BBC iPlayer - a success story Friday, May 23, 2008
Image via WikipediaA good friend who recalls my past utterances on the iPlayer, quizzed me this week on whether I had recanted on my view that it had been a waste of money, given the sizeable uptake in use amongst the public.As I pointed out to him, it's important to distinguish between the service and the infrastructure. On the former, the move by the BBC to make a large portion of its programmes available to view online is fantastic. I've regularly used the service to catch up on programmes I've missed, always streaming the programme, rather than downloading it.
On the latter though, I still believe that the BBC could have elected to adopt one of the mainstream media players and avoided the [development + maintenance] expense and related risk of developing its' own player. I have to qualify that statement by saying I'm not privy to the [licensing] costs the BBC may have faced in outputting its content via a player such as Windows Media player versus in-house development - it may have been significantly cheaper, albeit I suspect that competition between media player vendors may have allowed the BBC to get a good deal. I also have to acknowledge that the iPlayer has improved significantly since I tried the beta version last year and overcame the installation obstacle course that was set.
One notable aspect about the usage success of the BBC iPlayer has been the reaction of ISPs, who bear the distribution burden of carrying the content. Unsurprisingly, their infrastructure has come under greater pressure because of the higher traffic, leading to a potential impact on their quality of service. One of the related articles below has a discussion on this very matter and specifically who should bear the costs of this.
Labels: BBC, BBC iPlayer
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Harriet Harman photographed on her way to take Prime Minister Questions Wednesday, April 02, 2008
Photo Source : BBC News
Apparently Harriet Harman, Deputy Labour Leader, had heard Prime Minister's could get roughed up during Question Time in the House of Commons and so was taking no chances.
posted by John Wilson @ 5:05 PM Permanent Link
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BBC iPlayer - Online streaming from the BBC Sunday, February 10, 2008
When the facts change, it's ok to change your opinion.
The BBC recently upped their advertised of their iPlayer on TV with the tagline "Making the unmissable, unmissable". I'd downloaded the player when it first was launched and neither the content available or the player itself was compelling to me. Yet when my wife asked me to check if a programme she'd missed was available, I was pleasantly surprised by what had happened to the service.
It's now possible to watch a streamed version of programmes within the browser as an alternate to downloading. Whilst a show can only be watched in the browser for up to 7 days after the programme aired, unlike the downloaded version which can be retained for 30 days, the immediacy of the streamed service is the killer. No more waiting around and then forgetting you've downloaded the programme, simply browse the catalogue and watch straight away.
I happened to stumble across this excellent programme on the Dead Sea Scrolls that I would have otherwise not spotted and only began watching because it was immediately available.
Worth tuning in again to the iPlayer service - a superior service has been resumed.
Labels: BBC
posted by John Wilson @ 7:49 PM Permanent Link
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Chelsea's Special One Thursday, June 21, 2007
I try to make a point of listening to Radio 4's Comedy shows on the BBC's Listen Again service, as they tend to be scheduled at 1830h on week nights. Many great British comedy shows on TV began life on these slots and they continue to output some of the best comedy around.
As a sports fan, a recent series, "Look away now" completely grabbed me. It was a topical look at the week's sports headlines and incorporated some excellent impressionists that took on the roles of the headline makers.
To hear how good it was, this link should take you to hear "Jose - The Musical", the Jose Mourhino story.
posted by John Wilson @ 9:39 PM Permanent Link
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BBC plans online children's world Thursday, January 25, 2007
The BBC so loved SecondLife evidently that it has decided to spend money on building a virtual world for kids aged 7-12.
Naturally "Bosses said CBBC World would not have the financial aspects of other online worlds such as Second Life."
It is expected to go live in the summer with a full launch in the autumn to coincide with the CBBC relaunch.
This is what folks have been crying out for, particularly at a time when the BBC licence fee rise was claimed to be insufficient for the BBC's needs!
Labels: BBC
posted by John Wilson @ 1:44 AM Permanent Link
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Guardian backs the BBC licence fee rise Sunday, January 14, 2007
Ian Forrestor has a post here that picks up on the Guardian endorsement of the BBC licence fee increase.
Back in May the BBC - Radio 1, actually - was prescient in launching a pop concert in the now-fashionable Second Life virtual world that attracted 6,000 people. The spin-off from the event is credited with tripling the number of SL participants and helping to change it from a geek's secret paradise into a mainstream phenomenon. Justin Bovington, chief executive of Rivers Run Red, the enterprising Soho company that employs 22 people to build projects in SL, reckons that only the BBC could have done that because private sector companies wouldn't have taken the risk.
Hmmmm. So an example of the value added by the BBC is its' endorsement/promotion of a American commercial enterprise has helped Second Life's commercial success.
A commercial broadcaster would have been paid for such a promotion, given the value its' brand brought to the party, but the BBC undoubtedly refused to take any fee, citing its need for independence etc. and not wishing to entangle itself commercially.
So we have broadcaster that can selectively bestow its' favours on companies (not even a UK firm in this example) and thereby allow those companies to benefit commercially, at UK licence payer expense. Does this make sense?
Labels: BBC, Second Life
posted by John Wilson @ 11:19 AM Permanent Link
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The future of the BBC - serving the Saga market Saturday, January 13, 2007
The Economist has an article here about the BBC which is set to get another 10 years of public money, but argues that technology is undermining the case for its public funding of GBP3.3bn ($5.9bn) per annum.
It offers up some fascinating stats -
- The BBC has 6m webpages receiving approximately 1 billion hits per month;
- it is developing its' own music player, the "iplayer" release of which is contingent on Ofcomm approval;
- BBC Worldwise contributed GBP145m last year thanks to its' ability to exploit BBC content
- BBC terrestrial has an audience share of 22%
- Average age of BBC viewers is 53 years old, the highest of the five main UK channels
Labels: BBC
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