BBC iPlayer starts mandatory sign-in

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Jun 212017
 

The BBC has begun to make signing-in to use the iPlayer mandatory, removing the option to skip sign-in for some.

The BBC is forcing users to sign up for a BBC account to continue using the popular catch-up and on-demand service. Users who are still being allowed access by skipping the sign-in screen will see the option removed shortly.

The BBC says the move to mandatory sign-ins is all about offering a more personalised experience, enabling it to mine user data to provide recommendations and to see who is watching or listening to programmes. But the broadcaster has admitted that data from sign-ins might be used to detect TV licence fee evasion. Since September 2016, most iPlayer users require a TV licence to use the service.
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BBC on-demand service launches in Malaysia

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Mar 132017
 

BBC on-demand service launches in Malaysia

The BBC’s commercial arm, BBC Wordwide, is set to launch a version of BBC Player in Malaysia, exclusively to subscribers of Telekom Malaysia Berhad’s (TM) IPTV service, HyppTV.

This follows the launch of the BBC iPLayer service in Singapore last year.

Hypp TV viewers will be able to watch the very best of BBC content anytime anywhere, via an app on their smartphones and tablets. Content will be available from BBC Worldwide’s global brands, BBC First, BBC Brit, BBC Earth, BBC Lifestyle, CBeebies, and BBC World News. Continue reading »

BBC iPlayer reports festive surge in viewers

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Jan 132017
 

69.3 million requests to watch iPlayer programmes were made during the week commencing 26th December 2016, more than any other week in BBC iPlayer’s history. December was also BBC iPlayer’s best month ever, seeing 281 million requests across the month.

EastEnders, Mrs Brown’s Boys, Outnumbered and Sherlock were the most popular shows on BBC iPlayer during its biggest ever festive season.

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Planet Earth II tops BBC iPlayer list

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Dec 162016
 

Planet Earth II tops BBC iPlayer list

Planet Earth II has been named the most requested show on the BBC iPlayer, according to new data showing what users have been requesting during the past year.

The first episode of Planet Earth II was requested more than 3.8 million times, helping 2016 to become the biggest year ever for the on-demand service. October and November saw the highest average number of daily requests that the iPlayer has ever seen, with 11.7 million requests per month, with the Great British Bake Off and The Apprentice also helping increase requests.
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TV Licence and BBC iPlayer loophole to be closed in September.

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Jul 172016
 

New UK TV licencing laws will come into effect on the 1st September 2016, closing the so called “BBC iPlayer loophole”.

Current UK TV licencing laws require you to have a UK TV Licence to watch any live TV channels on any device within the UK.

But these law did not apply to catch up Tv services such as BBC iPlayer.

So people could not pay a UK TV Licence but still watch UK TV via iPlayer on catch up perfectly legally, and for free.

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International rollout of BBC iPlayer Radio app

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Jul 092016
 

International rollout of BBC iPlayer Radio app

The BBC has launched an international BBC iPlayer Radio app in the Republic of Ireland, the first stage of its global roll-out.
Available in the UK since 2012, the free BBC iPlayer Radio app will transform access to BBC Radio programmes internationally, making it easier for audiences around the world to listen to a variety of BBC radio stations, including BBC World Service English, on their devices wherever they are.

BBC World Service in English, which has a global audience of 66m, will automatically display on a touchscreen dial when users outside the UK open the app for the first time. Users can simply spin the dial to access more BBC Radio stations and discover more world-class content which includes news, music, drama, comedy.

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Some Freesat boxes to lose BBC iPlayer from September 2016

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Mar 142016
 

The BBC will be stopping support, and therefore stopping an early version of the BBC iPlayer app on quite a lot of Freesat set top boxes.

This will happen in September 2016.

The Freesat models affected are those that are without the Freetime label.

If your version of iPlayer looks like this then you’re going to be affected:

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BBC iPlayer and TV License loophole to be close “within months”

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Mar 022016
 

Culture Secretary John Whittingdale confirmed today that the loophole that allows people to watch BBC iPlayer without a TV licence will be closed within months.

Currently BBC iPlayer is freely available in the UK to anyone who visits the BBC iPlayer website and no log in details are required to access the BBC iPlayer via the website. One idea would be for users to log into the website with their TV lisence details.

It is thought that this is mainly aimed at people using mobile devices to acces iPlayer, and should not affect users access BBC iPlayer via Freesat set top boxes, or Sky digiboxes.

Mr Whittingdale said today he would press ahead with changes to the law to close the loophole, which is thought to cost the BBC around £150 million a year.

