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Hey, one of the developers here.

No editing: it really is that fast! The stream will start off low quality and quickly ramp up to full 1080 quality. We've also skipped out the idents which the website adds at the start of each video, which slows things down.

Pity that you almost certainly wouldn't be allowed to release the app to the store in the event of the BBC really not bothering. I won't be getting a new TV, I have no use for one any more having so many other options that provide the content I need, but good work on the app. Really does show up a huge corporation like the BBC.
 
This doesn't make any sense at all. The BBC has produced an app for just about every platform going - what possible valid reason do they have for not doing one for AppleTV? What's more, there's already an app for iOS - how difficult could it be to port it to TVOS? Sounds like they have a prejudice against Apple to me.

Seeing as you've just said they have an iOS app, and they have an OSX app, it doesn't sound like any such thing.

It sounds as though there is some reason specific to ATV - maybe technical, maybe small numbers using it compared to other platforms.
 
Simple reason BBC reluctant to do this.

They don't want to give further incentives for people to stop paying the license fee, which many are doing.

Apple has gone fully in with the ATV now. With the right 3rd party support it could become dominant in the set top box market, threatening their, the incumbent network's (BBC, itv, C4 et all), joint venture freeview / youview.

Because those set top boxes can receive live broadcasts they require a license.

ATV doesn't have a tuner, thus doesn't qualify. The owner can claim they only watch catch up and save themselves the £125 a year.

Why anyone would want to subject themselves to content from overtly biased, champagne socialist, liberalist state propaganda is beyond me.

then don't watch it

duh

on the other hand, if you want to watch some high quality (amongst the increasing amount of dross) advert free content, pay for it, it's not as if a license fee is expensive

duh

either way, you're not making yourself look like a towering intellect
 
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the developers seem not to understand the issues in streaming and the resultant addressable market, or maybe they understand fully and are just trying to garner publicity with this stunt

much bbc content is only licensed for the UK. agreements with other broadcasters, rights holders etc. severely limit what can be distributed to other countries, even some bbc free to air content is not available on iplayer in UK for just these reasons, much 'bbc' content is either owned or restricted by other parties, even inclusion of stock photos in backdrops in 'bbc' programmes can limit distribution outside the UK

iplayer is already available on mass market set top boxes (youview for instance), and smart tv units for the UK market, that's almost the entire addressable market

no idea what % of UK households have apple tv but no other stb/stv able to access iplayer, but i'd bet it isn't a big number

unless/until the bbc can resolve how to gain rights to stream globally and collect the revenue to cover associated licensing costs, which i suspect will be around the time hell freezes over, it'd be a very poor use of resources to spend time/money on an app with such limited market

I agree with the point about the small number of people with ATV, but no other means to stream iPlayer.

But global rights can't be an issue - there are several ATV services that are US only. We won't be getting HBO Go in the UK for example.
 
Hey, one of the developers here.

No editing: it really is that fast! The stream will start off low quality and quickly ramp up to full 1080 quality. We've also skipped out the idents which the website adds at the start of each video, which slows things down.

Very cool.... Looking forward to this release!
 
I agree with the point about the small number of people with ATV, but no other means to stream iPlayer.

But global rights can't be an issue - there are several ATV services that are US only. We won't be getting HBO Go in the UK for example.

But we'll almost certainly get the icon for it just to rub it in we have zero outside content for our boxes
 
I understand that the British pay for the BBC through their television tax, and do not expect that they would give their American cousins access to iPlayer without charge, but surely there must be some way to make it a pay service. I would love greater access to British television.

At one stage they did have global iplayer which was popular in Australia , a paid service. Though the problem you face is rights and liscenced content in different territories. You will never get a proper iplayer experience outside of Uk

I believe this sketch from the BBC's comedy about themselves, W1A, sums it up.... I know people who work for the beeb and they say it's not far from the truth....

W1A is so close to the true, you would swear it was recorded live at times.
 
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You don't know their reasons. Maybe Apple rejected the app? Maybe Apple TV is not selling enough in the UK to justify such app? Why is the BBC automatically at fault here?

The BBC are definitely at fault, and for nonsensical reasons. They gave a pretty weak excuse for why they wouldn't develop one for the current ATV despite the high demand while simultaneously developing one for the chrome cast.

http://www.imore.com/bbc-comes-clean-why-theres-no-iplayer-apple-tv

The BBC is 100% totally, utterly at fault, and for a reason they're not telling us, because their stated reason is male cow excrement.
 
So you're buying the Apple TV for features that are available elsewhere and don't necessarily require an Apple TV? You can get all the catchup services on many Smart TVs, HTPCs such as the Amazon Fire TV, NVIDEA Shield, the 'old' Apple TV etc. The Now TV box has all the catchup services and can be had for £14.99 or less.

I agree, there's little reason to get the Apple TV, unless you've invested a lot of money on iTunes content. Personally, I think there are much better HTPCs available on the market right now.

If I get one it'll be for the same reason I always buy Apple products - simply the best user interface. Once it has all the apps I need I have little doubt it'll be the best way to access them.
 
You can stream BBC iPlayer to the existing ATV from your phone, iPad or Mac so there isn't really a pressing need for an app. Having one would be good but it's not an essential
 
The BBC are definitely at fault, and for nonsensical reasons. They gave a pretty weak excuse for why they wouldn't develop one for the current ATV despite the high demand while simultaneously developing one for the chrome cast.

http://www.imore.com/bbc-comes-clean-why-theres-no-iplayer-apple-tv

The BBC is 100% totally, utterly at fault, and for a reason they're not telling us, because their stated reason is male cow excrement.

