BBC iPlayer (formerly known as iMP, Integrated Media Player, Interactive Media Player, and MyBBCPlayer) is a website and computer program developed by the BBC to extend its existing RealPlayer-based "Radio Player" and other streamed video clip content. BBC iPlayer left Beta and went live on December 25 2007.

Background

The original iPlayer service underwent a 5-month trial of 5000 broadband users, that began in October 2005 and finished on 28 February 2006. The technology and infrastructure is provided by Kontiki, Siemens Business Services (formerly BBC Technology), and Red Bee Media (formerly BBC Broadcast). A new, improved iPlayer service then had another very limited user trial which began on 15 November 2006.

The iPlayer received the approval of the BBC Trust on 30 April 2007, and an open beta for Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 was launched at midnight on 27 July 2007, where it was announced that only a fixed number of people would be able to sign up for the service, with a controlled increase in users over the summer. The open beta incorporated a media player, an electronic programme guide (EPG) and specially designed download client, and will allow the download of TV content by computers assigned to a United Kingdom-based IP address, for use up to 30 days after broadcast. However, it was only available to users of Windows XP.

This was a controversial decision by the BBC, which lead to a petition being posted on 10 Downing Street's e-petition website titled:

We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to prevent the BBC from making its iPlayer on-demand television service available to Windows users only, and instruct the corporation to provide its service for other operating systems also.

The petition reached 16,082 signatures on 20 August 2007. The response from the Government was:

... the Trust noted the strong public demand for the service to be available on a variety of operating systems. The BBC Trust made it a condition of approval for the BBC's on-demand services that the iPlayer is available to users of a range of operating systems, and has given a commitment that it will ensure that the BBC meets this demand as soon as possible. They will measure the BBC's progress on this every six months and publish the findings.

On 13 December 2007, the BBC launched the streaming version of the BBC iPlayer, based on Adobe Flash. The new streaming interface, available on Windows, Mac and Linux platforms, provides access to up to 250 programmes from across the BBC; however, programmes can only be viewed for up to seven days, unlike the thirty days provided by the download service.

Since January 2008 it now supports Mozilla Firefox (only under the Microsoft Windows platform) for downloading content.

Before the iPlayer had even launched, it was announced that the BBC, alongside ITV and Channel 4, were intending to launch a new video on demand platform, provisionally named Kangaroo. It is intended that it will complement the video on demand services that these channels are already offering, including the iPlayer, by making programmes available once their "catch up" period expires.

Following a deal between the BBC and cable television provider Virgin Media, the iPlayer service will be made available through the provider's on demand service. The cable service is scheduled to launch by April 2008. The service is said to keep the look and feel of the existing programme and will be separate from Virgin Media's current Catch-up TV on Demand service.

Key features

Download service

One of the key features of the iPlayer download service is the use of peer-to-peer technology to enable the distribution of large video files (i.e. TV programmes) to scale effectively. Once downloaded, the content is only playable within the iPlayer itself or Windows Media Player 10 or 11, and digital rights management (DRM) software will prevent it being directly copied to another medium (e.g. another computer or CD-ROM). Additionally, the DRM allows the BBC to decide how long the programmes remain watchable. Programmes will be available for download for seven days following broadcast. Once a programme is downloaded a user will have thirty days to start watching it. Once a user starts to watch a programme, it will continue to be available for the next seven days. These limitations do not apply to viewers using the online streaming service.

The client also offers an electronic programme guide (EPG) with listings for both the previous 7 and next 7 days' programmes; selecting a programme which has already been broadcast will begin downloading it immediately, while those not yet shown will be downloaded as soon as they have been. It is currently not possible to schedule a series to be automatically downloaded when the next episode becomes available, but the BBC hopes to make this available in a later version. Once downloaded, the client requests a key from the BBC server to unlock the content before playback. As with other Television licence-funded facilities (and to simplify copyright clearance for the content) the service will only be usable within the UK, although AOL users may have to log-on several times due to routing issues. If located outside the UK, you can select shows to download, but the download will fail with a notification that you are not in the UK.

