BBC to launch new open archive site

The BBC is to make thousands of archive clips available to watch on a new website, bbc.co.uk/archive.

The broadcaster said it was making 1,700 newly published videos are being made available for viewers to watch

The BBC said that the new site will help people navigate an ever-increasing portion of the more than 10 million hours of content that currently sit in the BBC’s archive. It will be curated by the same team that currently looks after the BBC Archive social media accounts,

The launch date coincides with the 50th anniversary of Nationwide, the early evening precursor to the One Showthat featured quirky stories from around the UK between 1969 and 1983.

Peter Rippon, BBC Archive executive editor, said: “The site is the beginning of a journey into the BBC’s most cherished asset. Social history, and what it reveals about who we are, is proving especially popular, so we’ve created collections of hundreds of items that give a glimpse of what the archive contains. We are planning to open up the archive much more as the BBC prepares to mark its Centenary in 2022. This is an important step on that journey.”