Video: Channel 4 and BBC Worldwide tune in to games

Below you'll find video of the BBC and Channel 4 discussing their take on the videogame business, details of their criteria for working with independent developers and why both see the sector as ripe for reaching new audiences.

Filmed at Develop in Brighton earlier this month, the panel was chaired by Sony Computer Entertainment Europe's David Ranyard, with quick overviews of their respective businesses by BBC Worldwide's Dave Anderson and Channel 4's Alice Taylor, before all three discuss the value of games for broadcast media and merging interactive experiences.

Both are aware that shovelware - where a licence is slapped onto a poor game - only damages a TV brand, but Anderson pointed out that boxed retail is still a massive opportunity for the BBC – he says that before motion controllers came along, the BBC couldn't give away it's IP. Now with Kinect and Wii, there's a lot more interest in its brands.

Channel 4's approach is more web-orientated, with everything it does internet native and aimed at 10-19 year olds. Armed with a £4.5 million budget per year, games have to be free at the point of consumption, with average budgets of between £50,000 - £70,000 given to indie developers who the keep the IP. The basic Channel 4 website has an average audience engagement time of two minutes, said Taylor, but with games that grows to half an hour.

UPDATE: Here's a link to a preview and video on Eurogamer of Privates, the Channel 4 funded game from Zombie Cow.

We've not edited the talk beyond tidying it up, but we'd thought if you've got an interest in independent development it should provide some insight and highlight possible opportunities. We're interested in featuring more video content on GamesIndustry.biz and have some future plans in this area, so feel free to let us know what you think.