Online service

The BBC's streaming version of iPlayer, which makes use of Adobe Flash software, launched on 13 December 2007. The BBC made use of the Christmas period to trumpet the new service with the tagline 'Making the unmissable... unmissable', and the service came out of beta on the 25 December 2007. Also, seasonal specials were followed routinely throughout the Yuletide week with plugs for iPlayer. The streaming version of iPlayer offers replays of BBC shows screened on British BBC TV channels in the last seven days. Programmes available are those from BBC One, BBC Two, BBC Three, BBC Four, CBBC, CBeebies, BBC News 24 and BBC Parliament. Due to licensing agreements, international and some privately-produced shows or movies are not available on iPlayer.

Perhaps what sets the streaming iPlayer aside from other net-based 'TV catchup' services, such as Channel 4's OD service, is its smooth compatibility with computers using Linux and Macintosh operating systems, as Adobe Flash Player is also available on those platforms. The original BBC iPlayer itself – with a software download required – will not work on Mac and Linux platforms.

On 7 March 2008, a beta version for Apple's iPhone and iPod Touch was released. The version marked the first time the service became available on portable devices, allowing streaming over a wi-fi connection. The EDGE connectivity on the iPhone, however, is not supported, as it is too slow for streaming video.

Criticisms

During the 2005 and 2006 iPlayer trials, the DRM system used was based on Microsoft's Windows Media DRM, which led to concerns about cross-platform availability, as this technology is only available for Windows XP. However, some users have managed to get it working using compatibility options in Vista. The BBC emphasises that it "has a commitment to platform neutrality and a remit to make its content as widely available as possible", and that while the initial trial used a Microsoft-based technology, they are constantly looking for new technologies which would enable them to relax the restriction: Ashley Highfield, the BBC's director of Future Media and Technology, has explained that "we have always started with the platform that reaches the most number of people and then rolled it out from there". They also point out that not all of the content delivered through the iPlayer will be subject to DRM - live streaming content, for instance, may not need the same level of control, presumably implying that players for Mac OS X and Linux systems could be developed with a restricted range of content. However, a project has been started to enable the iPlayer to work with other platforms via the Wine project.

On 14 August 2007, the Free Software Foundation staged a demonstration outside BBC Television Centre. The FSF's Peter T. Brown criticised the BBC for what he claimed was a break from previous tradition: the insistence that, for the first time, BBC viewers would be forced to use proprietary technology to watch BBC programmes.

On 16 October 2007, the BBC announced that a strategic relationship with Adobe, that would bring a limited, streaming-only version of the iPlayer to Mac and Linux users (as well as Windows users who can't or don't wish to use the iPlayer download service). The streaming version of the iPlayer went live on the 13 December 2007.

The iPlayer came under criticism for the delay in launch, rebranding and cost to BBC licence-fee payers, as no finished product had been released after four years of development.

The BBC has also been criticised for saying that the iPlayer would 'launch' on the 27 July 2007, when what was on offer was simply an extension of the beta to an open beta, admitting more users in a controlled manner. This was done reportedly to allow British ISPs and the BBC to gauge the effect of the iPlayer traffic on the Internet within the UK, although Channel 4 and ITV have both recently launched similar services.

Further criticism has been focussed on the iPlayer's use of KService from Kontiki, a peer-to-peer application which continues to utilise users' bandwidth, even after the iPlayer has been shut down, though this can be controlled using options available within the software.

Success

The Flash based BBC iPlayer has, overall, been a success. Within 3 weeks of its official launch the BBC reported that over 3.5 million programmes had been streamed or downloaded within two weeks of the release. The Observer described these figures as "remarkably promising". The BBC originally planned for only 500,000 users within the first 6 months of the download service. Streaming of programmes currently outnumbers downloads eight to one.

This success may be related to the significant "long tail" effect that the BBC has reported, with many users seeking out more niche interest programmes, and programmes broadcast on digital channels doing remarkably well. However, this is expected to change with the introduction of booking programmes to download in advance, and automatic downloading of the next episode.

References

External links

• E-Petition requesting non-Windows iPlayer (deadline passed); UK Government response to E-Petition
• UK ISPs Comments on the BBC iPlayer and Bandwidth Usage