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Designing a URL structure for BBC programmes

smethur.st

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Re: Designing a URL structure for BBC programmes

#21

Post by spingsprong »

dc2447 wrote: post #15
th0ma5 wrote: post #2

The BBC is flat out a pioneer in media management and distribution. I had the opportunity to use the iPlayer some during the London Olympics, and the level of automation, and the completeness of coverage, really opened my eyes to how media technology in the US is solely at the mercy of licensing and advertising. PBS is somewhat interesting, but only in a "look we know what the internet playing a video is" sort of way…

The BBC is in a unique position where not only does it get a massive amount of funding from it's commercial arm [0] it also receives a massive amount on 'tax' in the form of a TV licence [1]. And whilst I am personally proud of some of the technical advances made by the broadcaster I am continually troubled by the commercial advantage the BBC has over it's competitors and the massive waste internally. The later I hav…

Have you ever had personal experience of working for some time at a commercial station?

Re: Designing a URL structure for BBC programmes

#22

Post by gabemart »

benbristow wrote: post #3

Interesting read. Amazing how much thought goes into something as simple as a URL. I'll never look at the beeb's website in the same way now!

> Amazing how much thought goes into something as simple as a URL.

As a rule, a great deal of thought should go into any website's URL structure. It's one of the most painful and costly things to change later, especially if search traffic is significant for the site.

Re: Designing a URL structure for BBC programmes

#23

Post by rurounijones »

ersii wrote: post #20
rurounijones wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Worth pointing out that Japan's NHK is actually modelled after the BBC. So that is two "wins" for that funding model to my mind.

Might be interesting to know that Swedens SVT (Sveriges Television, Swedish Television) is also modeled after the BBC and the UK television license. I'm sure there's plenty more country broadcasters, like above comments have mentioned - the UK and the BBC are quite the pioneers in this field.

ooo, didn't know that. Is SVT generally well regarded in Sweden?

Re: Designing a URL structure for BBC programmes

#25

Post by will_critchlow »

This is a fascinating read - and an adventure down the rabbit-hole.

I think they missed an opportunity to make the IDs map 1-1 with human-readable titles though. They use the argument that they have many versions of "pride and prejudice" and don't know which they may have in the future, but that sounds to me like a cop-out. There must be something differentiating those different shows to viewers (else, why make them?) so refer to that, surely? That doesn't mean /prideandprejudice2, but whatever differentiates that series from the first one.

I'm not particularly addressing this from a search perspective (they address that in the post) but more from a UX / readability / shareability perspective.

There's a few other pieces of weirdness to my mind e.g. "And hacking back to /episodes would have returned what? A list of all episodes ever?"

Yes. That's similar to what /programmes is isn't it? Obviously you can segment / add hierarchy.

Re: Designing a URL structure for BBC programmes

#26

Post by icebraining »

ersii wrote: post #20
rurounijones wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Worth pointing out that Japan's NHK is actually modelled after the BBC. So that is two "wins" for that funding model to my mind.

Might be interesting to know that Swedens SVT (Sveriges Television, Swedish Television) is also modeled after the BBC and the UK television license. I'm sure there's plenty more country broadcasters, like above comments have mentioned - the UK and the BBC are quite the pioneers in this field.

I'm pretty sure it's standard across most of the EU. Portugal also has its own (RTP - Portuguese Radio and Television). Personally, I don't find it any better than the private channels. Even the more cultural/alternative channel has plenty of crap (e.g. Two and a Half Men).

Re: Designing a URL structure for BBC programmes

#27

Post by josephlord »

icebraining wrote: post #26
ersii wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Might be interesting to know that Swedens SVT (Sveriges Television, Swedish Television) is also modeled after the BBC and the UK television license. I'm sure there's plenty more country broadcasters, like above comments have mentioned - the UK and the BBC are quite the pioneers in this field.

I'm pretty sure it's standard across most of the EU. Portugal also has its own (RTP - Portuguese Radio and Television). Personally, I don't find it any better than the private channels. Even the more cultural/alternative channel has plenty of crap (e.g. Two and a Half Men).

Most of Europe has some public broadcaster but both the level of funding and the model of funding varies widely. Many public broadcasters rely on advertising.

Also the funding available is also dependent on the population so even with other things being equal (and they probably aren't) the total size of a Portuguese service and its capacity to make programmes would be about 1/6 that of the BBC.

Re: Designing a URL structure for BBC programmes

#28

Post by josteink »

icebraining wrote: post #26
ersii wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Might be interesting to know that Swedens SVT (Sveriges Television, Swedish Television) is also modeled after the BBC and the UK television license. I'm sure there's plenty more country broadcasters, like above comments have mentioned - the UK and the BBC are quite the pioneers in this field.

I'm pretty sure it's standard across most of the EU. Portugal also has its own (RTP - Portuguese Radio and Television). Personally, I don't find it any better than the private channels. Even the more cultural/alternative channel has plenty of crap (e.g. Two and a Half Men).

While the content may not be better, I find the non-commercial, state-funded stations to have better online solutions.

Their content is after all licensed for everyone to use as they see fit (it belongs to the people), and thus their main limitation is what technology can do, and not what the license permits them to.

We have the same situation in Norway with NRK, which has a fantastic web-offering, not to mention native apps for Android and iOS. It's at the point where you don't need a TV to watch (their) TV-content.

None of the commercial counterparts are ready to offer that, at least not with an experience at the same level of quality.

Re: Designing a URL structure for BBC programmes

#29

Post by icebraining »

josteink wrote: post #28
icebraining wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm pretty sure it's standard across most of the EU. Portugal also has its own (RTP - Portuguese Radio and Television). Personally, I don't find it any better than the private channels. Even the more cultural/alternative channel has plenty of crap (e.g. Two and a Half Men).

While the content may not be better, I find the non-commercial, state-funded stations to have better online solutions. Their content is after all licensed for everyone to use as they see fit (it belongs to the people), and thus their main limitation is what technology can do, and not what the license permits them to. We have the same situation in Norway with NRK, which has a fantastic web-offering, not to mention nat…

Oh, yeah, they have mobile apps as well, but frankly, the content they produce is rarely good enough to bother to even install it.

Besides, nowadays you can get a DVB-T stick the size of a flash drive for less than 10€, so watching without a TV isn't exactly hard even without mobile apps.

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