BBC Launches Online Video Service

Calling the launch of iPlayer a milestone equal to that of the arrival of color television, the BBC has launched its online video service which offers viewers downloads of their favorite shows.  Others aren't so convinced. With a limited number of initial signups allowed, and a late arrival to the market, some are criticizing the BBC's offering as too little too late.The BBC began the iPlayer project in 2003 in a format known as iMP (Integrated Media Player), which some believe they should have stuck with. "At the time, it was remarkably innovative. For the BBC to use peer-to-peer technology was revolutionary," said Simon Perry, editor of online magazine Digital Lifestyles. "If it had just launched it then it could have blown the whole broadcast world away. Who knows what the impact would have been if it had come out before the rise of YouTube," he said.According to media market analysis firm Screen Digest, online TV services in the UK are on the verge of rapid growth. It estimates that the 2006 numbers of 520 million streamed pieces of content will jump to over 2 billion by 2011. The majority of this content is in the form of free-to-view media, a market that the BBC currently dominates in the UK. Link: BBC iPlayer News source: BBC News Read full story...

 


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