Creative Archive

A report on the pilot of the BBC’s open content initiative

[email address redacted – Section 40 – Personal data] March 2007

Why?

• BBC: new Charter

• towards an Open BBC

• sound archive: one of world’s largest. 2m items. 300,000 hours

• TV archive: major cultural resource. 1.5m items. 600,000 hours

• Photo stills. 4m items.

• 1000 hours of TV added every month

Growing demand

“57% of teens who use the internet could be considered Content Creators. They have created a blog or webpage, posted original artwork, photography, stories or videos online or remixed online content into their own new creations.”

Pew Internet and American Life survey November 2005

“The extent of the personal publishing revolution has been revealed by a Guardian/ICM poll showing that a third of all young people have launched their own blog or website.”

The Guardian October 2005

Creative Archive: the proposition

Free access to selected content for learning, for creativity and for pleasure.

From home, members of the

public will be able to:

• search for legally cleared TV

and radio content – from

extracts to whole programmes

• preview and download

• modify and create their own versions

• share with others – and with the BBC – on a non-commercial basis

Pilot

To test:

User demand and need (the market)

Understanding of - and compliance with –the licence (the legal framework)

Market impact on existing and potential enterprises (the business model)

BBC pilot campaigns

Open Schools ArchiveRegions on Film

Open Earth Archive

Open News Archive

Radio 1 superstar vjOct 2006August 2005

Meeting the challenge of open access

Unique concept - few precedents - major challenges

Main stakeholders:

• BBC• Opinion formers• Users• Rights owners• Market players

Balancing DRM against creativity

We worked with stakeholders to establish limits to the pilot and gain their trust.

• Restricted to factual genres.• Introduction of user registration.• Sub-commercial resolution levels. (Mpeg1)• Geo-IP restriction (UK only)• Trialling of invisible watermarking.

Encoded files used in pilot

Multi-format. Non-broadcast quality.

Format Total Bit Rate (Kbps)

Video Codec

Audio Codec

Frame Rate

Aspect Ratio

Frame Size (pixels)

4:3 384 x 288

16:9 384 x 216

4:3 384 x 288

16:9 384 x 216

4:3 352 x 288

16:9 384 x 216

MPEG-1 1342 MPEG-11150Kbps

MP2192Kbps44.1KHz

25 fps

QuickTime 848 Sorenson 3 (two-pass VBR)720Kbps

IMA 4:1128Kbps44.1KHz

25 fps

Windows Media

640 WMV 9 (two-pass VBR)512Kbps

WMA 9128Kbps44.1KHz

25 fps

The User LicenceWe have developed a simple, online Creative Archive licence allowing users

to:• view/edit/modify/

adapt/translate• publish & distribute

the work (within the UK)Subject to:• no commercial use

or promotional use• no illegal, derogatory or

objectionable use which brings BBC or other content owners into disrepute

• share alike under the sameterms

• credit for all authors and theBBC

• no additional imposition of terms or DRM

No commercialuse Give credit UK only

Share alike No endorsement

Headline results of the BBC pilot

• 500,000 downloads by the end of the pilot

• 100,000 registered users

• BAFTA for interactive innovation

• Commercial sector endorsement

• International support

• Only two minor breaches of the licence

Creative Archive

Quantitative research carried out for each campaign.

Sample sizes for each up to 1800 people.

BBC Creative Archive PVA research – confidential and NOT for external circulation 23

Summary of PVA Scores for Open Earth Archive

8.7

6.9

7.5

7.2

7.5

7.5

7.0

6.8

6.7

7.0

7.4

7.9

7.7

7.4

0 2 4 6 8 10

Worth the BBC providing

Will help society to progress & stay up-to-date

Helps build knowledge / skills

Give people opportunity to be more creative

Democratic value - new way to access news etc

CA is interesting or appealing

Impact on reputation - regard BBC more favourably

Learned something new

Change usage of internet for better

CA is excellent

CA is distinctive or different

CA is innovative or original

Overall rating of BBC

AVERAGE SCORE

Quality

Personal impact

Value

Citizen impact

7.4

7.0

8.7

7.3

BBC approval

Average

7.7

7.4

Research

1%0%

1%2%

9%

12%

22%

24%

14%15%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Superstar VJs

Open News Archive

Average Score: 7.5Total % scored 1-4: 4%Total % scored 8-10: 53%

To what extent do you feel this service is ‘distinctive’ and ‘different’?

