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BBC iPlayer
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BBC iPlayer
BBC iPlayer (stylised as iPLAYER or BBC iPLAYER) is a video on demand service from the BBC. The service is available over-the-top on a wide range of devices, including mobile phones and tablets, personal computers and smart televisions. iPlayer services delivered to UK-based viewers are free from commercial advertising. To use the service, a valid TV Licence is required by law.
The terms BBC iPlayer, iPlayer, and BBC Media Player refer to various methods of viewing or listening to the same content. BBC iPlayer launched in 2007. Previously, a separate BBC iPlayer Radio brand was used for radio services but this was replaced with BBC Sounds in 2018. The current logo and rebranding to "iPLAYER" has been in use since 2021.
Currently, some programmes can be watched in UHD on iPlayer as part of an ongoing trial, as well as streaming major live events in 4K on iPlayer.
On 6 October 2003, Ashley Highfield, Director of New Media and Technology at the BBC, announced in a speech to the Royal Television Society that the BBC iPlayer (then called the BBC interactive Media Player) was ‘in development’, and was to be the BBC's ‘gateway to the future. It will work both on the PC screen, when you've got a mouse in your hand, and the TV screen, controlled by an ordinary remote control. iMP will allow you to record programmes in advance, like Sky+ or the humble video recorder. It will stream programmes live and will allow you to download any content we have broadcast, say in the last week.’
By 2004 the service had undergone technical trials, as announced by Highfield in a speech at the Broadband Britain Summit where he gave more details: ‘iMP enables people to download television and radio programmes, choose to record whole series such as EastEnders, catch up on programmes they have missed and watch or listen to them on any device they want all through peer-to-peer sharing on a broadband connection.’
In 2005, following interventions from the BBC Trust who had been lobbied by the broadband service providers that such a service as the BBC iPlayer (née iMP) could put unprecedented demand on their infrastructure, Highfield announced go-ahead had finally been given for a ‘content trial, which will begin in September and last for three months. The service builds on the success of our RadioPlayer and offers BBC audiences the chance to catch up on TV and radio programmes they might have missed for up to seven days after the original broadcast.’
Following this, and subsequent trials, the BBC Trust allowed the full development of BBC iPlayer to go ahead, including a wholesale re-negotiation of the content rights framework (allowing, for no additional charges to the BBC, programmes to be offered free to UK licence fee payers for a 7-day (initially) window after transmission - this rights renegotiation was arguably the most challenging aspect of the genesis of the iPlayer, and took 2 years).
The launch of the BBC iPlayer, and how it worked with, not against, the digital eco-system in the UK, was detailed in a speech given by Highfield at the IEA Future Of Broadcasting Conference: ’Our BBC iPlayer service, launching on 27 July, offering the last seven days of the BBC's TV programmes on–demand over the internet, has already helped all the players in the UK on–demand space. We established the rights frameworks with the relevant rights bodies such as PACT. We established the technology framework that enabled us to use a peer–to–peer service that kept our distribution costs down whilst keeping our rights holders happy, a framework that has been copied by both Sky and Channel 4. And by working closely with the internet service providers like Carphone Warehouse and Virgin Media, we believe the BBC iPlayer will drive new broadband take–up, and demand for higher connection speeds. Market impact? Yes – a positive one!’
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BBC iPlayer AI simulator
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BBC iPlayer
BBC iPlayer (stylised as iPLAYER or BBC iPLAYER) is a video on demand service from the BBC. The service is available over-the-top on a wide range of devices, including mobile phones and tablets, personal computers and smart televisions. iPlayer services delivered to UK-based viewers are free from commercial advertising. To use the service, a valid TV Licence is required by law.
The terms BBC iPlayer, iPlayer, and BBC Media Player refer to various methods of viewing or listening to the same content. BBC iPlayer launched in 2007. Previously, a separate BBC iPlayer Radio brand was used for radio services but this was replaced with BBC Sounds in 2018. The current logo and rebranding to "iPLAYER" has been in use since 2021.
Currently, some programmes can be watched in UHD on iPlayer as part of an ongoing trial, as well as streaming major live events in 4K on iPlayer.
On 6 October 2003, Ashley Highfield, Director of New Media and Technology at the BBC, announced in a speech to the Royal Television Society that the BBC iPlayer (then called the BBC interactive Media Player) was ‘in development’, and was to be the BBC's ‘gateway to the future. It will work both on the PC screen, when you've got a mouse in your hand, and the TV screen, controlled by an ordinary remote control. iMP will allow you to record programmes in advance, like Sky+ or the humble video recorder. It will stream programmes live and will allow you to download any content we have broadcast, say in the last week.’
By 2004 the service had undergone technical trials, as announced by Highfield in a speech at the Broadband Britain Summit where he gave more details: ‘iMP enables people to download television and radio programmes, choose to record whole series such as EastEnders, catch up on programmes they have missed and watch or listen to them on any device they want all through peer-to-peer sharing on a broadband connection.’
In 2005, following interventions from the BBC Trust who had been lobbied by the broadband service providers that such a service as the BBC iPlayer (née iMP) could put unprecedented demand on their infrastructure, Highfield announced go-ahead had finally been given for a ‘content trial, which will begin in September and last for three months. The service builds on the success of our RadioPlayer and offers BBC audiences the chance to catch up on TV and radio programmes they might have missed for up to seven days after the original broadcast.’
Following this, and subsequent trials, the BBC Trust allowed the full development of BBC iPlayer to go ahead, including a wholesale re-negotiation of the content rights framework (allowing, for no additional charges to the BBC, programmes to be offered free to UK licence fee payers for a 7-day (initially) window after transmission - this rights renegotiation was arguably the most challenging aspect of the genesis of the iPlayer, and took 2 years).
The launch of the BBC iPlayer, and how it worked with, not against, the digital eco-system in the UK, was detailed in a speech given by Highfield at the IEA Future Of Broadcasting Conference: ’Our BBC iPlayer service, launching on 27 July, offering the last seven days of the BBC's TV programmes on–demand over the internet, has already helped all the players in the UK on–demand space. We established the rights frameworks with the relevant rights bodies such as PACT. We established the technology framework that enabled us to use a peer–to–peer service that kept our distribution costs down whilst keeping our rights holders happy, a framework that has been copied by both Sky and Channel 4. And by working closely with the internet service providers like Carphone Warehouse and Virgin Media, we believe the BBC iPlayer will drive new broadband take–up, and demand for higher connection speeds. Market impact? Yes – a positive one!’