Yep, definitely bull poo. Just because something is a limited market doesn't mean you shouldn't do it. The new Samsung TVs changed their OS this year to Tizen which would have requireda rewrite or a port of their existing app. There was a BBC iPlayer app very quickly on them.

However, my TV has been almost unused for well over a year now. Just sits there for when I need to AirPlay something. I have a FireTV for my bedroom TV that knocks spots off the TV for functionality and content and I have Netflix, Plex and Amazon Prime Video available directly on main my TV and two of those apps provide 4K content. Can't see me ever getting an TV again if I'm honest.
 
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Better a "TV tax" as you put it than the rubbish that passes for broadcast TV in the states. At least our broadcast TV is thoroughly excellent, and on the BBC without ads in addition. To put it in perspective, because everyone (almost) pays the BBC subscription it only costs about £12 per month. Sky on the other hand, that produces virtually no original programming, is typically in the region of £30+ per month. I know which model I prefer!

No argument here! I don't even have a cable subscription. I get all my stuff from live streams and primewire :)
 
. Can't see me ever getting an TV again if I'm honest.
You just stated the reason yourself, the truth is Apple TV is not a hit in the us, and certainly not a hit in the uk. Developing an app means they need to hire developers for Apple TV and support it, it simply might not be worth it

Samsung is the world's #1 tv manufacturer, so if they change of course I player will change
 
I want BBC make iPlayer app Apple TV. I keep see just AirPlay comment. That useless for me cos if AirPlay there no subtitles. Can only watch on iPad or iPhone or Mac but can't AirPlay Apple TV. If BBC finally make app then I finally can watch on TV.
 
Better a "TV tax" as you put it than the rubbish that passes for broadcast TV in the states. At least our broadcast TV is thoroughly excellent......

Apple fan boys I'm used to but a BBC fanboy - I like it.

Why anyone would want to subject themselves to content from overtly biased, champagne socialist, liberalist state propaganda is beyond me.

Mostly agree - there are some great programmes but the level of utter drivel is on the increase - Mountain Goats (a Scottish sit com so bad I cried) and From Darkness (yet another check list based piece of crap - troubled cop with a past / an unsolved murder / did they shag / what about the kids / oh that senior cop seems dodgy / haunting music / staring at shoes a lot / needless long journeys). You also forgot that all the presenters are now bleeding heart apologists - if someone so much as farts on a live show the presenters are contractually obliged to halt whatever is being discussed to apologise in case anyone was offended - then it requires a continuity announcer at the end of the show to give a number in case anyone was affected by the fart. And don't start me on Radio presenters, nothing short of driving rusty meathooks through their craniums would shut some of them up - "thank you caller for getting halfway through this incredibly touching piece on domestic violence but I need to cut you off as there might be a wicket at the cricket that our listeners could not possible wait an extra ten seconds to hear about'

Yep for every 'Mighty Bush' there was a 'F*$k off I'm a Hairy Woman' and for every David Attenborough there's a Nicky Campbell
 
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The BBC are definitely at fault, and for nonsensical reasons. They gave a pretty weak excuse for why they wouldn't develop one for the current ATV despite the high demand while simultaneously developing one for the chrome cast.

http://www.imore.com/bbc-comes-clean-why-theres-no-iplayer-apple-tv

The BBC is 100% totally, utterly at fault, and for a reason they're not telling us, because their stated reason is male cow excrement.

companies have limited budgets and resources . Do you think the BBC would jump at apples announcement and find budget from nowhere to develop an app? No that's not how the real world works.

Apple also shares the blame for dragging it feet with the ATV for so long . Why would BBC support a device which Apple considers a hobby device. I'm sure when apple takes the ATV as a serious stream , so will the others.

Most people I know ditched thier ATVs, cause the other offerings on the market were far superior.
 
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I understand that the British pay for the BBC through their television tax, and do not expect that they would give their American cousins access to iPlayer without charge, but surely there must be some way to make it a pay service. I would love greater access to British television.
There was a subscription-based Global iPlayer app for iOS for a couple of years, with a mix of (some) current and (mostly) archive BBC content. It was killed off this year.
 
Has anyone mentioned BBC iPlayer works fine if you just stream it from your iPhone/iPad to the Apple TV using Airplay.

The BBC have always been weird with iPlayer though. It is available on Sky, but is massively cut down.
 
They should go subscription then, funny how reluctant they are to give people a choice instead of forcing everyone.

Not up to the BBC to do that, it would be part of the Charter that the Government draws for funding and conduct of the BBC.
With people moving from traditional linear TV, it seems logical that a subscription model will be inevitable, but not for a few years.
 
companies have limited budgets and resources . Do you think the BBC would jump at apples announcement and find budget from nowhere to develop an app? No that's not how the real world works.

Apple also shares the blame for dragging it feet with the ATV for so long . Why would BBC support a device which Apple considers a hobby device. I'm sure when apple takes the ATV as a serious stream , so will the others.

Most people I know ditched thier ATVs, cause the other offerings on the market were far superior.

It took two developers 9 hours to code a prototype and the current iPlayer on iOS is going to share a large amount of source code with any hypothetical new ATV app.

The reason the BBC stated that there was no app currently wasn't because of a lack of resources (they have a full iOS dev team, for example) but because the ATV "only works with one device" (?? I do not know what they mean here - only one TV? Only one computer? Only one remote?) yet somehow the Chromecast wasn't subject to these restrictions.

The new Apple TV runs iOS so not supporting it is an active decision to avoid it, since if you have an app on the iPad (which they do), having an app on the Apple TV will be comparatively little work, especially a content consumption app like iPlayer.
 
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