How did you find registration process?

averagebad

longquick

6877

452 1054

16454

0

2000

4000

6000

8000

10000

12000

14000

16000

18000

hardquite easily

somedifficulty very easy

243

7661

916

15945

0

2000

4000

6000

8000

10000

12000

14000

16000

How did you find the download process?

Did you understand the Licence?

aspectsnot at all

quite wellvery well

3032

432

12172

9125

0

2000

4000

6000

8000

10000

12000

14000

What did you not understand about the Licence?

creditingno endo

noncomm share

uk

437

297

1616

470398

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

1600

1800

arts com create learn share watch

2766

349

1634

3845

1631

9024

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

7000

8000

9000

10000

What will you use the content for?

Will you share?

not likelyquite likely

very likely

7028

6188

3146

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

7000

8000

What resolution do you want for video?

382x216384x288

720x576

5007 5174

13183

0

2000

4000

6000

8000

10000

12000

14000

What kind of clips do you want?

TV ProgVideo Clips

Audio ClipsRadio Prog

9606

17262

7078 7615

0

2000

4000

6000

8000

10000

12000

14000

16000

18000

What kind of content do you want?

soap, 1159sport, 5129

archaeology, 4899

arts, 6631

comedy, 8315

dramas, 9215

entertainment, 6281

history, 11823languages, 10144

local_programmes, 2530

news, 8386

quizzes, 1902

science_nature, 10008

Creative Archive pilot

Qualitative research.

Through focus groups.

Creative usage of clips – Initial Mindset

Sample polarised in response toediting / combining with other material

Some struggle to envisageuse of clips beyond

“watching”

Others perceive creative useis integral to the archive

Appear to have been driven to sitethrough navigational path ofinterest e.g. a news story or

specific hobby / interest search

i.e. information driven

Mindset to find material to usecreatively is embedded within

initial search / useVs.

NB some creative users question UK only in desire to share

Length of clips affects mainstream interpretation of editing“They are edited down already!”

The easy edit suite

Upon prompting= received acclaim

Depths resulted in a) usage there & then

b) bookmarking for future

Examples liked, watched and applauded for inspiring own

contribution

Seeing it in action = a point of divinity for some

who could not envisage a benefit of editing up to that point

Proves the power of prompting / providing the tools to get creative

“But you cant save it!”“But you can’t save it”

Creative usage of clips- Examples

I used the clips to challenge myself to write music to them. I used it as

practice for the TV Composers competition the BBC ran.

(Composer)

I downloaded the nature clips and used them to help teach my son (14yrs) how to edit and

apply a voice over. So it had a real educational element to it. But it then got

really fun as we had a laugh putting our own silly commentary over the top like creature

comforts or Ricki Gervais Animals

(Producer)

I use the clips to download onto my laptop and then amalgamate them into my lesson plans I pull them up onto the whiteboard within the

lesson itself.

Showing video engages children much more than a book will.

(Primary Teacher)

I have used the clips as background to a presentation I have pulled together for

work, moving images make it much more dynamic and interesting

(Management Consultant)

Creative usage of clips- Examples

I downloaded the clips and used a new programme we have where I can

superimpose myself into the footage narrating the video for the kids

(Secondary School Science teacher)

I used the plant germination clip but it was too long so we chopped it down and showed a combination of video

clips in amongst some stills

(LEA Learning Consultant)

I put some footage onto a power presentation to show teachers how video, along with other media, can be harnessed in lessons

(Secondary School IT Co-ordinator)

We used the footage of the great whale trying to catch a seal on the beach as an example of predators and the hunted in a biology lesson. It really brought the subject to

life for the children

(Secondary School Biology Teacher)

