BBC News has launched a new video features platform that will feature its own bespoke content.
BBC Reel has already commissioned dozens of original videos from more than 50 filmmakers located in 40 countries.
Every weekday, BBC Reel will publish a themed playlist of four to five videos, combining originally produced content and the best videos from BBC verticals and brands. BBC Reel content will also be available on the YouTube, where BBC News has 5.1 million engaged global viewers every week.
The platform launches today with the true story of Starlite, a remarkable heat-resistant substance first demonstrated in 1993 on BBC program Tomorrow’s World. Despite interest from NASA, Boeing and others, Starlite never went into commercial production, and in 2011 its inventor died. Six mini-docs investigate if it was all an elaborate party trick, or a potentially revolutionary technology now abandoned.
“The strength of BBC videos are their ability to bring the viewer right into the lives of people around the globe,” said Melissa Hogenboom, editor of BBC Reel. “The BBC’s truly global network of correspondents connects viewers to a staggeringly wide range of lived experience, weaving us together in a way that’s uniquely possible through the visually arresting power of video.”
