Sharman Looks to iPod Generation

This article discusses the future of media consumption that is designed to entertain as well as inform, especially among children and young people. It focuses on "CBBC", the brand for the BBC's children's television output aimed at children over six, across BBC One, BBC Two and the CBBC Channel.

Speaking at the Showcomotion Children's Media Conference in Sheffield (July 2005), Alison Sharman of CBBC unveiled her creative vision for CBBC and CBeebies, pointing to the iPod, broadband and video on demand (VoD) as central to the future of children's broadcasting. "The phenomenal success of the iPod demonstrates to me some important general themes about the way media consumption is evolving. It is going personal, mobile and, most important, on-demand," she said.

This communication trend, Sharman thinks, constitutes a "genuinely revolutionary change in the consumption of content" that necessitates taking "a long, hard look at how we currently go about providing that content; how we schedule; and how we distribute it." Viewers of all ages, that is, are increasingly taking an active role in communicating what they want, when they want it; "the BBC has the potential to move into a 'worldwide on-demand arena'" with interactive elements such as those central to CBBC's "Bamzooki" and Newsround's "Press Packers".