invisible to the viewer, but of vital importance to ITV’s success in attracting and retaining talented staff, Stewart points out. By working more efficiently, effort can be diverted into other areas of innovation. So this aspect of digital transformation is just as important as improving the user experience.
There are challenges, she says: ensuring each individual project delivers the expected value and prioritising work when demand exceeds capacity. But, above all, says Stewart, “This whole transformation is about mindset and culture. We want to change our ways of working, we want to be more efficient in the way we do things and we want to experiment with new ideas. It’s not just about replacing one system with another – it’s taking a fresh look at everything.”
DELIVERING A FUTURE-PROOF STRATEGY
Last November, Channel 4 CEO Alex Mahon announced Future4, a strategy to put the company “on the path to a digital future”. The five-year plan has two key objectives: to double viewing figures on the streaming platform All 4; and to create new revenue streams, delivering 30 per cent of total revenues from digital advertising and 10 per cent from non-advertising.
Sonia Sharma, head of enterprise PMO and planning at Channel 4, says: “People may think that we are at the start of our digital transformation journey with the new strategy, but I believe we paved the way with some significant initiatives over the past couple of years. We have implemented several digital projects and programmes, particularly in the sales space, that have given us a head start.”
Significant projects already completed in the last couple of years include development of the subscription version of All 4; partnerships including development of Britbox with BBC and
BFI REMASTERING A MOVIE CLASSIC
Approaching its 90th year, the BFI faces many of the same challenges as TV companies. Since joining in 2013, Ed Humphrey, director of digital, has overseen the launch of BFI Player, extensive website redevelopment, a rapid expansion of distribution and creation of new revenue streams, alongside two major projects to digitise the BFI’s priceless archive of classic British film.
He says: “I think we’re well down the road to being a digital-first company, but with some way to go. For me, digital transformation means a focus on the user, the audience, not on the technology, and what we’ve done with BFI Player and other projects is to put the user at the heart of what we’re trying to achieve.” Delivering transformation is never easy, but “in an organisation with nearly 100 years of legacy it is really di cult to bend the organisation to work in a di erent way. So we’ve had to pick our battles, beginning where we can quickly have the most impact, and that is often the digital platforms.”
ITV, and putting Channel 4 content on social media platforms like Snapchat; and Channel 4’s in-house digital content team in Leeds that drives engagement with its shows on social platforms. In 2020, an extremely large-scale and complex programme resulted in the launch of BR4NDMATCH – described as “a pioneering collection of data-driven, digital ad products on All 4, offering advertisers unique targeting capabilities in a post-GDPR, cookieless environment on a TV video-on-demand player for the first time in the UK.”
Sharma says digital is at the heart of most of this effort: “Each of the pillars in our Future4 strategy has two or three significantly large programmes underpinning it. All are in some shape or form to do with data and technology.”
All 4 is a major focus. During the pandemic its viewing figures rose by a remarkable 27 per cent, making it the UK’s biggest free streaming service. “There’s a lot of work being done within All 4 platforms,” says Sharma. “There is work on personalisation and targeted advertising on the one hand, and then just improving the robustness of it and the viewer experience on the other side.” To push through such significant change
Four-part crime drama
Deadwater Fell was one
of Channel 4’s most popular series of 2020
in a short period of time also requires a comprehensive and effective approach to project – and portfolio – management, which is something that Sharma has been working on
Alamy; Ben Wright
Humphrey says that the BFI’s transformation e ort is guided by a cultural mission “to increase the diversity of what’s available for people to watch”. That’s led the BFI to secure distribution on streaming platforms, and move from a rentals model to a subscription-based BFI Player. That works much better for the audience, Humphrey says. “For a small monthly fee they can explore the entire BFI catalogue.”
The transition has also helped the government-supported BFI become self-sustaining. “We are now earning millions of pounds from streaming; five or six years ago, it was virtually zero.” Two other benefits have come from the digitisation of the film archive. “We’re investing in the processes and workflows that sit behind our film collections. So, the BFI now has a world-leading digital preservation infrastructure for our digitised film assets.” And the creation of data and metadata has opened enormous potential for a much better understanding of Britain’s film heritage.
Project management plays an important role, says Humphrey. “There’s a very strong set of ethics around how we work on our projects, making sure that things are delivered on time, to budget and meet user need.” implementing, with some significant advances over the last six months.
“We call it The IMPACT Engine,” she says. “It’s a delivery mechanism.” The new approach includes elements such as governance, a universal language, business case reviews, recognition of roles and responsibilities, multidisciplinary working and just enough documentation – any one of which may have slipped by the wayside before.
It allows the company to prioritise and to make the benefits case for each piece of work, right up to executive level.
Lessons learned? “For me it would be about flexibility and adaptability. For any change of this size and at this pace, you need to understand your stakeholders, and that not everything works for everybody. We can see where we want to get to, but it’s going to take a lot of effort and cultural change. Channel 4 is different, and while making this change, we want to maintain who we are.”
