TopGear comes to Facebook with BBC Worldwide 'Widgets'

London, UK, Feb. 14, 2008. Top Gear, along with some of the UK´s favourite magazine brands, are coming to your computer desktop or personal social networking page with a series of new ‘widgets’ launched today by BBC Worldwide. Widgets are small, easy to install applications that sit on the desktop or in social networking sites like Facebook or MySpace pulling the latest content through from your favourite web pages.

The new widgets from www.RadioTimes.com, www.BBCGoodFood.com and www.TopGear.com give regular feeds of information from the websites, such as TV highlights, daily recipes or latest news from the Top Gear site. Through a distribution menu provided by widget platform Clearspring, the widgets can be added to Windows Vista, Apple Dashboard and Yahoo Widgets desktops. They can also sit on your personal page on popular services such as Facebook, MySpace, iGoogle, Windows Live and Blogger.

Using widgets web users can keep up-to-date with their favourite sites all the time - not just when they visit the website itself.  Also, by having the widgets on your Facebook or MySpace page, for example, you can share your favourite sites and services with your friends.

Marcus Arthur, Managing Director of BBC Worldwide’s Digital Delivery Team, which developed the widgets, said: "Widgets are a great way of keeping track of your favourite websites on your desktop or social networking site. They´re easy to install and keep you up-to-date with the information you want, where and when you want it."  

"Widgets provide a powerful tool for driving traffic and site loyalty amongst users - by getting your brand and content direct onto a user´s desktop, start page or social networking site you can guarantee regular and prolonged exposure to continuously updated content".

The widgets can be found at:  

• http://www.topgear.com/rss-widgets.html
• http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/content/rsswidgets/
• http://www.radiotimes.com/content/rss_widgets/

 

About BBC Worldwide

BBC Worldwide Limited is the main commercial arm and a wholly owned subsidiary of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). The company exists to maximise the value of the BBC’s assets for the benefit of the licence payer and invest in public service programming in return for rights. The company has six core businesses: Global Channels, Global TV Sales, Magazines, Content & Production, Home Entertainment and Digital Media. In 2006/07 BBC Worldwide generated profits of £111 million on sales of £810 million.