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The Children's Media Conference, Salford
28 January 2010
Melissa HardingeExecutive Producer, CBBC
Commissioning
Running order this morning….
1. Who’s who in BBC Children’s?2. CBBC’s aims3. The CBBC Audience4. What is a CBBC Idea?5. CBBC Interactive6. The Commissioning Round
Who’s who?
Joe Godwin, Director , BBC Children’sDamian Kavanagh,Controller CBBCMichael Carrington, Controller Cbeebies
CBBC Commissioning Unit
6 Executive Producers:Alison Gregory ([email protected])
Bridget Banton ([email protected])
Melissa Hardinge ([email protected])
Rebecca Shallcross ([email protected])
Catherine McAllister ([email protected])
Sue Nott ([email protected])
CBBC’S aims
• CBBC is aimed at 6-12 year olds
• Unlike other children's channels CBBC is a mixed-genre schedule: we cover drama, comedy, factual, factual entertainment, gameshows, news, documentaries, events, sport etc. We think it's very important for CBBC to cover all these things.
• CBBC is currently in rude health. We're watched by more 6-12 year olds than any other channel in the UK. Our website is also the most popular channel website for that audience. (SHOWREEL CLIP)
CBBC’S aimsCBBC is wholly child focussed. We aim to:
* inspire a child’s imagination and open their minds to new worlds
* help a child understand itself and its place in the world
* provide positive role models for children* empower them to be active citizens* encourage them to try something new and be
active• provide them with moments where they can laugh
out loud and be silly • create great content that will stay with them for a
lifetime
CBBC’S Aims
• To retain existing audiences, and grow in cable & satellite homes
• To honour the trust that the audience & their parents have in CBBC
• Want our brands to sing in a fragmented world – want them to love our shows, and want to wear it, be part of their identity
The CBBC Audience
SCREEN TIME IS COMPETITIVE• 30 dedicated children’s channels, plus adult TV,
catch up services , short form content• Over 5 and a half hours a day infront of a screen• 92% live in multi-channel homes, 45% in their
bedroom• Spending on kids hasn’t declined in the recession
– bombarded by merchandise• Physical world is fairly restricted – explore more
online
The CBBC Audience
THEMES• Friendship• Strong Characters• Aspirational/fantasy powers• Set in reality• Good always overcomes evil• Touch points – children want to feel part of
something bigger
The CBBC Audience
THEMES THAT DON’T CUT THROUGH
• Adult/child division• Setting too fantastical – can’t get a handle on
them• Characters non-aspirational• Complex narratives
What is a CBBC idea?
RELEVANCE
• worlds they recognise
• think about why would this matter to or inspire a 9-year-old?
What is a CBBC idea?
TONE• it needs to be cheeky, upbeat, fun, energetic• It must be conversational and never speak down
to the audience• It must speak to them in their own language• We're not interested in formally educating the
audience• If we can make them laugh and facilitate them
taking knowledge out of that, e.g Horrible Histories, we will do. Laugh yourself smart! (CLIP)
What is a CBBC Idea?
INFECTIOUSNESS• What would a child want to talk about or share
with their friends in the show they’ve experienced?
• Disney are great at creating emotional engagement with viewers. We have to make our content playground currency/more talked about. We need to facilitate our audience to pass it on/share with their peers.
• Routes in are to think about characters, catchphrases, format points, music etc (CLIP)
What is a CBBC idea?
TALENT• It's important that producers try and surprise us!
They need to have a real passion for their subject, ie Steve Backshall, Stefan Gates, Richard Hammond. No rent-a-presenter because the audience will see through them.
• Comedy very important for this audience so think of comic talent, new and established. We’ve got Johnny Vegas, Eddie Izzard and Bill Bailey all doing stuff for the channel.
• New talent is very important to us. Are there ways that established talent can mentor new talent, e.g. Jimmy McGovern
What is a CBBC idea?
SUBJECT MATTER• Nothing is out of bounds as long as it's relevant to
and dealt with in an appropriate way for our audience.
• Newsround Specials have dealt with divorce, death/bereavement, bullying, poverty, online grooming. We've covered politics in Election and won a BAFTA, parental smoking in Smokehouse, and killed a pig in Gastronuts.
• Docs - facial disfigurement, children of prisoners, disability, travelling children (My Life)
• Don’t want to do mini versions of existing big brands
What is a CBBC Idea?
DIVERSITY• Incredibly important for the channel.• Approval of CBBC is very low in the devolved
regions. We can be perceived as very middle class and very English. Outreach is very important going forward, we need to get out more, produce shows outside of London.
• Where does diversity work well on the channel - in a show like Tracy Beaker where one of the characters has cerebral palsy
• Not really interested in doing shows specifically about disabled characters
CBBC Interactive
2 ways we work with Indies• through Commissioning, where you bring your
ideas to us in response to our published briefs, your original IP
• or alternatively as outsourced production for in-house commissions, through the BBC’s Approved Supplier List.
• (INTERACTIVE SHOWREEL)
Interactive Strategy• Stay at the vanguard of the BBC’s strategy to embrace
the full potential of digital technologies by applying multiplatform thinking to all that we do.
• Continue to build on the re-launches of CBBC and CBeebies and bring a feeling of overall cohesion to our interactive portfolios.
• Continue to improve media literacy for children and provide trusted and safe community spaces on the web and relevant platforms.
• Develop a stronger connection with our audience beyond the screen and engage children in more active and creative ways through digital media.
Multi-platform approach• We do take a Multiplatform approach to all we do
– but not everything can or will work cross-platform. ‘Fewer, bigger, better’ strategy for interactive as well as television.
• Across our interactive portfolio we are taking a 'product' approach, with gaming being a key aspect of our service, but it is very much brand or character driven.
• We can utilise standalone ideas to fit with existing brands or build up new brands from scratch from an idea which works well on more than one platform.
Interactive Examples • Gamebuilder – was a standalone idea / application
(featuring lots of CBBC brands) an indie project which came through the commissioning round in response to a brief.
• Horrible Histories – commissioned alongside the TV series through the commissioning round, where the indie subcontracted another company to deliver the interactive element.
• Escape from Scorpion Island – an indie TV commission, but developed by the internal production team at CBBC Interactive.
• MI HIGH – indie TV commission, but online element pitched separately by the in-house interactive team and then tendered out to another third party indie to develop.
• Bugbears – an in-house commission outsourced to two different indies to develop it.
The Commissioning Round• End of the current commissioning round (Sept to Nov 2009 – decisions by 18 th Feb)• Debate about going to rolling commissioning• We only accept initial submissions via the e-commissioning system• You need to register on the system, which may take a few working days. • E-commissioning is different from the BBC’s Approved Supplier List – it’s a
separate process.• www.bbc.co.uk/commissioning/tv/network/genres/cbbc.shtml• We work with a wide range of independent companies and are always keen to hear
from new ones.
• www.bbc.co.uk/commissioning/tv/network/genres/cbbc.shtml
