BBC's Merlin - Keep The Magic Secret

This weekend sees the BBC air their new Saturday teatime drama in the shape of Merlin, and I've been put onto some more interesting activity from the Beeb by Faris Yakob's Talent Imitates, Genius Steals (I guess this makes me a genius).



I saw the trailer last night, below, and my initial reaction was to laugh at the prosepct of Will Mellor(ellor, ellor, eh, eh etc) starring in any sort of period drama that wasn't the late twentieth/early twenty-first century in the north west.



The ad made it look a suitable substitute for the usual Robin Hood or Doctor Who fare, and it sounds like an interesting take on the Merlin story in the manner of Smallville's take on Superman.

The BBC Merlin site features all the usual trailers and downloads you would expect from a site trying to capitalise on and create buzz. There's a game on there which doesn't quite rival the Dragons' Den game, or the legendary Denise Lewis Heptathlon, but should interest fans.

One thing I did notice to put a black mark against for the BBC and their burgeoning web capabilities is that while they are obviously doing some SEM activity, with the search below showing up for the term 'BBC Merlin' with an ad for the new show at the BBC shop which links through to a pre-order facility for the series DVD, they are missing basic opportunities.



A search for simply 'Merlin' does not bring them up as a sponsored link or even on the first pace of natural search (see below). Tut, tut, the BBC. Shame on you.

ITV extends FA Cup coverage to web

As part of their FA Cup coverage, ITV are to make use of the rights to the early rounds by screening highlights across their web portfolio and the Football Association's site, TheFA.com.

ITVLocal, ITV.com and TheFA.com will screen footage gained by ITV sending cameras to selected early rounds of the competition from August, giving exposure and potential revenue to sides from the lower leagues of the football pyramid. Clubs not chosen will also be invited to submit their own footage.



The BBC, who had held the rights to the FA Cup along with Sky, previously showed a single live match from the first two 'proper' rounds with a smattering of goals from other times on its flagship Match of the Day programme, usually after the weekend's main Premier League action. The BBC would also occasionally follow a small number of clubs in some of the preliminary rounds.

ITV's proposed use of their ITVLocal site, and indeed their site as an extension of the viewing platform, extends areas of their portfolio to an under-represented part of their audience, young males. Their Catch-Up player lags behind the BBC iPlayer in showing mostly soaps and female-focussed shows, while the BBC includes radio, comedy and flagship programmes such as The Apprentice and Dragons' Den.

It is also refreshing to see the country's premier commercial broadcaster making some original moves and beginning to differentiate themselves having taken over an important heritage property such as FA Cup coverage. Their 'The Premiership', which had the audacity to run its flagship highlights programme early evening on a Saturday, was widely panned despite making perfect sense, particularly commercially.

Running football coverage on ITVLocal should open the network up to a wider audience as well as ;giving something back' and hopefully fostering some forgiveness for ITV from fans of lower league football clubs. ITV Digital's spectacular collapse is still blamed for the parlous financial state of a lot of clubs, who had budgeted for TV money which never came.

BBC Dragons' Den Game

The BBC has a lot of faults, but it seems to be using online to promote and extend some of its flagship properties brilliantly.

The Apprentice was exactly what the BBC iPlayer was made for and where it really came into its own. In our office the number of people who caught up on the previous night's show at lunchtime, having studiously stuck their fingers in their ears and made loud noises whenever anyone threatened to discuss it during the morning, was astonishing. Consequently the show was always high on the most watched list.

Now with the sixth series of Dragons' Den, the often imitated but never bettered entrepreneur-destroyer and the vehicle that brought you Reggae Reggae Sauce looming, BBC Online have launched a game based on the pitch part of the show. It features animated versions of all the 'Dragons', including Duncan Bannatyne constantly puffing his cheeks out and Theo Paphitis looking like a very stern vole.



I'm all for this kind of innovation from the national broadcaster. They are free from commercial concerns, despite some of their ventures having tremendous money-making potential, and should be taking risks and pushing boundaries. Little games like the Dragons' Den game and the excellent Denise Lewis Heptathlon generate great traffic, huge buzz and PR and provide a genuine user experience. The Dragons' Den game could be considered to be fairly educational as you have to really consider the business side of your responses. Denise Lewis Heptathlon, on the other hand, allows you to leap over the long jump pit and run 100 metres in about 8 seconds, depending on your key-tapping ability.