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BBC IPlayer starts to block VPN servers concerning piracy worries

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Oct 172015
 

BBC IPlayer starts to block VPN servers concerning piracy worries

The BBC is taking measures against the unauthorized use of its iPlayer service by actively blocking UK VPN services. The measures aim to prevent foreigners from accessing iPlayer without permission, but they’re also blocking many legitimate UK citizens from surfing the Internet securely.

The BBC’s online catchup service iPlayer has been a great success, both in the UK and abroad.

While the service is intended for UK viewers, who have to pay a mandatory TV license, it’s also commonly used overseas. Recent research suggests that 60 million people outside the UK access iPlayer through VPNs and other circumvention tools.

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HTML5 Player beta trial for BBC iPlayer

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Sep 302015
 

HTML5 Player beta trial for BBC iPlayer

The BBC has unveiled a beta trial of an HTML5 version for the iPlayer.

HTML5 video has been used by the BBC to deliver video to iOS devices, such as the iPhone and iPad for sometime, but until now the BBC has felt the consistent experience and efficient media delivery offered by Flash outweighed the benefit of moving to HTML5 on the desktop.

The move also follows the introduction of restrictions on the Flash format introduced by leading browsers Google Chrome and Mozilla’s Firefox.

The new HTML5 player is currently being tested with Firefox 41, Opera 32, Safari on iOS 5 and above, BlackBerry OS 10.3.1 and above, Internet Explorer 11 and Microsoft Edge on Windows 10 and Google Chrome on all platforms.

“Most programmes on BBC iPlayer should play in the HTML5 player from today, but there are some archive and late-delivered programmes which aren’t yet encoded for the new MPEG-DASH streaming technology,” explained James East, product manager, video playout, in a blog post. Viewers will be advised if an HTML5 version is not yet available.
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BBC licence fee – non payers on the increase

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May 172015
 

Up to 1,000 households a day have stopped paying the BBC licence fee by claiming they only watch catch-up services or do not own a TV.

During a 15-month period to the end of last year 500,000 homes said they did not have a television, figures from the Broadcasters’ Audience Research Board show.

In theory viewers are only exempt if they use the digital service to watch catch-up television.

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BBC Worldwide closing BBC Global iPlayer

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May 122015
 

BBC Worldwide closing BBC Global iPlayer.

The BBCs commercial arm, BBC Worldwide, have announced that the BBC Iplayer Global will be closed down within the next month or so.

BBC Global Iplayer was available via an ITunes app, and allowed people to watch limited BBC TV content outside the UK.

BBC Global Iplayer was specifically designed for expats, to enable them to watch BBC TV content. BBC Global Iplayer did not have as much content as the UK version of Iplayer, due to copyright and broadcasting rights.

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Sherlock pips Top Gear in 2014 BBC iPlayer charts

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Jan 222015
 

The return of Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman in BBC1’s Sherlock was the most popular programme on the BBC’s iPlayer in 2014, pipping Jeremy Clarkson’s Top Gear to the top in a record year for on-demand viewing.

In all there were a record 3.5bn requests for TV and radio programmes on the iPlayer – 2.6bn for TV content and 860m for radio output – up from a total of 3.1 bn in 2013.

Top 20 TV episodes requested on BBC iPlayer, 2014

1 Sherlock, series 3 episode 1 4.19 million
2 Top Gear, series 21 episode 1, 3.81 million
3 Top Gear, series 21 episode 3, 3.42 million
4 Top Gear, Burma special part 1, 3.34 million
5 Sherlock, series 3 episode 2, 3.33 million
6 Sherlock series 3 episode 3, 3.21 million
7 Top Gear series 21 episode 2, 3.08 million
8 Murdered By My Boyfriend, 23 June, 3.02 million
9 Outnumbered, series 5 episode 1, 2.86 million
10 Doctor Who, series 8 episode 1, 2.8 million
11 Top Gear, Burma special part 2, 2.79 million
12 Top Gear, series 21 episode 4, 2.55 million
13 Top Gear, series 21 episode 5, 2.46 million
14 The Great British Bake Off, series 5 episode 1, 2.31 million
15 Top Gear, Patagonia Special part 1, 2.29 million
16 Outnumbered, series 5 episode 2, 2.24 million
17 Outnumbered, series 5 episode 3, 2.17 million
18 The Apprentice, series 10, episode 4, 2.09 million
19 The Apprentice, series 10, episode 7, 2.07 million
20 Outnumbered, series 5 episode 4, 2.07 million

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