Bbc i player

BBC iPlayer (formerly known as Integrated Media Player (iMP), Interactive Media Player, and MyBBCPlayer) is a service available via website, P2P, cable television, and several mobile devices 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 25 December 2007. On 25 June 2008 a new-look iPlayer was launched, originally as a beta-test version alongside the earlier version. The technology and infrastructure for iPlayer is provided by Kontiki, Siemens IT Solutions and Services, and Red Bee Media.

Development

The original iPlayer service was launched in October 2005, undergoing a five month long trial of five thousand broadband users until 28 February 2006. 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. 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 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 had both recently launched similar services.

The open beta incorporated a media player, an electronic programme guide (EPG) and specially designed download client, and allowed the download of TV content by computers assigned to a United Kingdom-based IP address, for use up to thirty days after broadcast. However, it was only available to users of Windows XP.

This was a controversial decision by the BBC, which led to a petition being posted on 10 Downing Street's e-petition website. 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 16 October 2007, the BBC announced 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 cannot or do not wish to use the iPlayer download service. The streaming service was launched on 13 December 2007. Most programmes can only be viewed for up to seven days after broadcast, unlike the thirty days provided by the download service.

Since January 2008 it has supported 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 was made available through the provider's on-demand service. The cable service launched on 30 April 2008, and keeps the look and feel of the BBC iPlayer program.

In response to a Freedom of Information Act request, the BBC stated that the iPlayer cost £6 million to develop up to 8 April 2008.

On 23 August 2008, a new feature, Series Stacking, was announced. This feature started being rolled out on 13 September 2008, and allows viewers to watch previous programmes from selected series until the series has ended, with a limit of up to thirteen weeks after first broadcast. Not all programmes will form part of the stack, however. The BBC Trust has permitted 15% of content to be offered as part of the stacking service; soaps, news bulletins and review-based programmes will not be stacked, as well as programmes containing material of a legal nature, such as Crimewatch.

On 19 December 2008, the BBC released, as part of the iPlayer Labs feature, iPlayer Desktop for Mac and Linux operating systems. This moved the download service away from the previous P2P based distribution model and onto an HTTP download model.

On 20 April 2009, the BBC incorporated high-definition streams and downloads of some content on the iPlayer. There are plans to roll out the HD streams to devices such as the Virgin Set Top Box and PlayStation 3, but no date has yet been set.

Computer platforms

Download service

One of the key features of the original iPlayer download service was 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 was only playable within the iPlayer itself or Windows Media Player 10 or 11, and digital rights management. In December 2008 the BBC moved to an Adobe AIR based client that downloaded content via HTTP rather than P2P. The new system replaced the Windows DRM system with Adobe's own. (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.

There was criticism levelled at the iPlayer's use of KService from Kontiki, the peer-to-peer application which continues to use users' bandwidth, even after the iPlayer has been shut down, though this could be controlled using options available within the software. Because of this, users may have been charged by their Internet service provider for exceeding their download limit or fair use policy.. However, since the new client was introduced in December 2008 the Kontiki P2P system has not been used.

The client also offers an electronic programme guide (EPG) with listings for both the previous seven and next seven 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. It will only be usable to computers using a UK-based IP address, If using an IP address not based in the UK, the user can select shows to download, but the download will fail with a notification that the user is not in the UK. Some have bypassed this restriction by using UK based proxies, for example a university VPN.

Online streaming 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 Christmas week with plugs for iPlayer. The streaming version of iPlayer offers replays of programmes broadcast on all BBC TV channels during the last seven days. Programmes are available from all national BBC television channels as well as BBC Wales programmes shown on S4C. 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 4oD service, is its smooth compatibility with computers using Linux and Mac operating systems, as Adobe Flash Player is also available on those platforms.

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