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BBC draws up new media blueprint UK pubcaster the BBC has drawn up a new editorial blueprint to address the creative challenges brought on by new and emerging digital technologies, which BBC director-general Mark Thompson will address in a Royal Television Society lecture this evening. Creative Future is designed to deliver more value to audiences over the next six years and ensure that the BBC's government-mandated public services translate into quality content in an on-demand world.  In particular, the initiative aims to confront the challenges of adapting to shifts in public expectations, lifestyle and behaviour, as well as building on new relationships with audiences.Over the course of the past year, 10 teams have been exploring what the world may be like in 2012 – by which time the analogue signal is meant to give way entirely to digital in the UK – and determine what the BBC can do to meet audience expectations at this time. A series of recommendations have been provided, among them: relaunch the BBC website to include more personalisation, richer audio-visual and user-generated content; start commissioning more 360-degree cross-platform content; create fewer titles with longer runs in drama; find creative space for outstanding writers; and cherish audience favourites like EastEnders, Holby City and Casualty. For younger viewers it was recommended that the BBC create a new teen brand delivered via existing broadband, TV and radio services, including a new long-running drama, as well as comedy, music and factual content. For even younger viewers it was suggested that sharper age targets be given to Cbeebies and CBBC, and that all children's content – including online and radio – be integrated under these brands. In his speech tonight, Thompson will say that the second wave of digital will be far more disruptive than the first and that the "foundations of traditional media will be swept away," taking companies beyond broadcasting. "We can deliver much more public value when we think across all platforms and consider how audiences can find our best content, content that's more relevant, more useful and more valuable to them," said Thompson. Part of Creative Future will be achieved through existing resources, efficiencies and cutting overheads – but not all, according to Thompson. "A strategy that concentrates uncompromisingly on content of the highest quality costs a great deal more than one that mixes outstanding output with repeats and content of low ambition," he said. Thompson points to this as the reason why the BBC's bid for more resources is "the most important line in the whole licence fee submission. It is what the public wants and expects." The project has involved hundreds of people across the BBC, the independent sector and other industry partners, and is one of the largest audience research and insight initiatives the BBC has ever undertaken. Jo Anne Kenny 25 Apr 2006 © C21 Media 2006 
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