36: How the BBC Experiments at Scale: Learning Since 1922

About this episode

This episode explores how the BBC builds a culture of experimentation within its long-standing institution.

How do you build a culture of experimentation inside a 100-year-old institution? This episode is part of our special miniseries on product experimentation where we go beyond A/B testing basics to explore how teams build experimentation culture, move faster with data, and make smarter product bets in practice. Hosting this series are two of Spotify’s finest experimentation nerds: Luke Frake, group product manager for subscriptions, and Mårten Schultzberg, staff data scientist for Spotify’s experimentation platform, Confidence ( confidence.spotify.com ). In this second episode, we explore what it’s like when your streaming content provider is also a national institution. As the UK's national public service broadcaster, the BBC produces everything from news and sports to drama and education across major digital services used by millions every day. With products spanning iPlayer, Sounds, and over a dozen mobile apps, experimentation at the BBC means optimizing for vastly different formats, platforms, and audience needs — all without the subscription metrics that most digital companies rely on. Luke Frake and Mårten Schultzberg are joined by Divya Isaiah, Head of Experimentation at…

People in this episode

Hosts: Luke Frake, Mårten Schultzberg

Guest: Divya Isaiah

Topics covered

• experimentation culture
• product experimentation
• data-driven decisions
• streaming services
• BBC
• digital media

Keywords

• experimentation
• BBC
• Spotify
• data
• digital services
• A/B testing
• streaming content

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: BBC, Spotify, Confidence

Products: iPlayer, Sounds

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