Well into his second year as head of the BBC iPlayer, Daniel Danker says that on-demand usage is surging across all devices and the corporation's future television strategy is taking shape. But he still hasn't managed to truly crack Social TV yet. I caught up with Daniel last week and asked him to tell us more.

KAUSER KANJI: Hi Daniel, you've now been with the BBC for about 20 months so let's talk about what you've managed to achieve in that time.

DANIEL DANKER: Well, there are three sides to this: the product-oriented achievement, the organisational achievement, and the strategic achievement.

BBC iPlayer's continued success is a remarkable product achievement. This is a product that is now into its fifth full year, and it's about to have its biggest year since launch. iPlayer has performed excellently throughout the beginning of 2012. Total requests between January and April have averaged around 190 million per month, up 24% on the same period last year. That comes from really focusing on simplicity: making it dead simple for users of varying technical skill to use the product.

"We grew 57% on connected TVs in the last year, and an amazing 94% on mobile and tablet. Today, less than 60% of iPlayer usage is now on the PC, while TV, mobile, and tablet are going through the roof."

It comes from going beyond the PC and getting the iPlayer onto TV, onto mobiles, and onto tablets. We grew 57% on connected TVs in the last year, and an amazing 94% on mobile and tablet. Today, less than 60% of iPlayer usage is now on the PC, while TV, mobile, and tablet are going through the roof. It's reassuring to see the audience flock to our mobile and TV experiences, and it's always nice to get the industry recognition that comes with it. As you may know, Apple recently declared BBC iPlayer the #1 UK app for the iPad - a terrific validation of the last year's achievements. Indeed, iPlayer spent the better part of a year in the top 10 apps on the Apple App Store.

Equally, take a look at the new channel pages (www.bbc.co.uk/bbcone for example) and that's the experience we're moving toward. It's curated, it feels like TV, you can "channel flip" using the channels along the top. This is a glimpse into the future of the TV & iPlayer portfolio. I'll let you form your own opinion, but the reaction so far has been incredibly positive.

The new BBC channel pages on the web. The rich graphic UI resembles the iPlayer UI on connected TV (see Gideon Summerfield video below)

We've done some great things on the Xbox too. On launch, one article said the product was "so polished you could see your face in it!" That's one of the best quotes in my career. It brings tears of joy to my eyes!

"Other companies in this space - Netflix, Lovefilm, Hulu, Google - they all have great technologists. But the BBC's secret sauce is that editorial component."

The organisational achievement shouldn't be underestimated. I came to the BBC because I wanted to bring together editorial and technology. The relationship we've forged between editorial and product divisions is fantastic. Today, folks from Editorial sit shoulder to shoulder with designers, engineers, and product managers. You can't tell where one team ends and another starts.

This is the BBC's differentiator in the market. Other companies in this space - Netflix, Lovefilm, Hulu, Google - they all have great technologists. But the BBC's secret sauce is that editorial component. Initially you might not even notice its impact, but the future is brighter because of it. The new channel pages are the first outward-facing example of what's possible when you bring editorial, design and technology elegantly together.

VIDEO: Gideon Summerfield, Executive Product Manager for the BBC iPlayer on TV, demonstrates iPlayer on connected TV

KANJI: Ok! And so moving to the last achievement related to strategy -

DANKER: There's an entire strategy now that goes beyond iPlayer. iPlayer has clear boundaries around it, and we're certainly very proud of it. But the ambition now connects iPlayer effortlessly and seamlessly with channels and programmes and companion experiences, blurring the lines between them so that it feels natural to watch or interact on any screen.

People have been watching TV for decades, but they only started interacting with their televisions relatively recently with things like the Red Button. Now you can effectively watch telly on any device - a tablet, a mobile, the PC. And soon, you'll be able to watch or interact flexibly across any screen.

When we consider these experiences, we start with the editorial narrative and storyline, so the experience is completely smooth. There's an extensive strategy that brings this to life in coming years, which I think goes well beyond what people think of as iPlayer today. So you won't be choosing between watching the BBC on television or on iPlayer. Instead, the iPlayer will be an ingredient in how audiences experience the BBC's channels and programmes.

