BBC Launches iPlayer, Online Television Service

Today, the British television network, BBC, launched its online television service (known as iPlayer), which will be competing with similar offerings that have already been available from Channel 4 and ITV. The service will not allow viewers to save programs, but instead will utilize a temporary-viewing period. Users will have a period of no longer than 30 days to view programming, after which the video content will be automatically deleted. Expect copy-protection solutions to be thrown into the mix too.

Initially, viewers will be able to view about 400 hours of programming through the service, which is available at no cost. That is more than enough to keep users busy for a while and equals out to about 67% of BBC's total available content. BBC announced that the programs on the service will be from the previous week's programming, and also noted that downloading a one-hour-long show should take about 30 minutes. Actual results, of course, depend on each individual user's internet connection speed.

According to BBC Director General Mark Thompson, the unveiling of this new service marks a milestone as important as the network's implementation of color broadcasting over 40 years ago. That is how enthusiastic the company is about this step towards the future.

“This is a significant moment, as it heralds a new era when viewers will have the freedom to watch programs from the BBC's linear TV channels when they want,” said BBC Vision director Jana Bennett.

Prepare to be disappointed, however, if you are a BBC fan outside of the United Kingdom or a Mac user. iPlayer is currently only available to those living in the UK, running Windows XP on their computers. BBC does plan to make Vista and Macintosh-compatible versions available later down the road, but what do you expect at launch? After all, the service is only being released in beta right now. Plans for the official launch are currently targeted towards the fall of this year.

This could prove to be a very wise move for BBC with online video exploding in popularity in the UK. A BBC post states that “online TV services are set to explode in the UK. In 2006… 520.2 million pieces of content were streamed, of which the vast majority were free-to-view.” They expect “this will leap to 2.3 billion by 2011.”

I would test the service out myself and let you know how it is and how well it performs, but unfortunately my use is restricted since I reside in the United States. If anyone is able to use the service, please leave your comments on the state of the BBC iPlayer so far.

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