BBC Selects Apigee To Manage Its New Online Store

BBC Worldwide has announced that its new direct to consumer retail platform, BBC Store, will be powered by the Apigee Edge application programming interface (API) platform

The store, which will allow consumers to buy and keep their favourite BBC programmes, will launch in 2015.

Apigee Edge will act as the service's internal API management platform, facilitating traffic from application to application across the variety of video on demand suppliers used by the BBC. The agreement was finalised back in July and Apigee has now completed the project blueprint on how to best develop APIs across the business.

Chet Kapoor, CEO of Apigee, claims that the media and broadcast industries are reacting to the changes in consumer behaviour, driven by the growth of  mobile devices and online streaming.

"Traditional broadcasters are evolving quickly to meet this demand and thrive in this fast moving digital world," he said. "Data delivered by APIs powers all digital businesses, and it's proving to be a vital way for broadcasters to stay one step ahead of consumer expectations."

Since it was founded in 2004, Apigee has helped a variety of companies become digital businesses through API development and big data predictive analytics. Aside from BBC Worldwide, Apigee customers in Europe include Marks & Spencer, Inmarsat, ITV, Orange, Philips Lighting, and Swisscom.

Michael Fleshman, senior vice president of consumer digital technology at BBC Worldwide reiterated the view that the BBC Store will enable the corporation to keep pace with the ever-changing digital economy.

"BBC Store will allow fans of programmes such as Doctor Who, Sherlock and Top Gear to buy and keep digital copies of their favourite shows," he said. "Consumers will also be able to explore and buy from the BBC's extensive archive."