KANJI: You've mentioned product, organisation and strategy, and it strikes me that this is a BIG job that you're doing here. Was this the plan that you came into the BBC with?

"I have to say, I've never had so much fun coming to work every day, and it's partially because we were able to build that experience and roadmap in close partnership with editorial teams."

DANKER: Well, of course I came in with some ideas, especially after spending 11 years at Microsoft in the television, music and media space. I had some theories about what I'd come in with and those theories helped inform potential roadmaps. But it's equally important to come in and hear and identify the things you wouldn't know if you weren't working at the BBC. And I learnt so much about the editorial process, about how we think about our content, about how the BBC is such a big part of people's lives. All of that is very different from anything I'd experienced before. We worked quickly, but we worked together to figure out what the strategy was, informed by experience and the ambition of a company that I think is absolutely unique. I didn't fully appreciate that till I started here.

I have to say, I've never had so much fun coming to work every day, and it's partially because we were able to build that experience and roadmap in close partnership with editorial teams.

"I don't think anybody's truly cracked it [Social TV] yet, and I suppose I'm willing to be courageous enough to tell you that I don't think I've cracked it either!"

KANJI: As far as I can tell the two biggest buzz-topics in the industry right now are about recommendations and social TV. By bringing the editorial guys more into the design and development process you're already addressing 'recommendation', but what about social TV? What's your feeling about it?

DANKER: I don't think anybody's truly cracked it yet, and I suppose I'm willing to be courageous enough to tell you that I don't think I've cracked it either! We all feel, instinctively, that TV has always had a social element to it, and we also feel that younger audiences increasingly discover programmes through their friends and social networks. But I don't think we've seen any examples yet where the social element is genuinely making TV better. And in the industry we're all experimenting, so for anyone to say that they have the answer is a little premature today. Social will be an important part around how people discover and communicate around television and also how they consume and enjoy it. It will eventually affect some formats and genres more than others - for example reality shows and news rather than drama and natural history - but I'm speaking at a fairly theoretical level right now because, hey, we don't have the answer yet.

iPlayer backwards EPG

KANJI: As we discussed when we met last year, many people look to the BBC to see where it's leading and it'll be really interesting to see what moves the BBC makes in this area -

DANKER: The good news about it for the BBC, the industry and for the audience is that we sit in a place where we combine editorial and technology and there's a constant thirst, a curiosity, to find interesting new formats, to never stand still. The BBC is uniquely well-positioned to be among those who define this - to really find the ways in which social TV can make television better.

"Many companies start with an app store model in mind because that's the only way for them to reach audiences. Well for the BBC, we're going to start with television in mind."

KANJI: So last couple of questions. We're now in a world where channels and on-demand services are proliferating. What sets the BBC apart from others?

DANKER: The big differentiator for the BBC is that that we ARE a broadcaster. The BBC is channel number one in the EPG and 90% of viewing starts right on our channels. Many companies start with an app store model in mind because that's the only way for them to reach audiences. Well for the BBC, we're going to start with television in mind. Audiences have a simple expectation that it's easy to get to the BBC to watch our live broadcasts, and that is a very logical place to start from as we build our connected experiences. More and more, you'll be seeing that we actually try to create simple, effortless connections from broadcast to connected experiences, where the technology is invisible and the content takes centre stage.

KANJI: Finally Daniel, are you happy with what you've managed to achieve since you joined the BBC?

DANKER: I'm an inherently impatient person and my colleagues can certainly attest to that! But I'm delighted by what we've achieved. The team has done a stellar job and have lots to be proud of. Equally, if you ask anybody on the team "Are you satisfied?" they'd probably instinctively speak more to the future and what they have yet to accomplish. That's all about drive and ambition. But no doubt they also go home in the evening proud of the privilege they have to build killer products for the audience - it's a great feeling we all share.