Well done BBC.

homer_j · Apr 18, 2007

I think there was a link on here a while ago to petition against the BBC not using technologies compatible with Macs.

Anyway, looks like someone has listened and I can't wait...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6568163.stm

Looks like hours of fun reliving all my favourite programmes.

BIG D 04 · Apr 18, 2007

Yea that is very good news, can't wait for that.

fleurya · Apr 18, 2007

Will I be able to download my favorite Ab Fab episodes?

BIG D 04 · Apr 18, 2007

Just been reading through this and although it will be made available to Mac Owner's, it appears as if the Windows PC will see the first taste of it.

The BBC said it planned to offer the service first on computers running the Windows operating system and then on cable TV and other platforms such as Apple Macs, media centre PCs and smart handheld devices, such as mobiles or PDAs.

knightlie · Apr 18, 2007

I'm glad of that. I would happily have cancelled my TV license over that issue, as I only ever turn the thing on for Doctor Who. Having to wait is a bit annoying, but as long as they provide the service, I don't mind. Let the Windows users find the bugs first.

MikeYMS · Apr 18, 2007

knightlie said:
I'm glad of that. I would happily have cancelled my TV license over that issue, as I only ever turn the thing on for Doctor Who. Having to wait is a bit annoying, but as long as they provide the service, I don't mind. Let the Windows users find the bugs first.

Well SOME of us know what's good on Television, don't we Knight?

Brown Study · Apr 18, 2007

Been reading about this on another site. The material to be offered by the BBC likely wouldn't be available to anyone who doesn't reside in the U.K. because they must buy the yearly TV licence. A lot of stuff on the BBC site isn't available elsewhere. But maybe the BBC has learned from iTunes and will sell it.

NanoBite · Apr 18, 2007

knightlie said:
I would happily have cancelled my TV license over that issue, as I only ever turn the thing on for Doctor Who.

I keep forgetting that in Britain one has to have a license to watch TV. That is wrong IMHO :radioacti .

iRye · Apr 18, 2007

They didn't need to insult Apple IMO

knightlie · Apr 19, 2007

Pulse-8 said:
I keep forgetting that in Britain one has to have a license to watch TV. That is wrong IMHO :radioacti .

No advertisements and *MUCH* higher quality than commercial channels. The day the license fee is scrapped will be the day I stop watching TV altogether.

knightlie · Apr 19, 2007

MikeYMS said:
Well SOME of us know what's good on Television, don't we Knight?

Oh yes!

gilesjuk · Apr 19, 2007

I don't understand the BBC, they made their own open source codec called Dirac for this reason a while ago. So why are they now using something else?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/opensource/projects/dirac/

They announced the archive would be made available about 4 or 5 years ago, what has taken so long?

Adam · Apr 19, 2007

knightlie said:
No advertisements and *MUCH* higher quality than commercial channels. The day the license fee is scrapped will be the day I stop watching TV altogether.

Here here to all of that!

christm · Apr 19, 2007

saw that this morning

about time. lets hope others follow.

yogi · Apr 19, 2007

In Switzerland, there was a fresh bar set on how many commercials could be aired during an hour. Thanks to this limitiation, no private channels in Switzerland can survive, leaving us with 6 national broadcasters. All other programming comes from German, Austrian, French and Italian broadcasters as well as all the other satelite stuff.

IMO this is good. Our national channel has so much money from the license fees and their quality is top-notch. Heck, the other night I though we'd landed in the future when a hsot on a lifestyle & opinion show had a Minority Report style whiteboard where opinions from viewers appeared as dots, just like in Digg.com's SWARM tool.

Darker Times · Apr 19, 2007

knightlie said:
No advertisements and *MUCH* higher quality than commercial channels. The day the license fee is scrapped will be the day I stop watching TV altogether.

I third that.

I think it is great that the BBC are making programmes available in this way. And I think it is "just' that WE, the license payer get the chance to have it. We have paid for the archives of the BBC over the last 50 odd years and by doing so have dictated the quality of the programmes made - Ok, there have been some non starters in the past, but overall the quality of the BBC and it's innovatory approach to television has stood the test of time, and made it a world leader.
Not that I think it should be a UK resident service only, but it will be nice to be the first in the queue for a change.

knightlie · Apr 19, 2007

I have always had a lot of respect for the BBC - much of their content doesn't appeal to me, but the quality of it can't be faulted. Watching Sky TV for any length of time makes me want to slap puppies.

It's ironic when people complain about "their license fee being wasted" (as £12 per month of it) on things they don't like, while paying three times the amount of the TV license for advertisements on Sky.

Back on topic, I think they've been to-ing and fro-ing for some time about how to go about this, which is why it's taken so long with so many false starts.

Brown Study · Apr 19, 2007

knightlie said:
It's ironic when people complain about "their license fee being wasted" (as £12 per month of it) on things they don't like, while paying three times the amount of the TV license for advertisements on Sky.

How much does a licence cost? £12 a month is a portion?

Darker Times · Apr 19, 2007

The license fee is £135.50 per year or Free when you reach 75 years of age.
Sky Tv starts at £15.00 per month for the very basic package and rises to over £40.00 per month for the full package.

knightlie · Apr 19, 2007

Darker Times said:
The license fee is £135.50 per year or Free when you reach 75 years of age.
Sky Tv starts at £15.00 per month for the very basic package and rises to over £40.00 per month for the full package.

True, but how many people buy the lowest Sky package? Most get Sky for sports, so I'd suspect the average cost is well above the license fee, which costs me about £12-13 per month by direct debit.

Hey, I'll be able to spend that on beer and sweets when I reach 75. Neat.