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BBC podcasts on third-party apps

bbc.co.uk

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Re: BBC podcasts on third-party apps

#151

Post by shermozle »

jamescridland wrote: post #147
gerash wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's hilarious is that the reason is Google is pushing back on sharing user analytics with BBC. For another company it'd be the pinnacle of respecting user but you just seem biased against Google so there's nothing they can do to please you it seems. All other services (Spotify, SoundCloud, Apple, etc.) serve podcasts on their own properties but if Google does it it's monopolistic. To me such claims about Google ha…

The podcasts are played directly from the BBC's servers. The BBC already have all the consumption data that they would expect - IP address, device, time listened, etc - in their own server logs. Just like a normal podcast player. So... what user analytics do the BBC actually want?

Those user analytics aren't very useful. You get IP address, device and time _downloaded_. You get nothing about "listened".

There's a standard NPR have written to improve this, but it requires the podcast players to implement it. It's very privacy-respecting but I doubt Apple will implement it, so it's probably going to be a non-starter unless the big podcasters like the BBC hold the line.

Re: BBC podcasts on third-party apps

#152

Post by phillipseamore »

This is all just about adverts. The BBC is gearing up to include ads in podcasts served to users outside the UK (some of you might have noticed them on their podcasts, I've heard them on a few episodes/podcast with no discernable pattern [they might be A/B testing]). The BBC needs listening metrics for this to be the extra revenue stream they hope for as well as being able to change out the ads for individual streams.

Re: BBC podcasts on third-party apps

#153

Post by JetSpiegel »

random878 wrote: post #91
cheez wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Google Podcasts is TERRIBLE compared to Google Play. The UX is just so bad. You'd expect at least some podcast-specific features like mark podcast as listened.

I haven't had a smartphone in some time, but I highly recommend AntennaPod which is available of F-Droid. Not only a great podcast app, but it respects your Freedom. It's the only thing I miss about not having a smartphone.

I second this, and since they just use RSS, it is still working as always.

Re: BBC podcasts on third-party apps

#154

Post by JetSpiegel »

rwmj wrote: post #98
Jsharm wrote: post #8

I don't know why BBC pushes it's sounds app so hard. I get nagged to use it every time I listen through Alexa too. There's no BBC sounds smart speaker so why do they care? What do they gain from me using the app?

Private Eye has been covering this extensively. In brief a senior executive who sees himself as one day being head of the BBC is pushing it, even though it's broken, no one likes it, and it reduces money available for making programmes.

So "W1A is a documentary" strikes again...

Re: BBC podcasts on third-party apps

#155

Post by JetSpiegel »

monkeynotes wrote: post #102
sjwright wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If this isn’t antitrust, then I don’t know what is.

Personally I've wanted a good podcast app on Android and the Google app ticked all the boxes. Maybe Google is successful because of good product design in this case. However, I do agree the overall size of Google's influence is of concern.

That's because searching "podcasts" on the Play Store yields Google Podcasts as the first result, and AntennaPod (arguably the best app in the market) appears on the fifth row.

https://play.google.com/store/search?q=podcasts

Re: BBC podcasts on third-party apps

#156

Post by peterhadlaw »

Traster wrote: post #3

This is hilarious. Google is trying to leverage it's search & mobile OS market positions into pushing people towards its podcast app. Unfortunately for Google it has come up against one of the few entities in the world that can just turn around and say "Fuck. That." Frankly, I think this is a monopolist tactic from Google and it should result in government investigations but I have no hope that will happen. Nice to k…

The irony is that the BBC is a government _mandate_ funded organization, if you want to talk about monopolies. Oy, m8 you got a license for that?

Re: BBC podcasts on third-party apps

#157

Post by jamescridland »

shermozle wrote: post #151
jamescridland wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The podcasts are played directly from the BBC's servers. The BBC already have all the consumption data that they would expect - IP address, device, time listened, etc - in their own server logs. Just like a normal podcast player. So... what user analytics do the BBC actually want?

Those user analytics aren't very useful. You get IP address, device and time _downloaded_. You get nothing about "listened". There's a standard NPR have written to improve this, but it requires the podcast players to implement it. It's very privacy-respecting but I doubt Apple will implement it, so it's probably going to be a non-starter unless the big podcasters like the BBC hold the line.

The standard is RAD. The BBC hasn't implemented it.

For Google Podcasts, "downloaded" = "listened", since it has no auto-download feature. So they are (excepting the minority who manually download) actual listens.

You remind me that I should add a sniffer for RAD support in my Podnews pages, so I'll go and do that. My own podcast has RAD tags in it.

Re: BBC podcasts on third-party apps

#158

Post by jamescridland »

C1sc0cat wrote: post #41
calewis wrote: post #25

Having worked at the BBC several times it’s yet again insular thinking. In short, they’ve spend a load of (wasted cash) on a proprietary app that is useless, but some “strategy” dork - who’s never actually built anything - thinks he can get Google to change. Good luck with that.

The BBC has some some legal issues viz a viz BBC World Wide here its why iplayer only works in the UK

However, BBC Podcasts are available globally - indeed, when listening outside the UK, they contain advertising.

Re: BBC podcasts on third-party apps

#159

Post by ukoki »

0815test wrote: post #94
Theodores wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Actually there is a problem with the BBC. In the UK how do you compete for news eyeballs and try and make it pay when the BBC news is for free? Imagine your business is weather forecasting, the same applies. Then there is the small matter of the license fee. Most people just pay it out of fear of being caught by one of the legendary detector vans. But you can't have a TV or a monitor that also does TV without being h…

They should just fund it out of general revenues, and dispense with the "license fee" entirely. Treat it as a marketing expense for the country as a whole, basically. The argument that they need an exclusive tax base in order to preserve autonomy is bogus - the monarch gets government funding too AIUI, do they have a dedicated tax base?

If funds aren't ring-fenced in some way, it's way too easy for a political party to threaten that funding in return for favourable news coverage. And it would make the BBC vulnerable to the classic libertarian trick they are trying to play with the NHS:

* Cut funding for a public service

* Wait for the quality of that service to inevitably go down

* Say that it's terrible due to needless government bureaucracy

* Privatise it

Re: BBC podcasts on third-party apps

#160

Post by saaaaaam »

keypress wrote: post #95
lbacaj wrote: post #31

Technically speaking the way Podcasts work is a fascinating thing. Most on HN May be familiar with this already but Podcasts are completely open and a creator simply publishes an RSS that they then provide to a podcast App such as iTunes so it can appear on the Apple podcast app. In exchange most of these podcast apps share any listen counts and analytics with the owner of the Podcast. However, almost always the file…

Probably is a drive from the BBC itself into a closed DRM platform. Their BBC Sounds app is woeful. License fee payers are treated like complete dirt. Being charged multiple times for the same content. It's about time the BBC just became a subscription service. Older content should just be left on Torrents, and be available for re-sampling. They are absolute cretins.

Charged multiple times? Is there a paid subscription/pay per item element to BBC Sounds now? I’ve not used it in a while.
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