Government Backs BBC On iPlayer Fiasco September 09, 2007
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You may have heard that there’s a big stink surrounding the BBC’s iPlayer video on demand service, largely because Windows users are catered for immediately while Linux and Mac users will have to wait 'up to' six months.
There is an online petition against this decision which now stands at more than 16,000 signatures. The government has made its first statement on the kerfuffle and, well, it’s pretty much washing its hands of this mini-timebomb. Here’s what the official statement said:
The Government set up the BBC Trust to represent the interests of licence fee payers, and to ensure good governance of the BBC.
The BBC Trust has responsibility for ensuring that the correct degree of scrutiny is given to all proposals from the BBC Executive for new services (such as the iPlayer) and any significant changes to existing services. To fulfill this duty, the Trust conducted a Public Value Test on the BBC Executive’s proposals to launch new on-demand services, including BBC iPlayer.
This included a public consultation and a market impact assessment by Ofcom. In the case of the iPlayer, following the consultation, the Trust noted the strong public demand for the service to be available on a variety of operating systems.
The BBC Trust made it a condition of approval for the BBC’s on-demand services that the iPlayer is available to users of a range of operating systems, and has given a commitment that it will ensure that the BBC meets this demand as soon as possible.
They will measure the BBC’s progress on this every six months and publish the findings.
As you can see, it’s little more than a summary of the BBC Trust’s job description. For those affected by iPlayer’s technical shortfalls, it’s a kick in the teeth, while for Windows users [not Vista], it’s business as usual.-Martin Lynch
Editor and Contributor | Martin Lynch
Contributor | Tamlin Magee
Comments
Make that Windows users *using IE*.
...err still doesnt work on Vista so dont give such a generally sweeping statement
"Make that Windows users *using IE*."
Both of them, Bill G. and Steve B.?
"The Government set up the BBC Trust to represent the interests of licence fee payers, and to ensure good governance of the BBC"
Big mistake for the BBC to go with their own player. This will come back to haunt them. To be a worldwide player they have to concentrate on content creation not delivery systems. Its like I wanna make a film but I have to build a television station first.
Obviously the BBC main interest is to keep the huge bloated beaurocracy in business.