BBC iPlayer on the Mac
Recently the BBC have launched the iPlayer. This is a service which allows people to watch TV programs or listen to radio shows from that last 7 days again on their computer as many times as they like. That is unless they have a Mac.
This is because the DRM they use is a Microsoft thing and so will not work on the OS X platform. I suppose this is not such a big deal because if you are running a modern Mac you may have a copy of windows installed and you can use that to run the iPlayer. The BBC have also made the programs available to stream online so that any flash enabled browser can show them.
So what’s the big issue, am I just a mac fanboy crying because they have ignored my beloved computer. No! I do however find it amusing that the BBC decided to rip of the ‘i’ naming convention for their player and then not fully support the mac platform.
A Solution?
In setting up this system the BBC required some way of delivering content to computer users and limiting the length of time that the file was available or usable. They chose the Microsoft DRM method like Channel 4 and its 4 on demand service (another non mac service). What I think might have been a better option was to use iTunes. This is an application that I would guess is on the majority of macs even if the owners don’t use it. It also has a built in content delivery system and pretty good DRM. Content can also be viewed on iPods, iPhones and Apple TV with no extra work. It also plays nicely with Windows.
Now this nearly came to fruition yesterday when BBC World programs became available for purchase on the iTunes music store. I say nearly because only a handful of shows are available and you have to pay for them.
Now I guess that it is not as strait forward as it sounds to get Apple to put a load of video content on iTunes and then give it away for free (even for a limited period of 7 days a program). Their will be costs and by implementing their own system the BBC can keep a tighter grip on things. I just feel that they missed a great opportunity.
Mac users are not alone in this either because the iPlayer does not work on Linux and surprisingly Vista (yes the Microsoft Windows one!). It is not all bad news however because the BBC has been ordered to make the iPlayer multi platform and that the flash streaming alternative that they currently offer is not good enough.
Should be interesting to see how they finally sort this out.
Update
An article on the Register here indicates that the BBC will soon make the iPlayer available on the iPhone and the iPod Touch. This means they will have to provide another method of serving the programs rather that streaming flash video because neither of these devices support flash.
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