Weekend Spy - Job Spec: Louise Thompson

Each week we'll be asking people from all parts of the media industry - from channel controllers to catering staff, directors to digital technicians - to tell us about themselves and their job.

This week it’s the turn of Louise Thompson, who among other things has been putting together the red button interactivity for UKTV History’s Britain’s Best series, as it tries to find the UK’s favourite historical site.

Name
Louise Thompson

Job Title
Interactive TV assistant producer at UKTV

Age
30

Lives
South London

In the role since
January 2006

Responsibilities
To produce interactive red button applications which support UKTV’s on-air schedule across our network of 10 channels.

Best thing about your job?
Working on interactive projects from concept through to transmission. Seeing the end result go out on-air is very satisfying.

Worst thing about your job?
Not being able to support everything on the schedule! For a small but perfectly formed team there are still only so many hours in the day. Also technical constraints such as bandwidth limitations can be frustrating when they restrict what can be achieved creatively, but the challenges are also part of the role’s appeal.

First thing you do in the morning when you get in?
The very first thing I do is make a cup of tea, but the very next thing would be to go through the production schedule and ensure all interactive applications are attached to the relevant programmes.

What question do you get asked most in your job?
"What do you need from me?"

What do you see viewers being able to do with their 'red button' in the future?
The huge shift in TV consumption has meant fundamental changes for the whole industry. Whilst viewers turn to more flexible ways of obtaining content, more and more broadcasters will be developing their video-on-demand propositions. The red button function is already being used to access some VOD content and it’s likely that this will continue. Ultimately though, the future will see far more sophisticated technologies emerge, which will enable the convergence of a range of media platforms – the real future is Broadband! Whatever the future landscape, the industry’s increasing commitment to consumer choice and user experience makes the world of interactivity a very exciting place to be.

Any downsides to working in the media?
Don’t get me wrong, I love working in the media. But it has to be one of the most jargon filled environments in which to work. Having said that, there are a lot of 'blue-sky ideas' which really do 'have legs.'

First media job
First full-time media job - personal assistant at UKTV April 2003 - August 2003, (and a foot in the door!)

Biggest achievement to date
Producing our biggest and best interactive template to date, which is currently being used to enhance a new origination on UKTV History, Britain’s Best.

Anything you wish you'd done differently?
Possibly shouldn’t have spent so many years at art school before getting a proper job.

Dream job/company/lifestyle
I love being involved in both the concept and production stages of a project (probably a hang-up from my fine art days), so my dream job would have to be a very well paid creative director of an exciting, ground-breaking media company!

Best media jolly/event you've ever attended?
In November last year, our chief executive Dick Emery retired from UKTV after having spent 10 years at the helm and, as you can imagine, his leaving party was suitably jolly. There were even broken bones to prove it (not mine thankfully).

If you had a 'magic' red button that could do anything, what would you make it do and on what programme?
Currently, although you’re able to view alternative video streams within an interactive application, there’s no way of recording them, so it would be cool to have this function and to be able to download the interactive element available on a given programme.

On a bigger scale, what I’d like from future interactivity is to be able to build and access my own personalised interactive service: I’d be able to create my TV portal page which would link through to all the items that are important to me. With this type of service I’d not only be able to create my own schedules, but also share the content I’ve downloaded with friends and family at the touch of a button, and all from the comfort of my armchair!

See Louise’s work in action when Britain’s Best next airs on UKTV History - and vote using your red button (Sky viewers only). You can also vote and catch up with the programme at www.uktvhistory/britainsbest