The BBC is exploring plans to make its proposed iPlayer directly available on television screens and considering options for co-operating with other broadcasters. Ashley Highfield, their director of future media and technology, hinted at the possibilities during a Broadcasting Press Guild lunch at a London restaurant.
The BBC is exploring plans to make its proposed iPlayer directly available on television screens and considering options for co-operating with other broadcasters. Ashley Highfield, their director of future media and technology, hinted at the possibilities during a Broadcasting Press Guild lunch at a London restaurant.
He revealed that the BBC was exploring the possibility of a hybrid broadcast and broadband-enabled set-top box. However, he stressed that the pilot project, which aims to bridge the gap between the worlds of the personal computer and the television, was still under consideration.
The BBC Trust has yet to finally ratify plans for the iPlayer, which will initially only be available on the Microsoft Windows platform. This is likely to be a formality as it has already given provisional approval, subject to certain limitations.
Last year, Red Bee Media, the former BBC subsidiary that is likely to be managing the delivery of material to the proposed iPlayer, floated plans to support a hybrid set-top box from French company Netgem. Coincidentally, perhaps, Netgem already has a hybrid set-top box that retails under the iPlayer brand name.
BT has launched its own BT Vision set-top box, based on Microsoft software, which could theoretically support the BBC service. Other operators, including Virgin Media, Tiscali, Orange, and Sky, also have plans to provide broadband services.
The BBC Trust has already said that the corporation should make its material available to all significant parties on a non-discriminatory basis.
Ashley Highfield said that the BBC would not want to damage its brand by having third parties cherry pick material. “The objective is to try to get the best service on every platform,” he said.
The problem for viewers is that while all the major broadcasters in the United Kingdom will be offering their programmes over broadband, they all want to maintain their own branded portals, requiring users to maintain multiple accounts and download separate software packages.
Ashley raised the possibility of a unified offering of programming from several broadcasters. He said that the BBC had talked to other broadcasters about the possibility of such interoperability. He said that it was important for the BBC to have its own product but that “doesn’t preclude creating a one-stop-shop.”
This could be possible because other media players launched by broadcasters in the UK to date use the same peer-to-peer distribution system and Microsoft Windows Media digital rights management systems. Indeed, they all use the same software from Kontiki, a Verisign company, and have been built by the same company, ioko.
www.bbc.co.uk
www.broadcastingpressguild.org
www.kontiki.com
www.ioko.com