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May 31, 2010
The BBC has launched a revamped 3rd generation version of the iPlayer in Beta, coinciding with new proposed guidelines for the distribution of BBC content and the iPlayer service itself. Developments include:
- The updated iPlayer has a new streamlined layout, new content organisation categories and various social and customisation features integrated from Facebook, Twitter and MSN Messenger. The iPlayer update is also designed to make online TV content in general more discoverable.
- The iPlayer will link to other commercial online catch-up services in the UK, namely ITV Player, 4oD, S4C's S4/Clic, Demand Five and SeeSaw - with Sky Player the notable exception - and allow users to search for and bookmark content on those services within iPlayer.
- Under a revised syndication policy submitted to the BBC Trust, the BBC is proposing that iPlayer content should not be made available to third party VOD services on an unbundled basis but only as part of a complete iPlayer-branded offering.
- The Executive is also seeking approval of new guidelines in regards to adapting iPlayer for third party platforms that would prevent 'self-build' versions of the service and set a deployment threshold (100,000 users for technology adjustments; 500,000 users for custom builds) in instances where it will be covering some or all of the costs for the reversioning.
Attempts to productise the iPlayer have come in response to industry demand, with other broadcasters keen to emulate its success as the leading online TV service in the UK. This success has also resulted in requests from consumer electronics manufacturers to offer it via their internet-connectable devices, resulting in the BBC building around 25 different ports to date.
With about a quarter of iPlayer consumption via a device other than a computer, the BBC recognises that hardware partnerships can significantly extend the reach of its online service, but stresses the need to prioritise investment in iterating iPlayer to ensure value for money for licence fee payers, as well as maintain a consistent user experience. The cost of reversioning and overseeing 'self-build' iterations of iPlayer is a growing concern for the public broadcaster and the Trust acknowledged this in December 2009 when it backed the broadcaster's refusal to subsidise a port of iPlayer for IP Vision's hybrid terrestrial/over-the-top set-top box Fetch TV. The deployment quotas for BBC investment and the ban on self-build will make it more difficult for less established platforms to adapt the iPlayer, but the BBC has promised to create standard versions of its service - and be open about the process that determines these - to help mitigate this.
In many respects this update sees the iPlayer evolving from a service into more of a platform. This is an interesting development in the context of the still-pending Project Canvas joint venture given that it involves several of the partners - the free-to-air (FTA) broadcasters and Arqiva - and has the BBC, once again, leading efforts to develop a centralised portal for online TV content. It could have a significant impact on the UK landscape, driving traffic to affiliated services and without them having to surrender a share advertising revenue , as they do with affiliates that 'carry' their catch-up video players, such as YouTube and SeeSaw.
For the latter, it may therefore prove to be a double-edged sword. On the one hand iPlayer integration should help to grow audience for the Arqiva-backed service which, has yet to establish itself as a major destination for TV content; while on the other presents competition for a portal trying to carve a niche by aggregating content be it SeeSaw or YouTube for that matter. Both are affiliates of the 4oD and Demand Five services.
The BBC has long been planning to collaborate with other broadcasters online. Its earlier initiative OpeniPlayer (also known as Project Marquee) included proposals to create a listings site which would link out to online TV services. But as it incorporated plans to license elements of the iPlayer service to other broadcasters, the initiative combined commercial and public service propositions and on those grounds the BBC Trust did not approve it.
The 3rd generation iPlayer has attracted criticism from BSkyB, which claims its reinvention into "an online aggregator of third party content" warrants regulatory review. Sky has already accused the national broadcaster of straying beyond its remit with Canvas, asserting that its focus should be on producing programmes, not developing platforms. The BBC will only be aggregating metadata in iPlayer, not content, but in a sense Sky's concern is justified as there is a risk iPlayer will establish itself as the default EPG for FTA broadcasters' online TV services in UK.
Having said that, the BBC is proposing to decouple linking and metadata provision from broader content syndication regulations in an effort to make the rules less restrictive. This may make it easier for the likes of Sky Player - which already links out to the BBC's catch-up service - to aggregate listings for iPlayer content. However, the BBC's reluctance to syndicate iPlayer content in a disintermediated way will make it much harder for Sky Player from seamlessly integrating BBC catch-up content into its environment in the same way that its traditional TV service does for linear BBC channels.
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