| pauldavies83 |
11-02-2011 20:52 |
Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2011) Vol. I.
Quote:
Originally Posted by TheDon
(Post 35172526)
Did you not see the uproar when iplayer was windows only?
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Yes, I was one of the uproarers :)
Quote:
Originally Posted by TheDon
(Post 35172526)
They had to make it multi-platform due to their service obligations.
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But the multi-platform implementation has been achieved via a third party (Adobe) - using this logic they should be providing content to Sky via their Anytime+ service, but they are not. Their service obligations only apply in commercially viable situations - the best deal for the majority of licence fee payers. Virgin's ~4m TV customers do not represent the majority of licence fee payers. In fact, Sky's 10m customers are more representative in their majority.
Quote:
Originally Posted by TheDon
(Post 35172526)
Having a platform up and working, and then withdrawing from it to promote their own version is entirely against their service obligations.
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If it is not commercially viable, it will be withdrawn. And rightly so.
Recent BBC Trust steer is that no further money should be spent on bespoke versions of iPlayer. Now the Android and iPad apps are out the door, I suspect that will be it and all funds are ploughed into the web version.
Quote:
Originally Posted by TheDon
(Post 35172526)
They are obliged to provide content to ALL license fee payers, where it is technically possible. It's technically possible for them to provide vod on VM, they've proven this by having iplayer on there, therefore they HAVE to continue to offer it.
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But what are the terms of supply for the content - do the BBC have to pay money to VM for this arrangement? How much does it cost the BBC operationally to send and encode the streams to VM - bearing in mind it is not in the same format as that streamed by the web iPlayer?
Imagine a scenario where the BBC decide maintaing this custom implementation is no longer viable. They would be well within their rights to remove it, because the content would still be freely available via the web iPlayer.
I wouldn't take anything for granted (other than BBC One/Two), and a freely available iPlayer. Anything else is a bonus. |
