iPlayer, the BBC online ‘catch-up’ service, is a remarkable success because it seems to be used by a wide range of people and not just ‘nerds’ as I suspected. Whilst it isn’t perfect, still not permitting Mac or Windows downloads for example, I think for the typical user it is completely fit for purpose.
The iPlayer website is extremely simple to use (I haven’t used the software since the beta due to my conversion to OS X). You simply search to find the show you’re after or browse through all of last week’s television to have it play back to you through a Flash video player. I expected the BBC, like most traditional media organisation, to stream things through WMV or, in true Beeb-fashion, a Real file. Utilising Flash, an almost universally accessible media, was a fantastic decision because it is much more efficient and less intimidating!
iPlayer is so popular, ISPs are claiming it is straining their bandwidth but how have the BBC deployed it so well?
Firstly, they started with a small beta which builds hype and interest in iPlayer amongst nerds and the traditional media. As the beta ended and iPlayer became public, the BBC ran adverts and included ‘view this on iPlayer’ on the credits of television shows. Even though this wasn’t too intimidating or ‘in your face’, it definitely made an impact! The BBC being the BBC also attracted the interest of newspapers who also covered iPlayer and stories such as the ISP bandwidth and iPlayer being hacked raise interest!
So hats off to the BBC for making iPlayer, at least their streaming service, so fantastic. Heck, even a paper newspaper admits it’s a success!
