BBC redoubles its Wii efforts with dedicated iPlayer channel
By Donald Melanson 
posted Nov 14th 2009 7:17AM
posted Nov 14th 2009 7:17AM
The BBC's iPlayer streaming video / radio service has been available on the Wii in the form of a browser-based app for some time now, but it looks like it's now set to step up its game considerably with a full-fledged iPlayer Wii channel. Launching in the UK on November 18th, the new channel boasts a streamlined, Wii-friendly interface that was apparently the result of extensive testing, and includes a number of other smaller design touches, like some nifty background animations during radio programs, and some use of the Wiimote's rumble feature for added feedback. Best of all, the whole thing's completely free -- now, about that UK-only part...
[Thanks, Lenny]
[Thanks, Lenny]
It's not "completely free", you're paying the TV licence fee.
You don't need a licence for iPlayer - http://iplayerhelp.external.bbc.co.uk/help/about_iplayer/tvlicence - although the fact you're using the Wii on your TV might change that.
"You don't need a licence for iPlayer"
You do if you use it to watch shows live as they are being broadcasted - as your link says.
iPlayer does not broadcast any TV live, radio although paid for by the TV license does not require you to pay for one to receive radio if you dont have a TV. The only time you need a TV licence is if you actually have a TV
Ignore that It actualy does so im wrong!
iPlayer does broadcast live, FYI.
@Itchy It does broadcast live TV. It's how I watch all my live TV. If you look at the guide on the left side of the main page and click 'today'. You then just click the program currently airing and you can watch it live. I watched the entire F1 season like this and I also watch Johnathan Ross every week live on iPlayer.
It's worse in Denmark; you HAVE to pay the annual license fee (£240) if you either have:
a) TV (obvious)
b) Computer with internet speed of at least 256 Kb/s (and it's almost impossible to buy 1 Mbit connections)
c) A 3G-enabled phone - they (our national broadcaster) have just launched their first iPhone app.
But even if you don't use any of their services, you still can use them in theory.
Yeah it should be a tax.
yeah you need licence if youve got an internet connection capable of watching tv shows (legaly) and/or a tv and tbh its only £165 a year which the beeb gets all of. so if you work out that theres roughly 25.7 million homes in the uk and assuming they all pay tv licences (which the majoraty do) thats 4240500000 pounds a year (mins Administration costs)
ps didnt put in to billions beacuse brittsh billion and yank billion are different
i would gladly pay the fee (which is really just a yearly tax, right?) to get all the free, high-quality top gear i wanted.
great thing
Must be painful to pay for all that BS propaganda that's on BBC news.
not that it really matters but iPlayer now streams "live" TV! (Just noticed!)
"now, about that UK-only part..."
Never going to change, well at least not under the current funding framework/licensing.
it will maby change but your going to have to payfor it like everyone else
Well, maybe Obama could pass a bill requiring every American household pay a TV Licence fee to the BBC! No, wait a minute, that would require him to first make a decision... ;-)
Isnt it nice having a profitable (bbc worldwide included) public funded broadcaster. You'd think the yanks would have one.
"profitable", they are for 2 billion pounds in the negative, and that's while forcing the entire population to pay them.
It's kind of obligatory after Nintendo's last update completely broke the browser-based version of the iPlayer.
@Itchy Sorry I posted before I saw your 2nd comment.
Are we still dealing with BBC content here.
The BBC is to vibrant media as UK food is to Cuisine
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3171/2968436119_1d40fcef1d.jpg
I presume you're writing from the land of spray-on cheese? In which case, never comment on food related matters again. Ever.
Where is the Best Restaurant in the World? Good olde Blighty.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fat_Duck
Just because it looks nice in the McDonalds Tv advert doesnt make it better than ours.
British cuisine consists of taking the toughest piece of meat you can find and boiling the shit out of it with a side of soggy peas or taking a piece of fish and deep firing it with french fries oh I'm sorry mean 'chips'. I think I'll take good ol' southern BBQ anything over British 'cuisine'.
now playing: life fish
next week: dead fish
If you actually watch the program it is actually quite good IMO...
should that not be
life fish
death fish
if we were being pedantic.
Why is this (excluding the Nintendo Channel) the most modern-looking thing to hit the Wii?
When the BBC do something well, they do it bloody well. All the broadcasters are on a massive cross platform kick at the moment over here.
it's been on the ps3 for ages now, so ha! america...
Not really it hasn't. It just a web based browser which was identical to the Wii's, here's hoping we get an app for it.
Nah, the PS3 thing is just a link that is opened with the PS Browser... you can also do the same with the Wii Internet Channel.
To be fair the 'big screen' site for the iPlayer kind of means an app is not really necessary unless it means getting rid of flash. I guess the only benefit would be making navigation a bit easier.
Wow that almost made me want to boot up the Wii, the lame games sure don't :)
*boots up the PS3 instead*
Yes, what about that UK only thing?!?
