BBC Transformation picks up pace; The Digital Children team has been restructured with different roles to close

ExclusiveThe BBC’s first digital transformation / scaling is in a hurry, and the latest team concerned is the Department of Childhood and Education’s digital division, which comes weeks after the shocking announcement that the CBBC line’s channel will be online.

In an email that Deadline accessed, the Digital Media, Platforms and Planning (DMP & P) team yesterday received a series of proposals from Patricia Hidalgo, of BBC Children’s, who fired at the “formal consultation process.” The final structure will be formed in December.

The DMP & P team is responsible for providing short content and managing the websites of CBBC and CBeebies, the UK’s favorite linear children’s channels, which broadcast similar content. Blue Peter, Dangerous Mouse Y Horror stories.

Various roles have been proposed, including the position of executive editor, several jobs on the CBBC and CBeebies websites and the closure of the Labs team, in addition to the role of senior content producer focused on VoD service at BBC iPlayer. Hidalgo’s email.

Deadline understands that the number of people will not be reduced as new roles will be created, including a senior content producer on the game team to support educational games and possibly “metaverse interactivity” with graphics and video. Publisher.

The move comes weeks after the BBC announced it would move CBBC online for the next three years, along with the old biased BBC Four channel, as the company struggles to save around £ 1.5bn ($ 2.2bn). ) for five years. CEO Tim Davey plans to lay off 1,000 employees during this period, including around 1,200 since he started 18 months ago.

Since joining in 2020, Hidalgo has radically replaced the BBC Children team, which is one of the organization’s greatest assets as it strives to take its pocket rivals to a new world. He changed the structure of the operation, oversaw the handover of the BBC Children’s in-house production team to the BBC Studios commercial team, allowing the team to create programs for third parties and revealed a tripling of animation costs to discover the equivalent in the United States United. . The Simpsons.

Further changes are expected as Hidalgo describes DMP & P change as “one of the fundamental pillars to be considered as part of our broader restructuring of children and education”.

His email staff carried the rhetoric of the CEO’s digital-first / reduced approach.

“The BBC’s strategy focuses on digital transformation and ensures that the BBC is poised for future success. There is also a desire to see where we can be effective and focus where there is growth potential in our editorial products and content, ”Hidalgo wrote., Beautifully sums up Devi’s direction.

It also encouraged “the use of proprietary and operational digital touchpoints to promote iPlayer and grow our brands and franchises in areas where our audience is present.”