BBC to launch Guerrilla unit

The BBC is to create a new Birmingham-based digital innovation unit called the Guerrilla Group to explore next-generation content.

A team of content creators and engineers will work across the BBC with a remit to engage younger, more diverse audiences, with the expectation that the unit will be fully up and running from 2015.

According to the BBC, the new unit will have the creative freedom to produce experimental new forms of content for programmes and services, using the technology and approaches of the future.

The Guerrilla Group will work with the BBC’s R&D department, Connected Studio, BBC brands and audience members, as well as partnering and collaborating with a range of organisations, start-ups and small and medium-sized enterprises, according to the BBC.

The BBC said it is working together with Birmingham’s Creative City Partnership to enable the group to sit alongside SMEs drawn from the city’s creative community. It will be based in Digbeth’s Fazeley Studios.

“Innovation at the BBC has never stood still, from the birth of radio and TV, to the first steps into the digital world with BBC Micro Computers and Ceefax, through to more recent services like BBC iPlayer. The Guerrilla Group will help us explore the next-generation of BBC content and services, finding new and creative ways to tell our stories to future audiences,” said James Purnell, director, strategy and digital at the BBC.