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BBC to Offer Videos Online?

Hmm, probably are available because I know a ton of Americans who listen to BBC radio shows up to a week after they were broadcast, or can listen live via bbc.co.uk/radio

This brings the question - why do they get the content for free, yet im threatened with jail or a £1,000 fine for not paying?
 
Flaming Nora

macros said:
Yeah Baby! Bring "Coronation Street" to the rest of the world :rolleyes:
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Corrie's on ITV, not BBC.
There're almost 40 years of Corrie archives, could be a goldmine!
Tanya Turner is joining the Rovers!
Will she keep her 4" french nails?
Will she pull blokes and pints?
Crikey, great writers there.
 
imp

hey

does anyone know how you get an invite from BBC to trial
the IMP service. i'm a uk licence holder

regards:(
 
The Indies report seems about right. I'm doing the trial at the moment at it's version 0.9.5... so it's almost there. The service is fine but download speeds vary, the interface feels very forced (browsing through films for instance is impossible, you have to search by channel & genre & date even - it's a pain).

You need Windows Media player 9 series and uses a ridiculous DRM which expires a week after the program has been put online and has to go online to check licenses every time you want to watch a program. So it won't work on your iPod - maybe the mac version could counter this. You can however play it on a smartphone or pda - running windows mobile mind you.

It's fine and goes some way to counter illegal p2p but it's as good as you'd get. The BBC can't just put out the shows via RSS since they use geographical IP stuff to make sure you're in the UK.

I doubt the mac version will roll out on the same day as the Windows iMP though. When it does, the package is good though - the Beeb put some production into this though: they package some trailers for new shows (like iTunes New music podcast) with their own idents at the end - "Now showing on imp". There are watermarked logos at the corner of every show with the channel they were originally broadcast on which doesn't even happen on TV.

That's weird though, it' not pronounced eye em pee but imp.


But spooks when yo want it is great!
 
littlejim said:
The BBC is NOT a government funded organization and does not broadcast governent information etc. The BBC makes all it's money from the Licence fee and it's commercial operations.
In fact, the BBC has a great history of kicking our government (of all colours) in the
goolies!
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I didn't say it was a propaganda machine, nor did I say it wasn't sufficiently independent. It's precisely that level of independence that reflects well on Britian, IMO.

As far as I can tell though, the License fee is essentially a tax established by law and enforced by the government which makes the BBC government funded.
 
The BBC has long been one of the best networks around and US networks have long copied their shows and made a ton of money doing it.

I personally would like to see an affordable annual license (like around $39) for us poor souls outside of the UK that would let us download programs. It would throw some money at the BBC, be a mile ahead of BBC America, and max out the advantages of Quicktime for many users - using either Macs or PCs.
 
LagunaSol said:
The same thing they're getting from free Podcasts: more iPod buyers and iTunes users.
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But if the BBC were to use iTunes to integrate DRM into the files (Fairplay), then the files would need to come from Apple's server. Unlike podcasts, that's one hell of a lot of bandwidth for something that isn't being charged for. (although podcasts aren't hosted by Apple)

I'm not sure Apple would go along with it - the advertising they'd get via the BBC would be minimal (I'm sure OFCOM would have something to say otherwise).
 
I don't know if this is related, but BBC Radio 1 is available in the USA via Sirius satellite radio..although I think there is a subscription charge for it?
 
al3000 said:
I don't know if this is related, but BBC Radio 1 is available in the USA via Sirius satellite radio..although I think there is a subscription charge for it?
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You can stream all the BBC Radio channels anyway - and I don't think there's any geographic restrictions. Crap quality though, mind.
 
andysmith said:
You can stream all the BBC Radio channels anyway - and I don't think there's any geographic restrictions. Crap quality though, mind.
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I know that, but I think that through sirius in the US, radio 1 can be received in peoples cars, etc. I could be wrong though.
 
