BBC launches Wiiiplayer
THE BBC HAS made its Iplayer video player available on the Nintendo Wii’s video download and streaming service.
The BBC's group controller for Future Media and Technology, Erik Huggers, announced the deal with the Japanese games console in a speech he made today at the MipTV-Milia conference in Cannes. He also announced that people could soon be able to access the Iplayer on their television sets.
But as of today, the Iplayer will be available as a first version on Wii’s Internet channel and is still currently in its test phase. The BBC says that it will be releasing several more test versions of the product throughout the year, and that they will be available to UK licence fee payers only.
According to the Beeb’s latest stats, streaming of BBC programmes via the Iplayer is up by 25 per cent from just last month alone, representing 17.2 million downloaded programmes in March 2008. Overall, 42 million programmes have been streamed or downloaded by viewers since the Iplayers launch in December 2007.
April Fools' Day last week generated the busiest ever day for the Iplayer, with the BBC's natural history skit featuring former Monty Python star Terry Jones and flying penguins being accessed nearly 1 million times. The new figures also show that the Alan Sugar reality show “The Apprentice” is the most popular download on the broadband TV catch-up service overall.
Virgin Media has recently said that it will begin offering the Iplayer to its cable TV viewers through a specially branded interface, soon.
The BBC is said to be working to produce a whole host of Iplayer versions for various other game consoles as well as handheld devices. It is already accessible on Apple's iPhone and the iPod Touch, for example.
Unfortunately, the Beeb is still not seeing eye to eye with ISPs over issues about its successful product putting too much strain on their networks. The ISPs insist the BBC should cough up in order to allow the necessary network upgrades that could accommodate the on-demand television service, but the BBC disagrees. µ
L’Inq
BBC
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Why is there a Wii version yet the BBC still ignores Linux users?

Chris
So the license payer who owns an xbox is presumably ok with the fact that they are paying for a service that can only be watched if they go out and buy another console they have no interest in using for anything else?
Linux users can make up their own bbc player, is there a linux one already?

Look at all the good things we have, please don't whinge so much.
Linux users can't make their own BBC player because doing so would involve cracking the DRM which is illegal. Please refrain from commenting on things you clearly have no understanding of.
@Chris

Not really sure what you are complaining about, I watch iPlayer under linux almost everyday, and have done for months since they moved to flash. The only thing you can't do is download the programs on to your hdd, but I hardly see that as crippling. The wii version also does not allow that.
The linux version at least allows full screen - which the wii version doesn't.
I don't understand all these people complaining about iplayer on Linux, I have LINUX on my ASUS Eee PC and iPlayer works just fine with no add on software, it also works fine on Mac.

I guess what you are moaning about is that you can only stream BBC content on Linux and not download, BUT you can only stream on a Wii also.

Andy