Response to Licence

Licence recalled by all, Headline = not for commercial gain

Some also recall give credit,

Simplified licence enhances awareness & is applauded

Response to Licence

Range of perceptions revealed

Some understand that it isthe cornerstone of why clips chosen

- which helps to manage their expectations

Some aware that licence extends beyond BBC’s involvement to other broadcasters

- esp. teachers

Some ignored completelya) For personal use anyway

b) illegal attitude to internet per se

“Almost all the software and music content I have is illegally downloaded, so I didn’t really

bother with the licence it is one of those things that you simply click yes to”

Upon discussion within the research process:

Some confusion exists:e.g. Not for profit a grey area

for some e.g. composers gaining inspiration from nature clips

Contribution toward future of BBC

+ve

Future is aboutchoice of information

channel

Allowing creative use of its content

Converging TV with internet

Moving witheducation needs

Depends upon the positioning BBC adopts- just allocating clips dictates viewing only for some

Ability to digitise from TV increasing- archive the right terminology

Already multiple video sources (Google / YouTube etc.)

Its behind schedule anyway!- should have been implemented years ago

Expectations need to be managed - It is not whole programmes, will it ever be?

While some not sure

Many extremely positive

What else have we learnt?

• Every archive item has value for someone

• Applications are as broad as human communication needs – many cannot be predicted

• Need to develop a “pull through” model, where users tell us what they want

• Most people are responsible most of the time

“Creative Archive UK” research

• 91% of respondents agreed that the concept of a Creative Archive UK website made the service more interesting/appealing to them than the BBC’s Creative Archive website on its own

• 91% agreed that it was important to them that the BBC should take part in the Creative Archive UK project

Vision: Creative Archive UKa Creative Archive for the nation, drawing on moving images, stills and sound content from a range of public and commercial sources

Founding members:

Public Value:home use/learning/creative applications

Commercial Value:Wider publicity/profile“Upgrade path”/commercial licensing/investment opportunities

BFI online

New members

International response

• US: PBS stations are working with the Library of Congress to develop “America’s Archive”

• Open Content Alliance supported by Internet Archive, Yahoo and Prelinger Archive

• Japan: NHK seeking government permission to provide downloading for creativity

• Australia: project in development at National Film and Sound Archives

Resident Artists

ULIMITED DISTRIBUTION

Chris Dorley-Brown

UNLIMITED ACCESS

Vicki Bennett“People Like Us”

Whitechapel 1971

People Like Us

Beyond the Pilot

Late 2007: Public Value Test

Mid 2008: Build phase: a scalable editorial, ingest, and distribution system to feed into bbc.co.uk and into a national Creative Archive

Late 2008: Launch of full service: 10,000 hours over 10 years

PV MethodologyValue for

Money and Cost

Fit with BBC Purposes Impact ReachQuality and

Distinctiveness

2 3 4 51

Net Public Value

Public Value

MI Methodology

Economic Value Crowding OutEconomic Value Crowding Out

Purpose alignment and Q / D hurdle

Public Value (VFM) hurdle

Full PVTHurdle (PV and MI)

Assessment against alternative BBC investment options

Service Assessment

Assessment against alternative BBC investment options

Service Assessment

Firsthurdle

Secondhurdle

Thirdhurdle

Public Value Assessment

(PVA)

The Public Value Test framework

Market Impact

Market ImpactAssessment

(MIA)

Public Value Test (PVT)

Rights strategy

• All Creative Archive content will be cleared and – where necessary – paid for

• Develop new pilot phases for specific genres (e.g. drama) in partnership with rights holders

• We will maximise commercial opportunities, including “upgrade”purchases and new entrepreneurial activities

David Puttnam

The Creative Archive exists to ensure public access to public archives is optimised in the digital age. It’s quite simple, we all pay for the upkeep of the material in these archives – we should all be able to access them. If we are unable to access most, if not all, of the riches locked up in these treasure troves, then it quite naturally begs the question, ‘why are we paying for them to be preserved in the first place’?

The objective of universal access to that material won’t be achieved overnight, or even within a few years, but surely within a couple of decades at most, it ought to be an achievable objective.

Thank you

[Name and email address redacted – Section 40 – Personal data]