1. Mainstream Broadcaster Website - BBC

a) BBC Lifestyle

http://www.bbc.co.uk/lifestyle/

Technology used

The BBC lifestyle website uses a variety of technology including interactive videos, interactive guides, pictures, roll over navigation bars and programmes which allow you to design things.

The website is a database for people on everything to do with home and lifestyle. It is replacing recipe books in that you can search a database for recipes, watch videos that explain recipes and are interactive and numerous other things. It is also acting as a replacement for programmes, which would provide the audience with information on subjects such as gardening, cooking, parenting, healthcare and much more. It is significant as it acts as a 24 hour, easily accessible database through which people can find out information about these subjects. In a time where people have a larger disposable income to spend on leisure pursuits, the idea of living a lifestyle is more relevant.

The Media being used
There are a variety of media texts used on the website, these include video clips and full-length programmes, message boards, WAP updates to your phone, newsletters, blogs and much more.

The site itself is easy to navigate with each subsection (gardening, food, health, parenting and consumer) being colour co-ordinated so that the reader knows at all times what section they are looking it. The navigation bar along the top of the website and then a smaller, more detailed one running down the right hand side again makes it easy to navigate for those who may not be technologically minded.

Blogs
http://www.bbc.co.uk/gardening/today_in_your_garden/weblogs_index.shtml

Only the gardening section of the website has a blog, in fact it has a few blogs, each run by different gardeners who want different things from their gardens and have different types of gardens. The blog is useful for consumers/readers who are interested in gardening as it contains a variety of tips and useful solutions to problems within the garden. The blog is a way of encouraging interactivity as the reader can leave comments on each post. The variety in the content of the blogs and number of bloggers means that a wide audience is catered for within the niche of the gardening community, it also appeals to both avid gardeners and casual gardeners who only read it if they have something specific they want information on.

Video clips and full-length programmes
In order to make the content more exciting and interactive for the reader there are many video clips, which are there to explain cooking techniques as a visual aid and to stop the website from just containing text, which could become boring for the reader, meaning they may not come back to it.

Containing full-length programmes also means that the reader can watch the programme after they have read about it, or indeed when they want, rather than having to fit their life around the scheduled time of viewing on TV. Of course, with the introduction of BBC3 and BBC4 some of the readers may not even have the channels on which the shows are broadcast, allowing them to access some of the same programmes as a taste.

Message Boards
The message boards are a way for readers to post any questions or comments they have on certain comments and other readers offer solutions or comments. This way of getting audiences to interact with each other increases the loyalty of the reader as they create an online community with those who share similar or the same interests. This in turn encourages loyalty to the BBC who provide the setup for the community.

Audiences
The success of the lifestyle website lies in that it doesn’t have one single target audience. Wide varieties of people, with a wide variety of interests, are among the targeted through the same website. The target audience isn’t dependent on age (except perhaps the parenting section), but rather on lifestyle choices and interests. This results in a variety of content which is accessible for all sorts of ages, from those who love technology with the downloadable videos and design functions, to whose who aren’t so much in the form of articles and the database function.

The website offers a lot to the audience in terms of tips, advice and a forum to put forward questions. There is a wide variety in the content so that there is sure to be something for everyone and for everything they are interested in. They are using it because of convergence, with everyone being in one place. They can watch videos, read about recipes, plants and bringing up a family. They don’t have to go to separate medias to gain information about different aspects of their interests such as how to sharpen knives and recipes. Previously they would have had to go and find it in books or on a particular TV programme only scheduled at certain times. Now, through this modernisation they can consume it around to their lifestyle’s necessities.

Institutions
The only institution involved is the BBC as they are using their programmes and their brand on the website to target their audiences.

They are using the technology to encourage loyalty to their institution: the audience watches their programmes, comes to them for advice, and tips. In turn, the audience finds out about new programmes and then chooses to watch them. If the audience know they can find what they want on that channel then they will pick them first when flicking for something to watch. With the feedback option on the website, it also enables the BBC to schedule what people want to watch, which benefits the viewers too.

Key Concepts
The key concepts that work on this website are interactivity, immediacy, personalisation, time-shift, diversification, vertical integration, narrowcasting and fragmentation.

Interactivity
The website contains lots of interactivity, which keeps the reader interested and loyal to that particular website. Interactivity is present on this website in a number of different forms, such as the large quantity of videos available to watch, the message boards and blogs to leave comments on. You can have updates sent to your e-mail as well as personalise your own garden plan online and set up a calendar for planting plants.

Immediacy
Immediacy works in the speed and instant gratification that readers gain through the website being easy to access the content of the website. You can have updates sent to your mobile and newsletters e-mailed to you.

Personalisation
A major advantage for the reader is that you can personalise the website to cater to your needs. You can choose what recipes you want, set up a calendar for your garden, and watch videos about things that you want to watch rather than sitting through a whole programme.

Time-Shift
Time-shift lets the website be accessible to people whenever they want it, rather than having to watch TV at a scheduled time. Things are easy to find and download (such as some videos) rather than programming a video to record.

Vertical Integration
The website contains links to many other BBC channels, programmes and areas of interest, meaning that the website isn’t just good for finding out about lifestyle, but everything else such as the news, weather and TV scheduling.

Narrowcasting, fragmentation and diversification
Diversification is a diverse audience with niche interests, through having the main lifestyle section and then sub-sections of special interest it draws in a wider audience. The narrowcasting is the targeting of niche media, media which is relevant to niche hobbies and lifestyle choices. Fragmentation is the breaking down of these niche groups, particular types of gardens (e.g. avid or new) and cooks (certain types of foods and levels of skill).