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BBC to pull all radio services from TuneIn UK
The BBC is becoming pickier about how its many listeners access its award-winning radio programs. TuneIn announced that the British broadcaster was pulling its domestic streams from its service, effective August 30th. The change will only impact UK listeners of live radio streams and won't effect BBC Podcasts. The BBC's departure from TuneIn is just one of many recent actions it's taken this year to control how listeners consume its content. Earlier this year, the BBC left Google's Podcast app and Assistant because the search giant was only directing users to its own listening platform.
BBC iPlayer now hosts all post-revival 'Doctor Who' episodes
Whovians, rejoice: every 'modern' episode of Doctor Who is back on iPlayer. (At least for Brits, anyway.) All of the adventures starring Christopher Eccleston, David Tennant, Matt Smith and Peter Capaldi as the humanoid and usually heartwarming alien are included in the re-release. They're being offered as a sort of warm-up for series 11, which will debut this fall with Jodie Whittaker as the iconic Time Lord. You'll need to hurry, though, if you want to watch everything before the show comes back.
Brits (still) can't stream BBC iPlayer abroad
While the BBC charges £150 a year for a TV licence fee in the UK, the corporation won't offer streaming access to its iPlayer in mainland Europe. The paid-for competition, like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, now follow the EU's digital media portability rules which came into play over the weekend. These let residents watch digital media services in other EU member states as if they were in their home country.
EU confirms UK will lose Netflix 'portability' following Brexit
Thanks to Brexit, UK residents won't be able to access Amazon Video or native Netflix programming when traveling around the EU. Rules just passed to let customers "carry" their copyrights with them while traveling, but that will end next year, as spotted by Politico. Currently, if you live in the UK and visit France, you can only access the French version of Netflix. New EU legislation, however, will allow you to access the library that you would normally find in your home market. Brexit, though, means Brits will lose out on these benefits starting March 29th, 2019.
BBC iPlayer to host a ton of TV box sets this Christmas
Nippy mornings and early sunsets. The British winter is here, bringing with it the perfect weather for TV bingeing. For many, that means Netflix, Now TV and Amazon Video, however this year the BBC is embracing the box set culture too. A huge collection of programming will soon return to iPlayer, including the first three seasons of Peaky Blinders, the Tom Hardy drama Taboo and the Golden Globe-winning Wolf Hall. The BBC is also adding crime hit Line of Duty, Happy Valley and a bunch of modern Sherlock, including season three, four and the 2016 special, The Abominable Bride.
BBC is putting hundreds of classic TV programmes on iPlayer
Over the years, the BBC has amassed an impressive trove of classic TV and radio programming. Accessing it all can be tricky, however, because iPlayer has always been positioned as more of a catchup service. Some series are available permanently, but most, especially older shows, are not. You normally have to buy them digitally, on DVD or Blu-ray, or hope they're accessible somewhere on the BBC website. Not anymore. The BBC is launching a section on iPlayer called 'From the Archive,' which, as the name implies, will be a home for BBC classics. Roughly 450 programmes are available at launch, with more being added "in the coming years."
BBC iPlayer: tips, tricks and other useful features
Researched and written by Nicholas Fearn The BBC has been at the forefront of broadcasting and entertainment since it launched in March 1922. Just over a decade ago, the broadcaster launched iPlayer, which quickly became one of the most popular ways to download and stream TV and radio shows in the UK. Available on a variety of smartphones, tablets, laptops and TVs, the platform allows you to catch-up on the BBC's extensive range of programming. Of course, it's come a long way since its launch in 2007. Not only has the BBC continued to add new shows and channels to iPlayer, the app itself has also undergone numerous redesigns and received new features over the years. More recently, it's placed an emphasis on 4K Ultra HD content, and BBC Three has become a digital-only channel. If you're new to the service or just want to watch the latest episode of Eastenders, here are some tips and tricks to get the most out of the BBC's popular streaming service.
iPlayer will soon require a BBC account
The majority of Brits will soon need a BBC account in order to watch iPlayer, listen to iPlayer Radio and use some of the broadcaster's other services. The BBC has said that registration will move from optional to mandatory within the next few weeks. No formal date has been set because the BBC wants to ensure as many people as possible have been given the opportunity to sign up before it flips the switch, and it's started warning users of the impending change online and within its various apps. The BBC says it's introducing mandatory logins to improve its services and user personalisation, but there's also a secondary motivation: Making sure you're paying your TV licence.
Virgin Media readies itself for the future with the V6 box
After months of teasing, Virgin Media has finally lifted the lid on what it believes will help it move "from cable TV to connected entertainment." At the heart of its new proposition is the Virgin V6, the 4K set-top box we were first introduced to in August, which the company says is specifically "built for apps." It supports a "full deployment" of BBC iPlayer, YouTube, Netflix, Hayu and Vevo, but is also capable of recording six channels at once to its 1TB hard drive (two more than the Sky Q), which can store up to 500 hours of standard-def recordings, or 100 hours of HD content.
BBC iPlayer will require an account starting 'early 2017'
Starting "early" next year, Brits will need a BBC account in order to access iPlayer. The broadcaster says the move is designed to make its services more "tailored" and "personalised," presumably through better curation and recommendations. The BBC already offers an account system, called BBC iD, which comes with a few different benefits such as "favourites" in iPlayer, cross-device pause and resume, and the personalised BBC+ app. A "new sign-in system," said to be more robust and secure, will be launching later this week ahead of the new, mandatory requirement in 2017.
