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BBC admits iPlayer has lost streaming fight with Netflix

theguardian.com

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Re: BBC admits iPlayer has lost streaming fight with Netflix

#41

Post by onion2k »

Conjoiner wrote: post #11
sofaofthedamned wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But the BBC don't actually own the rights to most of their old output. They were made in an era too where streaming rights weren't a thing.assume it's different with newer stuff but...

If it is in the publics best interest for the BBC to own the rights then that can be arranged

If it is in the publics best interest for the BBC to own the rights then that can be arranged

Is it in the public interest?

What is the benefit to the public of the BBC spending the money necessary to reclaim the rights to their old content? I can't think of anything. The shows that have any value (eg Dr Who) have already commericialized. Everything else ... why bother? The obvious point is that it'd be nice to watch some of the old shows again, but really, out of the 97 years of content across radio and television probably 99.9999% would never be looked ay by anyone.

Just as a parallel, there's millions of hours of old content on https://archive.org/ that never gets looked at. Why would the old BBC content be any different?

Re: BBC admits iPlayer has lost streaming fight with Netflix

#42

Post by SmellyGeekBoy »

teamonkey wrote: post #38

They didn't mention that the requirement for a TV licence to watch iPlayer content is relatively recent. When iPlayer first launched it was exempt from the licence. A TV licence costs about the same as Netflix + Prime does so is not surprising it's now losing out to other, more comprehensive streaming services that often also host BBC content.

It's so weakly enforced that it's hardly a realistic impediment anyway.

Re: BBC admits iPlayer has lost streaming fight with Netflix

#43

Post by lanevorockz »

The BBC has suffered a lot from the Savile scandal back in 2012. Many executives were fired and new ones were hired straight from mainstream media, breaking the old impartiality that made BBC a trustworthy source.

They lost Top Gear because they started under funding their biggest show. BBC studios here in Twickenham got redirected to push for a political agenda.

As the company became unprofitable under a new administration, things became quite unstable and even today they still are. So many things going wrong that people can't find what to tackle first.

Re: BBC admits iPlayer has lost streaming fight with Netflix

#44

Post by mattkrause »

benj111 wrote: post #7
londons_explore wrote: post #2

This is all written in a "Let us do this or we're doomed" tone. I wonder if exaggerating the effects means permission is more likley to be granted.

I can't work out the politics that wont let the BBC let us keep watching what we've already paid for, but will let them charge for it again via Britbox. Surely Britbox is still going to be competing with ITV and Channel 4? The contortions trying to marry up public service broadcasting and on demand are getting increasingly strained. A rethink is unfortunately becoming necessary.

It’s a joint venture with ITV and AMC.

Re: BBC admits iPlayer has lost streaming fight with Netflix

#45

Post by SmellyGeekBoy »

dpwm wrote: post #21
szggzs27 wrote: post #18

Maybe if they didn't send letters masking as police enforcement trying to bully you into paying for tv license you don't need, people would be more welcoming towards using their product.

I believe Capita are still mostly responsible for the letter-sending – and unfortunately I suspect the bullying tactics work. [0] https://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/about/foi-about-tv-licensing-A...

We have a large collection of these letters pinned to the wall at our office. Not sure how they got our address but we don't watch broadcast TV so of course don't need a TV license. They're more than welcome to visit anytime to confirm.

I'd much rather the money that I (willingly) pay for my home TV license went towards improving content and broadcast infrastructure than going straight into the pockets of utter scum like Capita.

Re: BBC admits iPlayer has lost streaming fight with Netflix

#46

Post by arethuza »

onion2k wrote: post #41
Conjoiner wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If it is in the publics best interest for the BBC to own the rights then that can be arranged

If it is in the publics best interest for the BBC to own the rights then that can be arranged Is it in the public interest? What is the benefit to the public of the BBC spending the money necessary to reclaim the rights to their old content? I can't think of anything. The shows that have any value (eg Dr Who) have already commericialized. Everything else ... why bother? The obvious point is that it'd be nice to watch…

I'd happily pay to get access to the full BBC catalogue - in fact I'd probably find more to watch there than I do on Netflix & Amazon (which I already subscribe to).

Re: BBC admits iPlayer has lost streaming fight with Netflix

#47

Post by SmellyGeekBoy »

toofy wrote: post #25
mongol wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The article seems very UK-centric. As citizen of another coutnry living outside UK I would love to try to subscribe to BBC IPlayer. I think I would prefer it over Netflix, if the price was the same / similar.

I would definitely drop one of the four services I currently have and trade up for BBC if they had a substantial catalog. Without a doubt I would do that, in fact, I now really want to see a service with that type of content. I didn’t even realize I wanted it until now...

Unfortunately commercial broadcasters in the UK (AKA Rupert Murdoch) would go apeshit if the BBC were allowed a commercial opportunity like this. This is the only thing preventing it from happening.

Re: BBC admits iPlayer has lost streaming fight with Netflix

#48

Post by lanevorockz »

morrbo wrote: post #5

Personally I kind of agree. Other than storage and traffic considerations I cannot see why the entire BBC archive is not available online. It seems stupid to me that we have literally 50+ years of content, documentaries, panel shows, etc. Which could all easily be put online as they are the BBC's content and have been paid for by the British people already. I understand that this might be overkill but I definitely fi…

BBC became quite unprofitable since the Savile scandal,with the change in management and direction the company became a bit lost. That's why quality of the shows dropped and they lost a lot of the money that came through them via BBC World.

That's why the BBC is already selling out their assets and removing access to british citizens that already paid for the shows in the first place.

Re: BBC admits iPlayer has lost streaming fight with Netflix

#49

Post by SmellyGeekBoy »

ben_w wrote: post #37
sleavey wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure that's ever been true. You need a licence to watch any broadcast TV because it also pays for the infrastructure the other channels use.

I think you may have misunderstood me. Broadcast TV does indeed require a license, but catch-up services are not broadcast TV, and I’m referring to that. To quote from the TV licensing website: ””” Do I need a TV Licence for all on demand programmes? No. You don’t need a licence if you only ever watch on demand or catch up programmes on services other than BBC iPlayer* (and you also never watch live TV programmes on…

It's an interesting situation because Channel 4 are also classed as a public broadcaster and do benefit from some (albeit small) percentage of license revenue.

Re: BBC admits iPlayer has lost streaming fight with Netflix

#50

Post by Arnt »

Conjoiner wrote: post #11
sofaofthedamned wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But the BBC don't actually own the rights to most of their old output. They were made in an era too where streaming rights weren't a thing.assume it's different with newer stuff but...

If it is in the publics best interest for the BBC to own the rights then that can be arranged

How?

Say the BBC made a great series in 1978 and paid the composer of the music for enough rights to air it in the UK, but not for media which were not yet invented at the time. The composer is now dead, the heirs moved to NZ and Italy, the will (written in 1982) doesn't make quite clear which heir inherited the internet rights, and none of the heirs really care to pay lawyers for the sake of a £500-1500 sale. How do you propose to arrange acquisition of the rights?

This isn't even very farfetched. A lot of old contracts were written without consideration of the streaming possibilities that eventually ensued. BTDT.

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