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BBC's Iplayer usage fails to meet forecasted demand
THE BRITISH BROADCASTING CORPORATION (BBC) has found that its Iplayer service is far less successful than it initially envisaged.
The BBC started developing the Iplayer back in 2005 to deliver on demand television content. Matthew Postgate, controller of research and development at the BBC, talking at the Barlow Memorial Lecture at UCL, said that in 2005 the BBC forecast that by 2015 50 per cent of all television viewing would be on demand or time-shifted. However that demand has failed to materialise.
Postgate said that after six years only six per cent of the population views time-shifted television, accounting for just 10 per cent of all television viewing. The BBC has cut back its earlier 50 per cent forecast, with Postgate saying the expectation that by 2015 20 per cent of all television will be through on-demand, time-shifted services is an "aggressive forecast".
Although Postgate cited figures only for the BBC's own transmissions, his comments will let advertisers breathe a little more easily, as it was thought that time-shifted television viewing would render adverts meaningless. While the BBC doesn't show any adverts in the UK, its large viewing share can provide valuable data over a very large sample for other broadcasters.
Postgate had further words of encouragement, saying that there was a "resilience of linear television viewing" and the BBC needs to "redefine the concept of on-demand television".
The BBC's Iplayer raised the ire of a number of Internet service providers that said it generated extra load on their networks. While Postgate's figures might suggest that ISPs were blowing their claims of network Armageddon out of proportion, others will be questioning whether the BBC spent a lot of money on a system that has failed to meet the BBC's own usage forecasts.
Being fair to the BBC, the 50 per cent forecast it made back in 2005 was very aggressive and Postgate did say that in some age groups Iplayer use was higher and that the six per cent figure was an average among all age groups.
All this goes to show that despite the perceived popularity of Iplayer among technologically savvy users on the web, it still has a long way to go before reaching mainstream acceptance. µ
Tags: Software
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I don't use iPlayer unless I have to because the quality is too poor.
Instead I use a PC based PVR running MythTV.
I never watch adverts, usually because I time shift using the hard disk, and use the skip button at the advertising breaks.
Could be to do with bandwidth. Around here (my house, nearby friends, different ISPs) at "peak" times, iPlayer's a disaster (also youtube etc.) - quality automatically degrades as it realizes there isn't enough bandwidth, until I'd just as well be watching on my phone as on BBC HD ... so you just have to give up.
There are plenty of ways to get iplayer on to your tv, I have both virginmedia and a Boxee Box which both give me HD iplayer content... now if only they made more than a handful of shows that were worth watching on them.
as a BBC content problem. Who wants to use iplayer to watch Cash in Your Attic or other such rubbish?
What about PS3, or in fact any Virgin Media customer??
Surely it has to do with the limited amount of devices which can show iPlayer on the TV in the living room?
You've got the Wii... and some uber-high end TV's.
Most people do not want to watch iPlayer on their 13" Macbook when they can watch something else on their 32" Widescreen TV.
As more and more laptops & tables come with HDMI cables with audio then I'm sure iPlayer usage will go through the roof.
Most people have the TV in their living room, often a large TV set. The computer monitor tends to be smaller & of inferior quality.
Get Iplayer to the TV by default & uhm, then you have the uhm...TV on demand that is available already...