BBC’s iPlayer Hopes to Begin Anew with Apple
29 January 2008Apple TV users may soon be able to watch BBC TV shows.
BBC director of future media and technology Ashley Highfield expressed interest in using iPlayer as part of the Apple TV service, as iPlayer now needs no computer and supports download rentals.
“The announcement from MacWorld about the effective relaunch of the Apple TV is encouraging,” said Highfield on BBC’s blog. Apple TV take two and the movie rental service mean “that we can look to getting BBC iPlayer onto this platform too.” BBC’s content on iPlayer is free, but the rights-holders for that content currently require the content to only be available for a limited amount of time. These limitations could be addressed and solved using Apple TV’s new rental model.
With high hopes of being able to jump on the Apple TV train, Highfield seems to have taken a completely different perspective now that the BBC’s product can be involved. In a previous post, Highfield said, “Apple TVs have hardly been flying off the shelves either. When the boss describes one of his products as a ‘hobby’, be warned.” Steve Jobs has been criticized repeatedly for calling Apple TV a hobby and managing it like one. At this year’s CES Bill Gates keynote, Robbie Bach was on stage and said, “At Microsoft, TV is not a hobby.” The remark seemed aimed at Apple.
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