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Introducing the new BBC iPlayer

bbc.co.uk

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Re: Introducing the new BBC iPlayer

#31

Post by richardwhiuk »

sentenza wrote: post #26

> Currently BBC iPlayer TV programmes are available to play in the UK only Yes, well. It's not like the publically financed television stations of EUrope have FUCKING MORAL OBLIGATION to help the free movement of people throughout Europe by making the programs that connect them with their home country and that they paid for available to them. And the BBC is _by far_ not the worst offender here. I mean, even YLE, whic…

Some of the time this will be an obligation based on content rights - e.g. the BBC only have bought the rights to show Premier League highlights or the Olympics in the UK, where as in the US NBC or ESPN might have bought those rights.

Other times, this will be due to the British government not wanting to be seen to be undercutting commercial providers in other countries (there's enough pressure on the government in how the BBC is run from commercial providers in the UK).

What's more frustrating is when the BBC produces content (e.g. via BBC Worldwide or BBC Foreign Service) which isn't available in the UK. Fortunately that's fairly rare.

Re: Introducing the new BBC iPlayer

#32

Post by rainforest »

superbignerd wrote: post #18
evgen wrote: post #2

Still requires Flash. BBC continues its long tradition of epic fail.

I work on iPlayer. The new responsive design website will use the HTML5 + HLS player on iOS. Currently on Android and desktop we are using Flash + HDS/RTMP, but it's possible this will change in the future. The reason we are using Flash at the moment is partly to do with content protection (which involves negotiations with the content rights holder), and partly to do with the fact that there isn't a standard streamin…

That's interesting. Do you know why content providers are OK for content to go to iOS without DRM (beyond client certificate checks) but not to Android or the desktop?

Re: Introducing the new BBC iPlayer

#33

Post by ZeroGravitas »

superbignerd wrote: post #18
evgen wrote: post #2

Still requires Flash. BBC continues its long tradition of epic fail.

I work on iPlayer. The new responsive design website will use the HTML5 + HLS player on iOS. Currently on Android and desktop we are using Flash + HDS/RTMP, but it's possible this will change in the future. The reason we are using Flash at the moment is partly to do with content protection (which involves negotiations with the content rights holder), and partly to do with the fact that there isn't a standard streamin…

Chromecast support please! Thank you.

Re: Introducing the new BBC iPlayer

#34

Post by jebus989 »

Theodores wrote: post #17

I wish they made more of the programme information with links. Imagine clicking on the presenter's name and getting a list of other programmes they had done. This would be a great way to find things to watch. The same could apply with production companies and so on. This would bring in some IMDB style functionality they could build on to sell downloads of programmes currently not available. They could even start to s…

I doubt the latter idea would be compatible with the arcane terms of being a "public service broadcaster".

Re: Introducing the new BBC iPlayer

#35

Post by peterclary »

zeristor wrote: post #15

Am I the only one wants to access the BBC from my Apple TV?

Indeed not.

However I don't feel that particular pain point because I can currently access iPlayer directly from my Sony smart TV, my Sony Blu-Ray player and my Virgin Media Tivo box. I can also use AirPlay to send from my iPad.

Sadly, apart from the iPad, seeking is real pain. Want to pop back to re-watch something in the last minute? Bad luck - you're skipped back about 20 minutes.

Re: Introducing the new BBC iPlayer

#36

Post by mseebach »

sentenza wrote: post #26

> Currently BBC iPlayer TV programmes are available to play in the UK only Yes, well. It's not like the publically financed television stations of EUrope have FUCKING MORAL OBLIGATION to help the free movement of people throughout Europe by making the programs that connect them with their home country and that they paid for available to them. And the BBC is _by far_ not the worst offender here. I mean, even YLE, whic…

Rights.

The BBC probably gets a better price for externally produced programming if they limit their broadcast rights to the UK because the producer can then go sell the program abroad without having to compete with BBC iPlayer.

Conversely, for internally produced programming, if it's good, there's revenue to be made from selling that programming abroad. In Denmark, BBC channels are premium channels on cable.

Impossible to finance? Probably not. But it's significant cost, and despite your assertion, the BBCs fiduciary responsibility is to the UK license fee payers, not the average european citizen. That said, providing a login with your license fee receipt so those can watch iPlayer abroad would probably be doable.

Re: Introducing the new BBC iPlayer

#37

Post by Tyrannosaurs »

richardwhiuk wrote: post #31
sentenza wrote: post #26

> Currently BBC iPlayer TV programmes are available to play in the UK only Yes, well. It's not like the publically financed television stations of EUrope have FUCKING MORAL OBLIGATION to help the free movement of people throughout Europe by making the programs that connect them with their home country and that they paid for available to them. And the BBC is _by far_ not the worst offender here. I mean, even YLE, whic…

Some of the time this will be an obligation based on content rights - e.g. the BBC only have bought the rights to show Premier League highlights or the Olympics in the UK, where as in the US NBC or ESPN might have bought those rights. Other times, this will be due to the British government not wanting to be seen to be undercutting commercial providers in other countries (there's enough pressure on the government in h…

I suspect it might go further than not be seen to want to undercut commercial providers (though in the case of this government that's absolutely true), I suspect that it might be illegal for them to do so - state subsidies and all.

Re: Introducing the new BBC iPlayer

#38

Post by DanBC »

I find it weird that iPlayer will let me stream over 3g but refuses to allow me to download over 3g. (On iOS).

The radio iPlayer is a bit frustrating if you wanto listen to specific programmes rather than just streaming a station.

EG: searchin for "milton jones" doesn't reurn anything, but "thank you milton" does.

Having said that, the BBC is amazing and I buy a licence despite not legally needing to. The "in our time" archive is brilliant.

Re: Introducing the new BBC iPlayer

#39

Post by superbignerd »

rainforest wrote: post #32
superbignerd wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I work on iPlayer. The new responsive design website will use the HTML5 + HLS player on iOS. Currently on Android and desktop we are using Flash + HDS/RTMP, but it's possible this will change in the future. The reason we are using Flash at the moment is partly to do with content protection (which involves negotiations with the content rights holder), and partly to do with the fact that there isn't a standard streamin…

That's interesting. Do you know why content providers are OK for content to go to iOS without DRM (beyond client certificate checks) but not to Android or the desktop?

Part of this is a legal/rights question, so I won't get into too much details. But when I said content protection I didn't explicitly say DRM :)

You are correct that currently iOS streams are protected by client certs and that is sufficient enough in that ecosystem. On Android and desktop, there is still a need for a sufficient level of content protection, but as I said a big reason we are using Flash on those platforms is the cross-platform support and the engineering efforts at the moment. I can't really comment more on future directions around this area, but needless to say we are constantly evaluating the different emerging streaming technologies out there.

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