The BBC says it has surpassed 10 million app downloads worldwide across its news, games and magazines on iPhones and iPads. And for longer-form producers like the BBC, the British media company says tablets are an “amazing opportunity.”
“The great thing about it from our perspective is the session times,” explains Daniel Heaf, Digital Director of the BBC Worldwide, in an interview with Beet.tv. “Whether being on our magazine app or whether on our news app, are much more akin to the types of session times we’ve seen in traditional media apps, like TV and magazines,” he says. “It might not be a fully lean-back event in a way like watching your plasma screen might be, but it’s definitely not a lean-forward experience, it’s definitely not a 3-minute medium.”
A Nielsen study last month found that iPad users spend most of their time in front of TV (creating numerous “second screen” opportunities) or laying in bed.