|
The BBC has launched an online video service that allows people to download a wide range of television programs for free from the last week. Viewers can choose from 400 hours of programs, between 60 and 70 percent of the total TV output, including hit shows as Planet Earth. The service, at www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer, is free, but is ready in beta mode and for users living in Britain. Here is a step by step guide.
The programs are stored on the computer in what they called BBC iPlayer Library, and they will be deleted after viewing or after 30 days. Copyright protection software prevents the copying of shows. This player only works with Windows XP, Internet Explorer and Windows Media Player 10 (or later). Great compatibility!
Even those limitations, BBC General Manager Mark Thompson said “the arrival of the “on-demand” iPlayer is as important as the first color broadcasts in the 1960s.” Not a word about the new RealPlayer software, which allows you to download streaming video on your computer (including clips of BBC), or VeohTV software.
Certainly, as Reuters says, the growth of the Internet, mobiles and hard-drive recorders that save hours of programs, has destroyed the notion of fixed TV schedules delivered through a TV in the corner of the room. And broadcasters are under pressure to hold on to viewers by letting them watch programs when and where they want.
BBC faces competition from similar video download services provided by Channel 4 and ITV one year ago.
“Our vision is for BBC iPlayer to become a universal service available not just for over the Internet, but also on cable and other TV platforms, and eventually on mobiles and smart handheld devices,” added BBC’s director of future media and technology.
Dan Rayburn, a video streaming expert who writes BusinessOfVideo.com blog, says about this launching:
"The BBC has a long way to go before this becomes a real service and by continuing to talk about how important this is and comparing it to the color TV considering the service is only in beta, has not been tested for scalability, can't support multiple platforms, and can only do downloads, they are setting themselves up for failure in the eyes of customers. You can't promise the word, call it the start of a new revolution for TV and then not deliver an experience that is not even close to the one you say you are going to replace."
CBS aims to spread web content to 400 sites
CBS says its goal is syndicate the network’s content to 400 sites by this fall. The network has already partnered with 24 sites (including TV.com, Slingbox, and Brightcove), has spent aggressively in paid search, and made arrangements with sites like YouRock.com, where anyone can pick up applications and widgets. CBS’s executives say the result has been a huge surge in unique users from 21 million to 134 million a month.
CBS Interactive president Quincy Smith says: “CBS is all about open, non exclusive partnerships. Just CBS.com is not the answer.” Enlightened thinking from CBS.
YouTube let people customize their own player
YouTube has come out with a new feature that let people design their own player. Once the embed code is generated and saved the player, it can be copied and pasted to website or blog. First, you select a color theme for the player, and then the layout.
Another feature launched is YouTube Mobile to watch and upload videos on mobile phones. There is an address, http://m.youtube.com in where there are clips to watch on the go, in streaming. Problem is it doesn’t work: a connection to the server is needed, and it turns out that server indicates time-out. Upload video is via MMS.
Old television, new television: There is room for both
Is TV dead? As many people who only use their computer for video like to say. I don’t think so. The TV and the PC are not the same platforms, showcasing the same contents, or providing the same kind of experience. They offer different experiences, on different devices, on via a closed network, one open. No large screen, no HD on the PC, no personal one-to-one watching, no downloading, on TV.
Despite impressive facts like knowing that every minute six hours of video is uploaded to YouTube service, there is actually a bright future for conventional television, even if audiences will be more fragmented. Much of the TV content does not exist online, and the Internet is not yet ready for TV as we know. What we have here is simply two different media. One-to-one Internet TV is, in my view, the fifth Media.
