BBC set to introduce iPlayer for Mac 'later this month'
by Nik Fletcher Nov 11th 2008
Earlier in the year, the iPhone (and iPod touch) both got a sprinkling of iPlayer goodness through the streaming service, however today's announcement is the first major expansion of the download service to another desktop platform: something the BBC has to do in its role as a publicly funded, 'accessible to all', broadcaster.
There's few other details to the announcement - particularly with regards to how the BBC is going to deliver its media to Mac users - but as soon as the iPlayer for Mac touches down we'll let you know.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Matt McN said 6:35PM on 11-11-2008
Hurrah! Now all we need is Linux and more or less everyone should be happy.
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Ethan said 8:06PM on 11-11-2008
Mac users are far above their marketshare in using the iplayer - more proactive. I don't think we're on the back-burner so much as Apple hasn't leant them some DRM.
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Eric said 10:25PM on 11-11-2008
Publicly funded... meaning IP addresses outside of the UK won't be able to download?
Is that how it is now with the streaming?
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KarlW said 1:10AM on 11-12-2008
Yes. British TV owners pay a license fee, which becomes the BBC's income (as opposed to getting money through adverts). Hence, the BBC has no adverts.
It also means that viewers from outside the UK aren't entitled to watch. I lived in Germany for a while, and I hated not catching up with British TV. I would love the BBC to introduce an international license fee for expats. I think it'd be quite popular, especially in America, where there is constant criticism of biased media and popular programs like Top Gear.
There are two ways I can think of for the BBC to get this on the Mac:
- Put the shows up for free on iTunes. They get wrapped in FairPlay, which can be used on Mac, PC, iPod, iPhone.
- Create a sort of desktop web application using Silverlight to play Windows Media DRM files.
Stefan said 2:13AM on 11-12-2008
Which would be perfectly logical - except that you don't need a license to watch the iPlayer, it's exempted because the fee is only required for those using equipment to watch programs as soon as, or near to the time when they're broadcast. The only time the iPlayer qualifies is when you use it to watch live streams or programs near to their broadcast time (BBC3 had a system where it streamed online at the same time it was broadcast - THAT would have been covered by the license)
Just do what everybody else does and use a proxy.
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aMIGA_dUDE said 4:29AM on 11-12-2008
There is one group that has a big problem with iPlayer, they are Playstation 3 users. They have very good browser with very good support for Java Script and Flash 9 player. Now for problem on PS3 it says on bbc site you do not have Java Script turn on, which you do.
The answer is at
http://www.ps3iplayer.com/
Nothing to do with BBC but it works well and the BBC knows about this site.
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Liam said 6:00AM on 11-12-2008
HELLZ YEH
...ahem. Anyhoo, this should be handy. I'm currently sharing a house with eight people, using a crappy router that really can't handle that much traffic. It'll be nice to have the option to download things overnight. It should be a great deal more efficient than using the website, anyway, seeing as the tech is based on torrenting technology.
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calum mackenzie said 7:00AM on 11-12-2008
I think we should setup a proxy share system, where people in the uk set up proxys for people in USA and they do the same back. So we get HULU and u get iplayer.
any takers?
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aMIGA_dUDE said 12:17PM on 11-12-2008
UK / USA proxy servers?
Your willing to pay for bandwidth? You know that you be talking a few terbites a day. It wouldn't cost that much!
rick said 12:14AM on 11-22-2008
how is this news
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