The BBC has confirmed plans to make streaming TV services using its iPlayer software available to the iPhone and iPod touch, “within weeks”.
This will be the first time the broadband TV service has been available beyond PC and Mac computers.
iPlayer availability on the iPhone will be via Wi-Fi only as O2’s EDGE data network is too slow. However, the BBC has a deal with hotspot provider The Cloud to offer free access to bbc.co.uk and iPlayer.
The BBC’s head of digital media technology, Anthony Rose, said the Apple devices would be the first of a wave of devices that people will be able to use to stream BBC shows on the move.
The new iPhone and iPod service means the BBC will transcode TV shows into the MPEG-4-based H.264 standard as well as Flash video format, used by the main web streaming site (FLV, commonly based on the older H.263 codec). Because H.264 is highly-compressed it could
This news follows the broadcaster’s introduction of selected television shows through Apple’s iTunes Store service yesterday and the official launch of Mac supporting streaming services through iPlayer in December.
“We have seen good and consistent growth in the daily consumption of programming and it doesn’t look to be in any way plateauing,” said Ashley Highfield, the director of future media and technology at the BBC.
“While it’s still early days, early indications are that BBC iPlayer is having a significant effect in attracting new users to bbc.co.uk,” he added.
BBC is introducing new features on the BBC iPlayer homepage, including improved navigation options and programme recommendations.
Over 17 million programmes have been streamed or downloaded on demand on BBC iPlayer in the first seven weeks since its marketing launch, according to the latest figures from the BBC, with up to 500,000 views per day.
