Is this the future of Television?

[Vanhalen 0]

Yeah, I know its only for the UK at the minute, but it could be licenced out, what do people think of the general idea? And, we pay for the licence fee as a form of tax, so it would be an addon to existing TV services, not cost extra.

 

From broadcast.co.uk

 

The finest technology wizards at the BBC have been working for almost two years on a gizmo called the interactive Media Player (or iMP) that will allow licence-fee payers to watch BBC programmes at a time and place of their choosing. And it's not too fanciful to suggest that they could hold the future of the corporation in their hands. If that sounds a touch over-dramatic, consider this. BSkyB chief executive James Murdoch has bet his reputation on pledging that at least 2.5 million subscribers will have Sky Plus hard-disk recorders by the end of the decade, dramatically changing the way they watch TV.

 

At the same time Wanadoo, BT and others are poised to invest tens of millions in delivering video-on-demand services to the 4.7m broadband homes in the UK. And, geeky as it may sound, the networked home is no longer science fiction but mainstream fact. Within a couple of years, wi-fi will provide the low-cost means of bridging the divide between PC and TV, or set-top box and broadband connection, in millions of homes.

 

Whether you accept Murdoch Jnr's argument that "storage trumps bandwidth" or agree with the ISPs that the delivery of TV over high-speed internet lines will triumph in the long term, one thing is clear: linear TV is, sooner or later, on the way out.

 

Recently, I had my first glimpse of the BBC's response to these trends. Together with the Creative Archive, announced this time last year by the then director general Greg Dyke as a vast public archive of BBC footage, the iMP sits at the heart of the corporation's strategy for the decade that will be covered by the next charter settlement.

 

 

The iMP player is based on the successful BBC radio player but is even easier to use. A simple electronic programme guide lists all the BBC TV and radio shows scheduled in the previous seven days and all those coming up in the next week.

 

At the click of a button, the user can download any programme that has already been aired or mark a forthcoming show for download as soon as it is broadcast. Most people will use it this way - marking future shows for download in the way they might once have ringed programmes in the Radio Times and then coming back to their PC to find them ready to watch.

 

The really clever stuff is the technology that lies behind the service. Using an enclosed, legal version of the peer-to-peer principle popularised by the likes of Kazaa, the corporation hopes to avoid overburdening its own servers, which would end up costing a small fortune. Over a normal broadband connection, the BBC estimates that it would take about 24 minutes to download a half-hour show in VHS quality. These speeds, and the quality, will increase as the cost of high-speed access comes down.

 

If the opening episode of a lauded comedy or drama passed you by, no longer would you need to slope away from the water-cooler in shame. And if you're a particular fan, you can "series link" a show to record every episode. This move to retrospective viewing is just one of a number of huge, if subtle, shifts that technology like iMP could bring about. The device allows you to search by genre and interest area. In time, you'll also be able to tag anything on particular topics.

 

Central to iMP is the BBC's "anytime, anyplace, anywhere" philosophy. The idea being that you can download shows to a portable device - be it a mobile phone, laptop computer or one of the so-called "video iPods" starting to emerge. The notion of thousands of people sitting on the train catching up on their previous night's viewing may seem fanciful - until you look around and notice how many people are already fiddling with their mobiles, watching DVDs on their laptop or listening to their iPod on the way to work.

 

The benefits of such technology are obvious for the BBC and the viewer. But the potential challenges are more complex. For a start, the BBC's determination to pour resources into projects such as this is bound to cause further consternation among rivals.

 

They worry that the BBC's superior resources will enable it to build a technological lead that will end up siphoning off their viewers. Sensibly, new media chief Ashley Highfield has moved to head off criticism by insisting that other broadcasters are welcome to come on board. Then there is the danger that it could further widen the digital divide. If this service is only available to those with broadband, what of those who can't afford it on top of the licence fee?

 

There could also be commercial issues. Will people be as keen to purchase DVDs of their favourite shows if they can tap into anything from the previous week at will? And what happens if some enterprising hacker finds a way around the digital rights management? These questions will take on added significance if BBC Worldwide is sold off, in full or in part, at the end of its review. And they could be more pressing than you think. I was told that the launch of iMP, already deep into technical trials, could be just nine months away.

[k thx 0]

I already have this.

 

It's called "Suprnova"

[Jobber of the Week 0]

Sounds like video on demand meets distributed networking.

 

It's almost guaranteed to have DRM anyway.

[Positively Kanyon 0]

I already have this.

 

It's called "Suprnova"

HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

 

Yeah, I have Suprnova too. As long as that exists, I don't need Tivo or "iMP" as far as I'm concerned. But still, it sounds like an interesting concept.