BBC launches Parenting Video On Demand

18th January, 2006 -For the next six months, the BBC is giving people more control over what they watch and when they watch, by allowing viewers access to tips and clips from hit BBC parenting shows downloaded from bbc.co.uk/parenting.

Jana Bennett, BBC Director of Television, commented:
"In the future people are going to be watching TV programmes in many different ways. The Parenting Video on Demand player aims to give us a real insight into how that future might look. Busy parents will have access to free parenting advice in the form of bite-size, video clips from hit BBC shows such as Child of Our Time and Little Angels - so not only will viewers be able to watch the programmes they love again, but more significantly, they will also be able to do so when they want to, and in a format that's convenient for them."

Introduced by Melinda Messenger, (who has three young children of her own) and featuring video clips offering expert commentary and advice from Prof Robert Winston and Dr Tanya Byron, Parenting Video On Demand, puts mums and dads in control as they search by topic, age, or programme to find the specific parenting information they need – at anytime of the day or night, free of charge.

Offering BBC parenting programme clips as a resource is ideal for new parents who may have missed the first episodes of Little Angels or Child of Our Time - but for whom those episodes may be more relevant. For example, the children in the current series of Child Of Our Time are approaching the age of 6, but the first series of the show may be of more interest to a new mother.

From January until June, Parenting Video on Demand can be accessed at any time, free of charge, by any UK resident with a computer and a broadband connection.Users can select from 70 hours of video in total - 90 video ‘journeys’ or video stories covering the early years (up to the age of five) from conception and birth to discipline, and the first day at school.

“It is when their children are very young that many people find they most need support and reassurance,’ says Marc Goodchild, executive producer. ‘We thought that by pulling together content from some of our best known programmes we could create a really useful service.�

Launching this week, Parenting Video on Demand, is part of a series of different TV Plus pilots commissioned by Jana Bennett in response to a rapidly changing world of broadcasting. The growth in sales of mobile phones and internet access means that people are increasingly viewing programmes in other ways than just on TVs and radios. So, with the audience embracing new technology, the BBC, as a creative leader in this field, expects to play a key role in helping broadcasters prepare for this more complex future, with plans to share the results of the trials with the rest of the industry.

Indeed, the Comedy and Drama TV Plus pilots that the BBC launched last year, indicated a real appetite for viewing what you want, where you want. These pilots allowed the BBC to:

* Release a sneak preview of the final episode of Dr Who which resulted in:
 850,000 requests for clips in the run up to the Saturday night show.
 250,000 requests for clips on Saturday alone.

* Premier the comedy Mighty Boosh on Broadband – generating 670,000 requests.

Parenting Video on Demand - the first TV Plus pilot using factual programme content - will arguably be the most useful, in that the content lends itself more easily to forming a resource or reference tool for viewers.

For more information please visit http://www.bbc.co.uk/parenting