Product Transformation at the BBC

Thank you. Yep, I'm Lee Cooper, VP for Product for BBC Studios, and that distinction is important. I'm here to talk to you about how we transformed bbc.com, which is one of the world’s largest websites. This was one of the biggest undertakings from a technology perspective that BBC Studios has ever attempted. There are many aspects I could cover, and I could probably talk for hours about various elements, but what I want to focus on today is how we delivered this transformation in partnership with our BBC colleagues. Specifically, I'll discuss how we balanced our commercial aspirations within Studios without abandoning our public service purpose and identity.
In terms of structure, I’ll start with some context and history about why we embarked on this journey, then discuss some of the processes we implemented and how those manifested in the final product. I’ll finish with lessons learned before opening up to questions.
I suspect most of you know the BBC and its mission to inform, educate, and entertain. For those who may not, it’s the UK’s public service broadcaster. However, many people I meet aren’t familiar with BBC Studios. Studios is essentially the commercial arm of the BBC, operating at a global scale and without license fee funding. Everything we do has to stand on its own financially. Our goal is to generate revenue to reinvest in the BBC, helping reduce the burden on license fees and supporting the BBC’s mission.
BBC Studios covers many areas—we make content, sell content, have digital products, and more. But for this presentation, the main focus is on our responsibility for the commercialization of BBC News outside the UK.
BBC presentations usually include a video, so I'm going to play a short one to set the context of our news and what our aspirations are.
[Video Plays]
Mr. President, a pleasure to meet you. This border has become highly politicized. The war in this area is extremely active, and international media presence is rare here. These were voices he felt were unheard. There’s a new king. Don’t you feel an obligation or duty? Humanity’s approach isn’t working. All they want is unity. Curiosity is one of the driving forces of humankind.
[Music Fades]
News is at the heart of the BBC. We have a rich history of delivering trusted, impartial journalism, not just to audiences in the UK but globally. Today, that’s more important than ever. Tim Davie, our Director-General, recently spoke about the importance of being a reliable information source, particularly as we face increasingly fragmented and polarized media and an era of disinformation. This makes our brief to rebuild the bbc.com website even more essential. We had to ensure we got it right.
A Bit of History
The first version of bbc.co.uk launched in 1997. What you see here is a timeline of different iterations for a UK audience with a strong affinity to the BBC brand. Periodically, these UK-centric designs were exported to international audiences. These were essentially websites created for an audience with a deep connection to the BBC, which international audiences don’t always share.
In the UK, the BBC is a bit like oxygen—you’re introduced to it as a child, and it’s part of your life. For international audiences, however, the relationship isn’t as ingrained. People may know the BBC for certain shows, presenters, or news, but we’re more of a challenger brand outside the UK.
By 2020, the international version of the website needed a digital overhaul. It was a bit of a mishmash—a la carte experience. What we needed was a coherent, elevated "tasting menu." News sections had largely been inherited from the .co.uk website, with specific international topics bolted on, resulting in an inconsistent product experience. We had a wide array of design templates, inconsistent branding, and a complex architecture. When we began, we counted nine different content management systems involved in content curation.
The fragmented experience created a confusing relationship with the brand for our international users. It was time for a reset. We needed to serve our audience in a more intentional way, create a consistent and sophisticated web experience, and drive commercialization outside the UK.
Our Mission and Objectives
As a product person, the first question is, “What is the mission?” For us, sustaining the BBC’s mission was paramount—non-negotiable. We had to support the overall mission while operating outside the UK. Our international audiences needed a more tailored experience. Everything we did also needed to be commercially viable through advertising and sponsorship. Striking the right balance between our public service ethos and commercial approach was the challenge.
BBC Public Service has a long-standing history with news, rooted in ad-free, universally accessible, and editorially rigorous standards. Naturally, they are a risk-averse organization. My team and I had to bring our public service colleagues along on this journey, helping them understand why transformation and commercial balance were essential.
Our Approach

1. Informing: Our first task was to inform everyone. Just because an initiative is green-lit doesn’t mean everyone automatically knows about it. We had to disseminate the information throughout the organization.