I listen to a show every week on Radio 1
*(Fabio & Grooverider - Drum & Bass show:)
and would LOVE to hear it on the Wii...!
Don't understand all the moaning about the licence fee. It may not be optional, but it's well worth the money. And forcing people to pay, while annoying for many, ensures quality. The BBC, while far from perfect, is the single greatest media network in the world.
£11 per month for
TV:
BBC1
BBC2
BBC3
BBC4
BBC HD
BBC NEWS.
Radio:
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 3
BBC Radio 4
5 Live
6 Music
World Service
Lots of regional stations
Plus probably the best news website in the world. iPlayer is just the icing on the cake - watching Life in HD last night was amazing.
Plus its all completely advert free.
It's great value, even if you dont use all off it. Yet some people would rather hand over there hard earned cash to that goon Murdoch for the fine privilege of watching endless adverts. I could understand the moan if it was rubbish, but it's not. The fact that the BBC export more shows than any other network in the world speaks for itself.
'gwd bless the beeb. If i ever left the UK i would seriously miss it :)
Agree 110% :)
Youve actually missed quite a few channels and services there, there are 3 additional channels i know of, CBBC, CBeebies, and BBC Parliment.
And many many many more radios stations with dedicated full time local radio stations and also TV news sections every day.
It is abit of a issue being forced to pay, but it is by far the best network on the panet, especially there news coverage and fatual programming (i think top gear somehow comes under that :-)) there documentarys are second to none and far surpass those of Discovery and National Geographic (which both of course have great content too).
Better still, if you don't want to own a traditional TV and just want to watch iPlayer, you don't even need to pay for the license (provided you don't watch the live streaming)
"The fact that the BBC export more shows than any other network in the world "
Must be one of those republican style fact that are pulled from the ass, truthiness, so let me correct that sentence:
.
"The truthiness that the BBC export more shows than any other network in the world "
As for "the best news site in the world", well I guess you can't be helped and I should stop trying.
One more forgotten....BBC Alba ;-)
And yes, the key term is here absolutely no advertising at all in any of the programmes on TV or on iPlayer. It makes watching things...like the Olympics oh so ever pleasant!
Don't forget that this is available via terrestrial broadcast, as well as on Freesat...free satellite TV.
I can't disagree with you, but as long as the license is a fee (and not a tax) I think it should be optional..
£22 per month in Denmark (DR is the equal to BBC):
DR1 (main)
DR2
DR K (culture & history)
DR Ramasjang (child)
DR Update (news channel)
DR HD
Parlament (sorry but that really is boring)
Regional channels
Radio:
A lot (a lot!) of DAB and FM channels (about 20 + regional channels)
The main website sucks compared to BBC though.
It's just wonderful to see compatibility for Mac, iPhone and Linux.
The BBC's output is great, really great. My only issue is that, as a public service, it should be funded like almost all other public services via the existing progressive tax system (ie with payment proportional to the ability to pay), not via a separate regressive licence fee.
BBC doesn't just double its efforts. It REdoubles them.
Do we know if the channel can be downloaded to/installed on a memory card? ...and whether said card can then be transplanted to a non-UK Wii?
It wouldn't matter, you wouldnt be able to watch the shows it will know you arent in the UK for a start.
Even if it could, the iPlayer service does use many technologies to prevent access from outisde the UK, such as IP checking. So I really doubt just taking the download out of the UK on a memory card would have any effect, as, after all, theres nothing stopping you typing in bbc.co.uk/iplayer in your web browser is there.
even if you had the software on another wii, you'd need to run your internet connection through a proxy as iPlayer refuses content to those outside the UK
Well... we need a similar service here in the USA... I already have Netflix on my PS3, so, I really don't want Netflix on my Wii too. So, a service like this, with different shows would be awesome. Also... the Wii can output at DVD quality (480p)... sure, not as nice as HD, but still looks pretty good.
And also, thanks to the IR Pointer, the interface would be even nice and easy to navigate than both the 360 and PS3 Netflix service.
I really think that TV makers and set-top boxes should start using some kind of infrared remote control, just like the Wii. The navigation would be A LOT better than using buttons.
There's already such a service, it's called bittorrent.
Plus all major networks have their shows on their sites (US only).
I could care less about the article itself I'm actually more entertained by the fact all of these people think they know what they are talking about and want to be taken seriously but 80% of them can't spell "LICENSE" I'm sorry you guys spell it LICENCE LMAO
You know that they're actually 2 different words, and not 2 spellings of the same word, right?
You're complaining about spelling, and you start your post with "I could care less", which is a completely meaningless thing to say. The expression you're looking for is "I couldn't care less". Saying you "could care less" means that you do care, however minutely.
And to add to that particular piece of ignorance: "licence" is how the Brits spell "license".
You should post less, and think more.
It is not that we are stupid, or ignorant. It is that we invented this language called English, and americans changed it...
I believe its one word.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDBzOKHMCa4
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