BBC vows to make six iPlayer-only films in next two years

The BBC has vowed to make six online-only short films over the next two years, that will live online service rather than being broadcast on TV.

The films themselves will be drama-based, and will be streamed exclusively over the Beeb's popular iPlayer catch-up service, viewable on all manner of gadgets from tablets, smart phones, smart tellies and laptops.

"Audiences will be able to discover, share and enjoy these dramas whenever and wherever they chose," the BBC's Hilary Salmon stated. It's not clear when the short films will air, but as they've just been commissioned we could be waiting a little while.

The move is a joint venture between BBC Three and BBC Drama, so I wouldn't be surprised if the films themselves are focused on those perennially pesky young people that the Beeb's third channel is aimed at.

The BBC's decision to produce streaming-only video follows subscriber service Netflix's release of House of Cards, a high-profile TV show that's only available online via the red-hued service.

It's less unusual for the BBC to make streaming-only TV of course, as it's already in the business of producing programmes. The Beeb's plot to "showcase more exclusive content" on iPlayer is more evidence however that television is increasingly moving online.

Unlike Netflix, the BBC allows iPlayer programmes to be downloaded, so if you have a compatible device like a laptop or iPhone, you could store these upcoming mini-movies to watch offline. Android devices are yet to get offline downloads, sadly.

[Source: CNET]

Olympic opener tops iPlayer as mobile viewing skyrockets

iPlayer viewer numbers were higher than ever in 2012, the BBC boasts, with a huge boost in traffic coming from smart phone and tablet owners.

The London 2012 Olympic opening ceremony was the most-viewed programme last year, pulling in a whopping 3.3 million pairs of eyeballs. Smug car-a-thon Top Gear was a close second with 2.8 million views, while angular national treasure Benedict Cumberbatch attracted 2.5 million streams with Sherlock.

Divulging the stats behind its streaming service, the Beeb says it witnessed a 177 per cent jump in the number of viewers using smart phones and tablets -- a quarter of iPlayer's total streams.

36.5 billion minutes of programming were transmitted through iPlayer, the BBC says, with a total of 2.32 billion TV and radio programme requests. 

iPlayer recently added the ability to download programmes to your mobile gadget for offline viewing -- if you're using an iPhone, iPod touch or iPad that is. The experiment seems to have worked, as 10.8 million shows were downloaded to Apple's shiny devices following the launch of downloadable programmes in September.

That's tooth-grinding news for Android fans, who have been waiting not-so-patiently for the offline-viewing feature to arrive on Google's platform. Last year I spoke to iPlayer big cheese Daniel Danker, who cited fragmentation -- the issue that there are too many screen sizes, pixel resolutions and processor types to make Android development easy -- as one reason fans had been left waiting.

[Source: CNET]

BBC launches iPlayer Radio: a separate radio-only mobile app and web UI

No one can accuse the BBC of neglecting radio in its quest for streaming nirvana -- not when the number of radio listeners on iPlayer has shot up 56 percent in a year (and 300 percent on tablets). Nevertheless, from tomorrow morning, iPhone users will find a brand new way to listen to their favorite content: a dedicated radio app with a spinning dial which -- compared to the regular iPlayer app -- will put much greater emphasis on live shows rather than catch-up. There'll also be mobile-friendly features like an alarm clock which will wake you up to your choice of show, reminders for shows you just can't miss, and the ability to identify current and recently-played songs at a glance. The app will reach Android too, as soon as some Flash-related difficulties have been ironed out, and its alarm function will benefit from slightly better multi-tasking on Google's OS, so you won't have to leave the app open before you fall asleep. If you don't want to wait or if you're outside the UK, check out the desktop iPlayer at the source link, or the gallery below, and you'll see just what the Corporation's philosophy about treating radio differently -- rather than as "TV minus video" -- actually looks like.

[Source: Engadget]

BBC iPlayer for iOS gets Retina display support for iPad

The BBC has just finished what was probably the best coverage of the Olympic games in the world, but the corporation is not slowing down. Today the BBC released an update to its wildly popular BBC iPlayer app for iOS.

The major feature improvement in this update is support for the new iPad's Retina display. Other changes include improved video performance for better playback, bug fixes and "general tidying, so you'll notice even smoother performance," and more Voice Over controls for better accessibility.

BBC iPlayer version 1.3.2 is a free download from the UK App Store. Now let's just hope BBC and Apple can agree to get iPlayer on the Apple TV.

[Source: TUAW]