2. Educating: We needed to clarify the scope and rationale for what we were doing. Most of the website was built by public service; I couldn’t just show up and say, “Your product doesn’t suit our needs anymore.” Our messaging needed to be careful, focusing on building what was commercially flexible while leveraging what made sense.
3. Listening: We held hundreds of roadshows across the organization to get buy-in and create a shared understanding of the problem and a shared target solution. Listening was crucial; many people at the BBC have deep expertise and passion. Listening helped us course-correct where needed and ensured we had a shared problem and solution.
4. Collaborating: It sounds simple, but with our stakeholder map, collaboration was complex. Here, the green circles are public service, and the white ones are Studios. Each label has multiple layers, and there are also external vendors involved. We covered this entire stakeholder base multiple times to maintain alignment.
   Results
   Architecture: We needed an independent commercial stack to control our own destiny and serve our audience commercially. There were many existing BBC components that we could leverage where it made sense. However, some components were built for UK needs and legislation, requiring us to adapt them for international viability.
   Product Differences: We didn’t want to change the news content itself but allowed for different treatments tailored to international audiences. For example, the global page now has more relevant iconography and colors for an international audience. Gone are elements like iPlayer and Sounds, which aren’t available outside the UK.
   Content Curation: The business pages, for instance, look different on both the UK and international sites. The UK version is more UK-centric, while the international site leads with global stories, as content like energy prices isn’t as relevant to a US audience.
   Advertising: Previously, advertising templates were repurposed from the UK public service site, making ad placement feel clunky. We’ve now optimized ad pacing for a more premium experience.
   Technical Component Reuse: We reused the BBC Media Player, a proprietary tool, rather than purchasing a new video player. However, we had to adapt it for international standards, such as more extensive subtitle customization in the US. My team’s role was to educate product custodians on the need for these changes.
   Commercial Engagement: For commercial purposes, knowing our customers was crucial. We needed to encourage sign-ins and data collection. We leveraged the BBC Account for this, but it was originally designed only for UK users. The tone and presentation were adjusted for international users. For example, sign-in prompts were made less dismissible outside the UK to encourage habitual use.
   Results So Far
   We launched in March, and the impact has been significant. We’ve seen a 33% year-on-year increase in visitors, bringing us to around 140 million. Sign-ins have increased by 83%, which is a fantastic metric. Our habitual use metric is currently down by 10%, but this is expected to improve over the next year as habitual use is a lagging metric.
   Lessons Learned
5. Don’t skip the groundwork: Do the groundwork and be prepared to repeat it. This process is critical, and without it, I don’t believe we would have launched within our timeline.
6. Embrace change: Whatever you set out to do is based on assumptions. Be prepared to pivot, and if possible, bake time into your plan for these adjustments.
7. Support your team: Transformation is stressful and involves tight budgets, strict deadlines, and high expectations. Supporting each other is essential to achieve success.
   I have a video, but we’re out of time, so I’ll skip that.
   [Applause]
   Moderator: Thank you very much, Lee. Great presentation! We have a few questions.
   Audience Question: Should we have different company missions for different audiences or types of users?
   Lee: For us, they’re similar but different because of the nature of our business. We’re a BBC company, but we operate commercially. The commercial element doesn’t apply to the BBC’s public service mission, so we have to adapt. We retain core elements of the BBC mission but leverage aspects that allow us to drive commercial value.
   Audience Question: You mentioned mistakes during launch. Could you give an example and explain what you learned?
   Lee: Yes, indexing was one of the most noticeable mistakes. While aiming for an international audience, we forgot about UK expats—our most passionate users. We initially made it challenging to find UK-specific content, which led to a traffic drop. We quickly adjusted based on user feedback. Another area is ad pacing. It’s not an exact science, and we started cautiously with ad placements. We’re now experimenting to find the right balance.
   Audience Question: How did you present your success metrics to the business, and how often did you update them?
   Lee: We’re in a transitional phase where we’re beginning to see the impact on our KPIs. We communicated anticipated drops in certain metrics initially, such as traffic, as part of a broader strategy shift. Explaining these nuances was key to setting expectations, especially as our habitual use metric is lagging and won’t show full results until next year.
   Moderator: Thank you very much, Lee. Great insights!