By Sara Guaglione

The BBC is consolidating its digital website and apps in the U.S. this fall to attract readers and advertisers on this side of the pond. The redesigned digital platforms are expected to roll out globally by next year.

The BBC isn’t the only large, global news organization working on overhauling its digital presence. CNN is rolling out a new content management system, which will help fuel an upcoming digital refresh. Fox News redesigned its website in March.

The BBC cannot sell ads in the U.K. as a public service broadcaster — the company is funded by a license fee paid annually by all households with a TV set. But BBC Studios, the commercial side of the business, is setting its sights on the U.S. — one of its largest markets outside of the U.K. — to grow commercial revenue. BBC Studios creates, develops, produces and sells TV content, as well as advertising and sponsorship deals on BBC.com, its apps, its TV channel BBC World News and on the BBC World Service in both the U.K. and in international markets.

“We have not invested in marketing to U.S. audiences previously. We’ve really not focused on the U.S. audience as a key focal point,” said Tara Maitra, BBC Studios’ chief commercial officer. The U.S. market is “where we realized we wanted to put most of our investment because we see it as the biggest [revenue] opportunity.”

When asked if these decisions would result in layoffs, a BBC spokesperson said the company is growing the full team working on digital news. Last year, the BBC committed to reinvesting in video and digital news, and expected to let go 1,000 people over the next few years in the public-funded division of the company. Those layoffs will not impact BBC Studios, according to the company.

The BBC doubled its digital news team in the U.S. in the past year to bring in more North American readers and create more inventory for advertisers to buy. The U.S. team’s coverage focuses mainly on U.S. and global news, history, travel, business, climate and sustainability, and sports, Maitra said.

BBC.com grew the number of unique visitors to its site in North America by 14% in the last six months of its fiscal year, which ended on March 31, compared to the previous six months, a BBC spokesperson said, without providing exact figures.

Comscore, however, paints a slightly different traffic picture year over year. The BBC had 38 million U.S. unique visitors in March 2023, slightly less than the 41.8 million unique visitors to its site in March 2022, according to Comscore. Comscore data did show March 2023 traffic represented an 8% increase month-over-month. There was a 12% increase in The BBC’s U.S. unique visitors in the second half of The BBC’s fiscal year compared to the first six months, according to Comscore numbers.

However, The BBC’s efforts have not yet resulted in ad revenue growth year over year. The BBC is “still operating at the levels we have been” since it started expanding …read more

Source:: Digiday

Author: Aaron