Analog Kid said:
I didn't say it was a propaganda machine, nor did I say it wasn't sufficiently independent. It's precisely that level of independence that reflects well on Britian, IMO.
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I know you didn't say that ... but you did say the BBC was 'a government broadcast' which is incorrect.
Analog Kid said:
As far as I can tell though, the License fee is essentially a tax established by law and enforced by the government which makes the BBC government funded.
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If you don't own a TV (or VCR) then you don't pay the Licence fee in the same way as if you don't own a car, you don't pay Road Tax - or you don't fly then you don't pay Airport fees.

http://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/information/index.jsp

The BBC makes a fraction of it's money through the Licence fee. It relies more heavily on sales of it's programmes, Books, magazines etc. for it's income.
 
andysmith said:
But if the BBC were to use iTunes to integrate DRM into the files (Fairplay), then the files would need to come from Apple's server. Unlike podcasts, that's one hell of a lot of bandwidth for something that isn't being charged for. (although podcasts aren't hosted by Apple)

I'm not sure Apple would go along with it - the advertising they'd get via the BBC would be minimal (I'm sure OFCOM would have something to say otherwise).
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I'd like to see a couple of things: 1) much higher resolution video files, which could be enabled by 2) Apple using some sort of P2P distribution like the BBC is using. This would pretty much preclude DRM (unless, perhaps, you get some sort of a "secure tag" directly from the Apple server, which allows you to view the video content you subsequently get through P2P), but the need for DRM might mostly be negated by a) the huge file sizes and b) reasonable pricing. Someone needs to step out and say "The way to fight piracy is to make content convenient and affordable." (Actually, Steve Jobs did say this, but he was still shackled with DRM).

The BBC is as good a candidate as any to make this bold, revolutionary move. And I wouldn't mind paying a buck a show. The studios rake in millions from viewers just like me and don't even have to pay for the bandwidth as we're doing all the heavy lifting through P2P. What's not to like?

Pirates will always be pirates. The trick is to keep the average consumer from becoming a pirate: you do this by putting all the content they (we) want out there and putting a reasonable price on it. When is the entertainment business going to learn this? The iTunes Music Store has proven that people will pay if the content is there, is easy to get to and use, and the price is right.

The current video model through iTunes is a joke: $1.99 for VHS quality of regular broadcast programs we can all watch for free anyway??? Give me a break. I'm sure it's just a trial balloon, but I'm not jumping on board until the quality and selection go way, way up and the price goes down.
 
I think it's very unlikely the BBC will offer any of its TV for free via iTunes.
They might, however, see it as a decent moneymaking scheme if they could sell their shows that way. After all, it's no different to them selling DVDs of their programming, is it? (And who isn't going to buy the Extras DVD this Christmas?)
The IMP experiment is a red herring - it's aimed at setting up an alternative distribution service for licence-fee payers only. Not only that, but it's not going to work on Macs anyway.
 
Not for non subscribers and or outside UK

My understanding from an associate in the UK is the BBC is using Microsoft's WMV 10 Codec and some form of DRM that does not allow non UK folks to access the content.

Can anyone actually on the trial confirm this?
 
Analog Kid said:
No, it's the equivalent to putting NPR or PBS programs up for free. The BBC is not like HBO-- it's essentially a government funded broadcast. I think they still have a shortwave service (or did that get closed down a couple years ago) which goes well beyond their subscriber range.

As a government broadcast it serves two purposes: information/entertanment and public relations. It's mostly the news service that extends beyond the UK, and to the extent that people respect the BBC that goodwill carries over to their view of Britain.

Notice their website has no ads? That alone makes it a great resource, in my book.

I think it would be great if they do this, even if it is just the news broadcasts. I'd be an avid subscriber.
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The BBC partnered with HBO to produce Rome. The BBC also produces the latest Doctor Who series. And, of course, they have the longest running daytime soap - Coronation Street. The British broadcaster has few equals for producing quality documentaries. And the comedy that comes from BBC is smashing. I'm only scraping the surface. What other cool things do they do?
 
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