Tag Archives: iplayer

Tablets and mobiles boost BBC iPlayer use

Leave a reply

The BBC has reported a 94 per cent year-on-year surge in the use of its iPlayer TV and radio catch-up service on mobile and tablet devices.

New figures covering the first four months of 2012 show 15 per cent of all programme requests made in April were on tablets or mobiles – some 28 million streamed programmes in a month.

The total number of requests for TV and radio programmes rose 24 per cent year-on-year to 190 million in the period from January to the end of April.

Radio use of the iPlayer was boosted by demand for football coverage on BBC Radio 5Live. Among the most listened-to radio programmes in April were 5Live’s coverage of the Champions League (Barcelona v Chelsea), Premier League (Manchester City v Manchester United) and FA Cup (Liverpool v Everton).

The BBC said it would publish iPlayer statistics on a monthly basis from now on. The report does not include requests for web-only content (such as online news clips) – only requests for full-length programmes which have been transmitted on a TV channel or radio station.

BBC’s iPlayer iPad app to launch this week

2 Replies

The BBC will launch an iPlayer app for Apple’s iPad this Thursday, the corporation’s interactive operations manager Geoff Marshall has announced on Twitter.

Users can browse the catch-up TV and radio service listings using a 3G connection but will need WiFi to watch or listen to programmes.

It will initially be limited to the UK, although the BBC is working on a subscription-based international version for the iPad that is expected to launch this summer.

Times Online: BBC to integrate iPlayer with Facebook and Twitter

Leave a reply

The BBC is planning to link its catch-up TV service with Twitter and Facebook. The new version of the iPlayer will allow viewers to comment and chat about what they are watching without leaving the service. Similar services have been tested for one-off events by other broadcasters using the Facebook Connect tool and by sites such as Livestream, but this is a notable step by the BBC towards internet-connected television.

Full story at this link…

Erik Huggers at last week’s MIP 2008 Conference

1 Reply

This comes from the distant past of last week, but this interview with Erik Huggers, (the man who should be at the forefront of everything technology at the BBC, given his job title) is worth a look and was flagged up on the BBC’s Internet blog yesterday.

Huggers is the BBC’s director of future media and technology and he spoke at last week’s MIP 2008 conference.

In his speech he looked at:

“The challenges facing broadcasters as the pace of change accelerates, and how they must evolve to ensure a consistent experience across all platforms – without compromising quality.”

In the interview below he talks to journalist Kate Bukley.


Erik Huggers, BBC: the MIPCOM 2008 interview from James Martin on Vimeo.