current affairs
BBC iPlayer app
Best of British TV In July BBC Worldwide launched a version of its popular iPlayer as an iPad app in Luxembourg and 10 other European markets. Text: Duncan Roberts — Photo: BBC
The BBC iPlayer app, which can be downloaded for free from iTunes, provides users with access to some 1,500 hours of programming, with the promise of a further 100 hours being added every month. Individual shows can be streamed or downloaded for future viewing--the app allows users to build a personal library on their iPad and watch programmes in any country in which the app is available--neighbouring Germany, Belgium and France as well as Austria, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Ireland and Portugal. A subscription costs €6.99 per month or €49.99 per year. This is the first time the BBC has allowed its archive to be accessed by audiences in Western Europe. The iPlayer app is, however, a totally new approach to the free of charge internet viewer already offered to UK audiences, which is more of a catch up service. The iPlayer allows users to select programmes by genre or popularity, but also to browse alphabetical listings of shows and search for specific programmes, actors or presenters. Already available are classic comedies such as Fawlty Towers and Only Fools and Horses, as well as more contemporary fare such as In The Thick Of It and The Mighty Boosh. Documentaries by the likes of David Attenborough, Simon Schama and Bruce Parry sit alongside entertainment programmes such as Top Gear. And the BBC’s much admired drama series, including Pride and Prejudice, Sherlock and classics like Edge of Darkness are also available. Current content also includes music programmes and shows for children.
Fawlty Towers: classic comedy available on the BBC iPlayer in Luxembourg
The pilot project is being rolled out exclusively on iPad, but will be extended to other hardware in future. Jana Bennett, president of BBC Worldwide networks and global iPlayer, says that Western Europeans tend to be early adaptors, and with an estimated two million British nationals living in the eleven markets, she believes there is an appetite for the programmes on offer. Luke Bradley-Jones, managing director of BBC.com, says that the application is a “premium but niche proposition” aimed at what he calls “super fans” of British culture. Speaking to Delano at the launch in London, Bennett said that the desire is to eventually create an application that features the very
best of British TV and maybe even film, depending on rights in different territories. But she was adamant that although the available content will grow, the iPlayer will not become a vast vault of BBC archive material. “It is an editorialised product, not a shop,” she says. Indeed, the app is aimed at allowing users to discover programmes they may have missed out on by living abroad. The intuitive and easy-to-use app inc ludes a “similar shows” feature and also provides additional information on BBC stars such as David Walliams and David Tennant. “We want to maintain the serendipity of discovery”, says Bennett. www.itunes.com/appstore/
16 - delano - October 2011
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23.09.2011 10:13:30 Uhr