MULTIMEDIA MEETS RADIO

Blogging about the cricket

We are a masochistic lot here at the EBU. Every few months, several of us volunteer to keep co-workers away from their lunch for 30 minutes while we brief them on a topic of special interest. Next Wednesday, I will share the floor with my colleagues David Wood and Nicoletta Iacobacci to talk about blogging.

The plan is that David will explain how member organizations do it, Nicoletta will provide some examples of successful media blogs and I will say a few words about why broadcasters are bothering.

The first point I will make is that our Radio and TV Members approach blogging in different ways because of the diverse natures of their media. TV is a “sit back medium” that requires the complete attention of its audience, while radio allows people to do other things, such as surfing the blogosphere, while they listen.

I heard a good example of this at a recent conference in Copenhagen. BBC Radio Five Live’s Brett Spencer told delegates how a rather large insect had gate crashed a commentary position during last year's Cricket World Cup, in Guyana.

One of the commentators told listeners he had taken a picture of the creepy-crawly with his mobile phone and was uploading it onto a BBC blog. He invited budding entomologists to visit the blog and advise the commentary team whether or not they needed to worry about the six-legged intruder.

Many people took up the invitation and posted comments on the blog while continuing to follow the cricket (the game, not the insect) on the radio. The match commentary was interspersed with remarks about the alarming entomological advice that was arriving on the weblog.

That level of “sit up interactivity” would be more difficult to achieve on a TV show. I’m not saying it’s impossible, but it’s not really what the telly is about.

In its way, Brett’s cricket story also illustrates what Jay Rosen calls "users know more than we do" journalism. The idea is that if members of an audience have expert knowledge in a particular field, it can be exploited to enrich programme content.

Blogs bring audiences closer to presenters, journalists and other programme-makers, which not only builds brand loyalty, but also makes public service broadcasters more accountable.

Soviet football commentary in a jam

As the England team prepares for its first match since the disappointment of the World Cup, Morand Fachot from Communications has unearthed a gem from the EBU's archives. It seems that a research student working in the bowels of the EBU brought him the document to find out what "jamming" meant:

The Soviet Radio approached the BBC for microphone facilities at the USSR v. England football match on 22nd October. The BBC accordingly advised the Soviet Radio that their commentator would be welcome and microphone facilities would be available but that the BBC would wish to be assured that in exchange the BBC Russian service broadcasts covering the same sporting event would not be subjected to jamming under USSR control. Following the arrival of the Soviet commentator in London, the Soviet Radio was asked to confirm that the BBC's transmissions on the match would be allowed to reach the Russian public undisturbed. The exact times of the BBC broadcast were communicated to the Soviet Radio. No such assurance having been received from Moscow, the BBC feels itself unable to give microphone facilities to the Soviet commentator. It is understood that in the circumstances H.M. Government are not prepared to authorise the G.P.O. to provide the line circuit necessary to carry the Soviet Radio commentary out of this country. It seems to the BBC to be unreasonable for the Soviet Radio to expect to be given facilities to enable them to cover an event in the United Kingdom while Soviet jamming is endeavouring to prevent BBC coverage of of the same event from reaching the Russian public. The decision to grant or refuse a Post Office line from London to Moscow lies with the British Post Office and not with the BBC, but the BBC and the Post Office acting on behalf of H.M. government are in full consultation and agreement regarding their respective parts in this matter.

For the record, the Soviets suffered their worst ever defeat, a five nil drubbing at Wembley. The irony is that, in the end, the BBC probably did them a favour - they must have been quite relieved that no-one back home could hear the radio commentary.

Let's hope it is a good omen for tonight's match against Greece. 

England's World Cup winners

Beckham and Rooney may have failed in their bid to bring the World Cup back to Blighty, but this has not prevented BBC Radio Five Live from putting together a winning line-up for its listeners. Small consolation for the fans (like me), perhaps, but a lot of interesting ideas to compare and contrast with content produced by other broadcasters.

Wearing the captain's armband is the highly addictive Goalfinger, which may be the most successful trivia quiz online. In fact, it is so compelling it should come with a health warning: the game attracted 35,000 unique plays within 48 hours of going live - and that was just me!

If content is king - Goalfinger really is a lot of fun - then, in the case of the BBC, cross-media promotion is queen. Clever marketing helped to triple the traffic to Five Live's website in just two weeks.

The game launched with presenters challenging pundits on a Five Live football special. Kirsty Gallacher is now playing Goalfinger on her Saturday morning show.

At one point, Mark Pougatch even managed to discuss Goalfinger with former national team manager Graham Taylor, in what should have been a half-time analysis of another lacklustre display from England.

A series of video blogs has highlighted the quirky side of the World Cup, with contributors ranging from regular Five Live hosts like Victoria Derbyshire and Peter Allen, to celebrity bloggers like comedians David Baddiel and Frank Skinner.

Presenters are able to use Sony Ericsson phones to send pictures directly back to the web. Judging by the results, they have been quick to latch onto the enormous potential offered by the immediacy of the technology.

In terms of user-generated content, Five Live invited listeners to write monologues based on their World Cup experiences and memories. Comedian Johnny Vegas has been reading out the best of them on air everyday.

Listeners can send the BBC a text message to get a video clip of Johnny Vegas sent to their mobiles. This service has been trailed across the BBC television networks.

Viewers in the UK can press the red button on their SKY or Freeview box to watch Johnny Vegas in action in the Five Live studios.

Simon Mayo is offering a best of Five Live's World Cup content to listeners of his daily podcast. Podcast numbers for the Daily Mayo and football phone-in 606 have increased significantly during the World Cup

A touring Five Live big screen and ten fixed screens in the major cities have proved an enormous success, despite some crowd trouble during one match that attracted negative headlines around the world.

All those watching a Five Live screen can text in and see their messages appear, while the BBC adds Five Live promotional texts of upcoming programmes.

If all of this were not impressive enough, the Five Live team is now rolling out an array of Wimbledon content!