Intriguing, when I was in Chicago for a few days and I wanted my daily fix of news and went to the BBC site, I was quite surprised, it wasn’t what I was used to at all.
Now in the UK I see this…
And in Chicago I see this …
I took these screenshots within about 5 minutes of each other – One in Chicago and one in the UK thanks to LogMeIn and a PC back in (apparently sunny) Chepstow.
So, what are the differences, well, advertising is the first big thing. The Iran Story, Top in the US is number 2 on the UK site and visible only through a text link, no iPlayer, so I can’t catch up on my favourite shows and the Featured today section is sponsored. The sport is UK based. Chelsea still beat Liverpool.
I’ve noticed in the last few weeks in the UK the BBC has had a bit of a bashing about the services it provides and whether they are value for the ‘licence fee’ payers. Like many I hadn’t realised the extent of the monetisation of the use of BBC Services by what are clearly non-licence fee payers, non UK visitors to the site.
I wonder how much revenue the advertising and sponsorships create? What else do you think the BBC (Or any ‘non-national’ TV station could do to monitise it’s non domestic audience?
Is the situation the same when reversed (Say ABC viewed in the UK) or, as they are fully commercial stations anyway should they just treat the world as their market?
It reminded me that our view of the world is just that ‘our’ view, our own. It’s worth remembering that when you look at other people’s reaction to what we see and do, they almost certainly aren’t seeing it in the same way that we do ourselves.
{ 0 comments }
