BBC relaunches services under BBCi banner

(Gees, if I owned the copyright to the "i", I would be making a right royal mint these days... Ed!)

The British Broadcasting Corp. has quietly relaunched all of its interactive services under a single brand, its first step toward driving digital access in Britain.

All BBC online, digital-text and interactive TV services were brought under the "BBCi" banner Wednesday, providing a uniform format for its information and education services. The redesign is intended to merge all interactive platforms into one, making it easier for BBC audiences to access emerging digital platforms.

"This is phase one of our rollout--letting people know that there is now a new name for all of our digital services," said a BBC representative. "It was always planned as a low-key launch. Phase two is scheduled for the early part of 2002."

The TV and radio broadcaster is using its new-media budget--derived from license-fees revenue--to launch a completely new Web navigation system along with the redesign. The BBCi logo will appear on all the BBC's digital text services and across all pages of its Web site, letting readers know when interactive content is attached. Interactive information is available at a local level.

News source: CNet News