Why iPlayer?

Satisfy the box set binge watch urges with a huge range on offer, from essential drama, comedy and entertainment to Sir David Attenborough and everything in-between.

• The most popular programmes on a particular channel.

• Programmes recommended just for you.

• Dramas, including The Capture and Pose.

• Comedy including Not Going Out, Inside No. 9 and Fleabag.

• Documentaries including The Americas with Simon Reeve and Seven Worlds, One Planet.

• Entertainment shows including RuPaul’s Drag Race UK, The Apprentice, Strictly Come Dancing and Dragon’s Den.

• Sport including Rugby League, The Women’s Football Show and American Football.

• Travel including Around the World In 80 Days and Great Railway Journeys.

• Children’s programmes including Waffle the Wonder Dog.

Quite a formidable list isn’t it?

Should satisfy most television binge-watchers right?

Well, you’d have thought so.

Actually, that’s only just a tiny selection of what’s available on one of the most well-known but least listed of streaming services, namely BBC iPlayer.

Search for lists of the most popular streaming services and you’ll usually find the most common results are:

• Netflix
• Hulu
• Amazon Prime Video
• Playstation Vue
• Sling Orange
• Crackle
• HBO GO
• HBO NOW
• Twitch
• Vevo
• AppleTV+
• Sky Store
• Now TV
• TalkTalk TV
• Wuaki TV…

… however, you won’t often find BBC’s iPlayer listed among well-known streaming services.

Why?

Who knows?

Let’s take a closer look at the BBC’s iPlayer shall we?

iPlayer is available on a wide range of devices (including smartphones) and its services are delivered to UK based viewers and with no built in commercial advertising.

Although iPlayer is available via other television platforms such as 3View, BT Vision, Freeview, Sky and Roku, it’s technically a “free” service. However, viewing BBC TV catch-up or BBC TV on demand programmes in the UK without a TV licence is against the law.

BBC’s iPlayer launched on the 25th December 2007 following a period of Beta testing and by April the following year, iPlayer accounted for about 5% of internet traffic in the UK.

However, in recent years following the rise in popularity of other streaming services (particularly Netflix), for some reason iPlayer doesn’t feature much in the list of favourite streamers for square-eyed television fans.

During its history, iPlayer has gone through many changes and improvements not only with regards to its look and GUI, but also in its available content.

Five years ago, BBC iPlayer had 40% of the streaming market, but recently this has dipped to below 15% and this happened even before other streaming platforms such as Apple TV+ came along and took a bite from its users’ numbers.

Originally, iPlayer offered catch-up of the last 7 days of programming, but in August 2019, Ofcom (the UK’s communications regulator) gave the BBC permission to increase the amount of time that content remains available on iPlayer from 30 days to a year.

There are big revamps in the pipeline as BBC iPlayer fights back against the new(ish) kids on the block, such as Netflix.

Don’t worry, this blog isn’t a comparison between various streaming services and BBC’s iPlayer. Instead, it’s a look at some of the goodies which iPlayer has and will hopefully persuade some of you that iPlayer is worth adding to your list of streaming sites.

It All Adds Up.

Have a surf around iPlayer and you’re bound to come across programmes that catch your attention and that you’ll want to watch. Keep looking around and you’ll find more.

Just when are you going to watch all these programmes and how do you make a list of all the goodies that you’ve found?

Easy, simply add them to your “Watch later” list for later viewing.

As you do this and work your way through your chosen programmes, iPlayer’s algorithms kick in nicely and you’ll be recommended other programmes that you might like according to your viewing habits.

Still not convinced?

Take a look at the A-Z index at this link and just the A’s alone will be several pages.

Quite a formidable list isn’t it?”

To make it easy for those of us who like to geek-out with help files and “how-to’s”, comprehensive help pages can be found via https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/help .

Downloading.

Prefer to download instead of adding to your “Watch later” list?

No problem.

Once you’ve installed the BBC iPlayer Downloads app, you’re good to go.

Simply download your selected programme and watch at your time-shifted leisure.

Compression seems adequate, with an average of 1/3 of a gigabyte per half hour programme.

For those in slow-internet areas, watching a download means no buffering from any web traffic.

Accessibility.

Subtitles are available for on-demand programmes (and downloads where available) on the following versions of BBC iPlayer:

• BBC iPlayer app for mobiles and tablets on Amazon Fire, Android and iOS
• BBC iPlayer website on PCs and Macs
• BBC iPlayer website on mobile and tablet browsers on Amazon Fire, Androidand iOS
• Most smart TVs
• Freesat G2
• Virgin Media TiVo
• YouView
• BT Vision
• Chromecast (black & white subtitles only)
• Games consoles With Sky on Demand & Apple TV (4th Generation) to
follow

Audio described programmes are available to stream but not to download on all versions of BBC iPlayer (including desktop, tablet, mobile and connected TV devices) with the exception of Sky.

Audio described programmes are sometimes broadcast at a slightly later date than their original counterpart but are still available for a full 30-day period.

Signed programmes are available on all versions of BBC iPlayer. Like audio described programmes, they’re often broadcast a few days later than the original but are also available for 30 days on BBC iPlayer.

Need more help with accessibility?  Comprehensive help pages can be found at https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/help/faqs/accessibility

As mentioned above, there are imminent re-vamps in the pipeline which no doubt will add some zest to an already great streaming service. A service that warrants a little more recognition.

 

© Ray Knight Casting – 2019
For more information about Ray Knight Casting, please visit
www.rayknight.co.uk

 

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