BBC gets Taster for digital

The BBC has launched a platform to develop ideas for digital shows and emerging technology, with its first offering including exclusive content from Girls writer Lena Dunham and UK comedian Jennifer Saunders.

BBC Taster will feature experimental TV, radio and online concepts and enable the UK pubcaster to test ideas on audiences.

The platform will feature shortform and social content such as When Len Met Jen, an interactive interview featuring Dunham and Saunders, as well as Simon Reeve’s World Tour, which will use exclusive footage from his upcoming BBC2 series. New technology from in-house divisions BBC Future Media, Research & Development, Connected Studio and digital innovation teams will also be tested.

Ralph Rivera, director of BBC Future Media, said Taster would “bring together our editorial and technology experts and open the process up for audiences. This will give us valuable feedback and technical insights, helping us further develop our ideas and work on those with the greatest potential.”

It’s the latest bid by the BBC to focus on digital output, following its decision to move BBC3 online, which sparked an attempt by UK indies Hat Trick Productions and Avalon to buy the channel.

The move was quickly dismissed by the BBC, but Hat Trick CEO Jimmy Mulville yesterday reiterated his interest and said it was not a PR stunt.

In related news, the pubcaster has appointed a head of drama at BBC Scotland.

Gaynor Holmes, who previously worked on Monarch of the Glen, Waterloo Road, Ashes to Ashes and Garrow’s Law, takes up the job immediately having been acting in the role since Christopher Aird’s appointment as one of the two heads of drama in London last year.

BBC Scotland Drama’s productions currently include Stonemouth, One of Us, Shetland and River City.