BBC woos online viewers with iPlayer

The BBC has launched its iPlayer web catch-up television application for public beta test applicants.

The service lets users in the United Kingdom download television programs up to seven days following their transmission date before they expire after a 30-day window.

By releasing a public beta of its software application for watching video online, BBC is hoping to win over younger people who are viewing more and more of their content over the internet.

Other broadcasters in the United Kingdom have released video players, but the BBC – which has been trying to transform itself amidst falling viewer numbers – hopes to attract users by making its vast programming archives available globally.

The software iPlayer lets viewers search for and download BBC programs and then watch them later within a certain time-limit, a concept called on-demand viewing. Later, the BBC will allow people to watch streamed programs in real time as they are shown on television.

The BBC hopes to launch a commercial version of the iPlayer next year in the United States and Australia. Overseas users will have to pay to watch advertisement-free BBC content, or choose to view content with advertisements for free.

The iPlayer works only with Microsoft Windows XP operating system, which has raised criticism that the BBC spent taxpayer money to support a single vendor and a certain number of users. Users must also have Microsoft Windows Media Player Version 10 or later.

The Open Source Consortium, an 80-member group dedicated to open-source software, has complained to British regulators as well as the BBC Trust over the iPlayer’s operating system limitations, saying it excludes about 25% of computer users.

But the BBC plans to release a version for Apple Inc.’s operating system and for Microsoft’s Vista by the end of 2007.

A spokeswoman for the BBC said she was unsure if a Linux version is planned, but said, “basically, we want to ensure that iPlayer is available on all platforms.”

The BBC plans to create eventually a version for mobile phones and other platforms, which is a part of the broadcaster’s ‘Creative Future’ strategy to expand how it distributes content.

Siemens AG is in charge of the technical infrastructure, such as applying the digital rights licences. The BBC is also using VeriSign Inc.’s Kontiki Broadband Delivery Service software, which uses peer-to-peer technology to download and distribute video.