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BBC iPlayer goes public
And Auntie says its impact will be huge (of course)

By Tim Ferguson

Published: Wednesday 27 June 2007

The BBC's on-demand TV service, iPlayer, has been launched to further boost the Beeb's efforts to embrace the internet and meet the growing clamour for television on demand.

A beta version of the service will be available to the public from 27 July, just two months after the service received the green light from the BBC Trust.

The UK-only service will initially be a peer-to-peer on-demand download service but users will be able to stream content when the service receives its marketing launch in the autumn.

Cheat Sheets

♦ Web 2.0
♦ Mash-ups

iPlayer will allow users to download programmes up to seven days after transmission and those shows can then be viewed for up to 30 days before being deleted. The service will include 400 hours of BBC programming per month.

Speaking at the launch in London BBC Director General Mark Thompson compared the potential impact of the iPlayer to the launch of colour television in 1967.

Ashley Highfield, director of future media and technology at the BBC said the iPlayer underpins the corporation's Creative Future strategy "to maintain the BBC's relevance among all audiences in the digital age".

The BBC's aim is to increase the number of iPlayer users in a controlled manner before staging a full marketing launch in the autumn.

iPlayer will also offer series stacking on selected programmes, which allows viewers to download all episodes of a series within seven days of the transmission of the final episode.

The service will be accessible from bbc.co.uk and through partnerships with online giants including Facebook, MSN and YouTube.

The service is also being developed for television and the BBC is currently working with Virgin Media to launch on the cable service later this year.

Highfield said: "We are committed to getting the BBC iPlayer onto the television screen."

Responding to recent claims the BBC has neglected non-Windows users by initially launching iPlayer for PCs only, Highfield said: "I'm fundamentally committed to universality. We're not favouring one platform over another."

He said developing the service for Macs and Microsoft Vista is "absolutely on our critical path".

He said: "Our general rule of thumb is to reach the biggest audiences first."

He added the iPlayer couldn't have been launched without a digital rights management (DRM) system as independent producers - whose livelihoods depend on their programmes - would not have agreed to the permanent distribution of their work otherwise.

Regarding rumours of the development of a separate media player in partnership with ITV and Channel 4, Mark Thompson said: "We're talking to lots of players. Nothing's been decided or agreed with anyone yet."

But Highfield said: "I think there is a market for both types of service."