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BBC iPlayer Goes Live on New Apple TV in the UK
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Great news as I do use iPlayer quite a lot. I do hope that NOWtv and it's associated channels also receives a player soon. All4, ITV hub and Demand 5 would be given a push surely after the BBC release?? If not, many people in the UK will struggle to find a reason to buy an Apple TV as it stands, App store or no.
What if they charged for content for non-uk locations? Today, in US, you have to wait sometimes as long as a year for the latest content from BBC. The really popular shows come quicker, but the other trickle in.
I'd gladly pay the UK TV license to get the UK Content as it's available. Gotta hand it to the Britts for making some fabulous content.
No thanks. It's too hard to watch actual football there. All they have is boring soccer...If you yanks want our SUPERIOR BBC programming, move to England. Simple
May happen in the future. They are looking at ways for consumers to take content with them across Europe.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-35051054
Any tips on how to get the app on the ATV if you are outside the UK? Watching won't be a problem as I use smart DNS. My apple ID is US based.
I find Five On Demand to be not too bad in terms of adverts. ITV Hub is a bit better in the latest update however I put that down to the Crystal ad-blocker app. Might be designed for Safari but it seems to work a treat w/ITV!
No thanks. It's too hard to watch actual football there. All they have is boring soccer...
Rugby with make up and shoulder pads. Girlie sport
NB: I think some non-UKians are misunderstanding on how iPlayer works: most programmes are only available on iPlayer for a week or two after they have been broadcast on BBC terrestrial TV. Its not a free, always-on back-catalogue of BBC shows. The BBC supplements the license fee income by selling DVD box sets, licensing material to cable/satellite/internet channels, even in the UK.
Even the BBCs own shows are often subject to contracts with production companies, actors, writers, composers etc. - often agreed in the pre-digital, if not the pre-VHS era for "classic" stuff.
Meanwhile - no sympathy from the UK until we can get Game of Thrones etc. without subscribing to Murdochvision or waiting a year for the Blu-ray.
That shouldn't be a problem, but will I need to constantly switch between the accounts? Or once it is downloaded will it remain when I log back into my US account? I'll try it tonight when I get home.
That's a very big part of why their vast back catalogue is slow to get released on any format. The contracts that they had in place with all the people involved, the music rights holders, etc takes a lot of negotiation for what is effectively a new distribution channel.
Rugby with make up and shoulder pads. Girlie sport
Arf!!
So get your coding together instead of doing critisicm to others
I don't want to code apps for TV OS though, I just want to use it, so thats a stupid thing to say.
I didn't know that - thank you!
I stand by my point though. I can record The Simpsons on my Sky+ box, fast forward the ads, watch it any time and keep it forever.
Put the Simpsons on All4 and I can't skip ads (so they become more valuable); the creators of the Simpsons still earn money as if it has been broadcast; After a week or so Channel 4 can remove the episode so it won't stop me buying a DVD.
If Fox don't want this to be done through All4 they should launch their own On Demand service - they'd make a ton of money.
I'm in the same boat. I'm buying an Apple TV 4 regardless, but I honestly can't think what I'd need broadcast TV for that iPlayer, All4 and Netflix won't give me.
Any holes that do appear can be filled with DVD box sets / iTunes purchases.
Is it just me or is the iPlayer Apple TV app lacking HD support?
The iPlayer app on my 2015 LG smart TV has an option to default to HD streams which are much higher quality than what I seem to be getting through the Apple TV.
Apart from this, the Apple TV iPlayer does seem pretty good - it loads much faster and the UI is much smoother than the LG version!
Also, I have a weird overscan problem with the Apple TV. I've noticed this in other apps, too, but it's particularly noticeable in the BBC app because the first "B" in the BBC logo is partially obscured! What causes this?
The iPlayer app on my 2015 LG smart TV has an option to default to HD streams which are much higher quality than what I seem to be getting through the Apple TV.
Apart from this, the Apple TV iPlayer does seem pretty good - it loads much faster and the UI is much smoother than the LG version!
Also, I have a weird overscan problem with the Apple TV. I've noticed this in other apps, too, but it's particularly noticeable in the BBC app because the first "B" in the BBC logo is partially obscured! What causes this?
Other TV iPlayer apps store favourites locally with no BBC ID login. Not ideal but better than nothing.
The Apple TV seems to be suffering from bad apps. Now TV is another one which is simply inferior to Now TV on other platforms. Bit of a worrying trend.
I believe the BBC are finally switching to dynamic switching of streams as bandwidth fluctuates. It can be difficult to tell the difference between the BBC's 480p feed and 720p fees though as they're so over compressed. Watching The Hunt for example is pretty nasty on iPlayer as its just a mess of compression artefacts.
I also noticed that the play/pause button stops working in iPlayer after a while. Quality testing there BBC.
The ITV app is on barely anything. They're on some Samsung TVs, Rokus, and PS3s. That's it.
Personally I've not watched anything on ITV in 10 years at least, but it should be there of course. Same for More4 and Demand5, but they too seem disinterested in the ATV.
Well that's because UK taxpayers pay for the service, so why would we let others use it for free?!
Doing a direct comparison between iPlayer on the PS4 and the ATV version it's clear that the Apple TV version is 480p only.
This app is a dogs dinner.