BBC iPlayer will let you 'restart' live shows on your phone
Sometimes you'll race home and boot up BBC iPlayer, only to find that you've missed the start of your favourite show. Fiddlesticks. It's an important week on The Great British Bake Off. Never mind, at least you can press "restart" on a laptop, PC or smart TV, rewinding the programme in an instant. Now, wouldn't it be nice if you could do that on a smartphone too? Well, soon you will. The BBC says the feature is coming to its iOS and Android apps "shortly," complimenting its new pause and rewind buttons.
BBC iPlayer now requires a TV licence following loophole closure
It's been a long time coming, but from today all iPlayer viewers now need to own a TV licence to watch the BBC content. New rules have closed the so-called "iPlayer loophole," which had previously allowed users to get out of paying if they only watched catch-up content. The BBC is in the process of updating the iPlayer website to display a message that will warn users that they must have a licence, similar to the one used on live BBC streams.
BBC+ puts all the BBC's best content in one personalised app
Between news, TV, radio programming and more, the BBC is constantly producing a vast array of content. There's far too much for any one person to consume, and on top of that it's all distributed across various websites, iPlayer and the like. As a public service broadcaster, the BBC is required to accommodate a broad range of interests, and BBC+ -- a new iOS and Android app launching today -- is all about highlighting what's relevant to you, the licence fee payer that funds it all.
BBC launches iPlayer Kids app
Is it just us, or are TV providers starting to forget who pays the bills 'round here? The younger, inexplicably energetic members of the household seem to be getting all the attention of late. Barely a few weeks have passed since Sky debuted its Kids tablet app, and now the BBC is launching iPlayer Kids. Available to download today on tablets and smartphones, the name basically says it all: it's iPlayer, built specifically for sprogs.
BBC Three is now an online-only channel
For sentimentality's sake, we hope you indulged in your pre-bed ritual of catching a cheeky episode of American Dad! on BBC Three last night -- because as of the early hours of this morning, it ceased to exist as a broadcast channel. For the next few weeks, it'll be repurposed to promote BBC Three's new online-only identity before disappearing from your TV's EPG... forever. The switch has been a long time coming, of course, with the BBC setting the ball rolling almost two years ago as part of continued cost-cutting measures. Despite some opposition from the public, the BBC Trust formally approved the broadcaster's plan for an online-only BBC Three late last year, and that transition has concluded today.
iPlayer now lets you search shows from your iOS home screen
Boot up your iPhone or iPad today and you'll notice a fresh BBC iPlayer update in the UK App Store. The latest version adds support for Spotlight search, meaning you can swipe down from the top of your home screen and type in favourites like Doctor Who, Dickensian or Match of the Day. Available episodes should appear right in the feed, making it easier to kick back with some on-demand video. In addition, the BBC has enabled Apple's Handoff feature today, making it easier to pause a programme on one device and pick it up again immediately on another. Nifty.
BBC iPlayer comes to the Apple TV
The new Apple TV has been available for a little over six weeks and there are more than 2,600 apps available. However, dedicated UK apps have been few and far between. Sky's Now TV is on the platform, but we've had to bide our time while the BBC readies its own app. Luckily, that wait is now over. Coming just ahead of the holidays, the new BBC iPlayer app lets you dig into the Beeb's live and on-demand content across all of its channels.
BBC begins phasing out Flash with new HTML5 iPlayer trial
Now that Chrome and Firefox are treating Flash like an unwanted guest, online companies are weighing up whether supporting the browser plugin is worth their time. The BBC currently utilises it for its popular iPlayer service, but it's already working on an alternative. The Beeb announced today that it's launched an open beta for its new HTML5 player, giving you the option to watch your favourite shows from any browser, whether you're using your smartphone (which ties in nicely with its Android beta), tablet or PC.
The BBC is making an iPlayer app just for kids
When the BBC announced a new children's service called iPlay, many people were quick to call it an "iPlayer for kids." That description isn't entirely inaccurate, as it will include some of the broadcaster's child-friendly programming -- but that's on top of educational and creativity tools, as well as content produced by other "trusted organisations." It's an important point of differentiation, because the BBC announced today that it's also working on a dedicated children's version of iPlayer. Details are scarce, but the BBC says it'll be a standalone app that makes it easier for little ones to find their favourite CBBC and CBeebies shows, as well as discover news ones "in a safe environment designed just for them." The move is hardly surprising -- Netflix and YouTube have already released child-friendly versions of their video streaming services, and Sky plans to do the same early next year. iPlayer is incredibly popular in the UK, and essentially free too -- whenever the little ones are starting to get restless, this could be an indispensable app for parents.
BBC iPlayer now lets you pause and resume shows on different devices
BBC iPlayer lets you watch TV shows on almost any device, but until now all of the different apps have felt like pretty siloed experiences. Well, that's soon going to change. An update rolling out this week is adding support for "cross-device resume," which, as the name suggests, lets you drop one device and pick up from where you left off on another. As long as you're signed in with a BBC ID, iPlayer will do the rest and automatically cue up your episodes on other devices. It'll be available on desktop, tablets and smartphones initially, but the BBC says it'll eventually come to set-top boxes and other TV hardware too.
