Today BBC Worldwide launch a global iPlayer service that will allow viewers with iPads from outside of the UK to subscribe and watch content in a similar scheme to Hulu and Netflix. This player is first being launched in 11 European countries (Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, The Republic of Ireland, The Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and Switzerland) with the US, Canada and Australia to follow later this year. So what will the service contain and what will it cost?
For Europe the iPlayer will have some limited free content which will be supported by commercials and sponsorship but the key to this service is subscription plans. These will be monthly at €6.99 (about $10) and yearly at €49.99 (about $70), though when the plan hits the US the cost of both Netflix and Hulu have been taken into consideration so expect it to be around $7.99 a month. The iPlayer is free in the UK but this is due to the licence fee that UK households must pay if they watch television. The global version of the player does feature a couple of functions that are missing from the UK version (and which UK users wish the app had). These are the ability to to use the player with both 3G and Wi-Fi (in the UK you can only use Wi-Fi) and being able to download content to watch later when you are offline.
Current and past content will be featured; you will be able to watch shows from the past month as well as from the last 50-60 years. The player when it launches today has at least 1500 hours of content and the team of editors who have been hired to increase this will be adding approximately 100 hours of programming a month. This team will also be collating themed collections including organising Doctor Who episodes by each actor who has played the lead role as well, as one that features Dalek only episodes. One goal that BBC Worldwide is looking to hit is to adjust the player to local demand and BBC.com managing director Luke Bradley-Jones has said that:
"We're not trying to compete against a Netflix or a Hulu. This has to be tailored and hand-crafted, so we can create a tone of voice."
What they are trying to portray with the content that will be available from today is a "best-of-British proposition" which will include some non-BBC produced and commissioned shows such as ITV's Primeval and Channel 4's Misfits and The Naked Chef.
Two big questions that have been asked of this player is why is it only available on the iPad and why is it taking longer to launch in North America? First of all the iPad is currently the dominator in the tablet market with nearly 25 million sales worldwide. Bradley-Jones also explains that they have a great relationship with Apple and that the player will be more of a success if they concentrate on one device/platform for the initial release. The hope is of course to make this a multi-platform player but it is understandable why they are focusing on the market leader in their test year. The issues regarding the US launch are legal ones, Bradley-Jones says on this matter:
"The rights picture for the US is a little bit more complicated. The nature of the agreements with our rights partners are different, and the windows across our existing business are older than they are in Europe. From our side, we have to jump through a few more of those commercial and legal hoops. We could have launched in the US with a product this week, but there would have been a few too many missing parts."
It seems that the launch of this product is one that BBC Worldwide do not want to get wrong and so they are proceeding with caution and care. The player in the US will not be looking to replace distribution agreements with iTunes and Netflix so there will still be some element of choice when watching BBC product.
Will you be interested in getting the iPlayer? Let us know your thoughts on this launch in the comments below.
I wonder if they will do the same thing with Wii BBC iPlayer… This would be pretty awesome.