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BBC launches daily vertical video news product

Users can swipe through a curated list of 'videos of the day', to get an up-to-date summary of the day's news in an easy-to-consume and engaging format.

The BBC recently launched a new vertical video experience in its News app. Users can swipe through a curated list of 'videos of the day', to get an up-to-date summary of the day's news in an easy-to-consume and engaging format.

BBC launches daily vertical video news product

All the videos are created specifically with smartphone users in mind: the videos are succinct and sharply edited, designed to be viewed vertically in full screen, and have subtitles. In addition the app will debut new vertical interstitial ad formats.

More than 60 per cent of BBC News' digital traffic now comes via mobile devices and a new video team has been assembled in the BBC's main newsroom in London, operating 24/7, to meet the changing consumption patterns.

The upgrade is one of the fruits of Project Newstream, announced last September, an initiative to adapt BBC video journalism to the mobile era. The same content is also published to the web, and to social, with a consistent look and feel in design.

BBC launches daily vertical video news product

James Montgomery, digital development director, BBC News, says in a press release, "Video remains the medium in which much of our best journalism is told, but the storytelling needs to be re-thought for mobile. The key to success is the combination of relevance and reward: videos that are not only great to watch, but which are offered in formats that are optimised for smart phones."

He adds, "We know that mobile users check their phones frequently but don't have time to stay for long. In many cases, this is on their morning commute and again at home in the evening when they want to catch up on the day. The new index helps them find the best videos quickly, and presents it to them in a digestible and finite package."

Adding further, he says, "Being good at delivering news to mobiles is particularly important for younger audiences, for whom the smartphone is the primary, or possibly only, source of news."

The new vertical experience was designed in-house in partnership with the New York agency Code & Theory.

Additionally, a second vertical video index - BBC Stories - will come out in early December. BBC Stories will focus on current affairs with more personal and immersive human interest videos.

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