The BBC has signed a major agreement with Adobe systems that will see the iPlayer catch-up TV service available to users of the Apple and Linux platforms before the end of the year. The corporation will use the Adobe Flash Player that has played a significant roll in the development of YouTube. The BBC says the strategic relationship will also allow it to provide a single consistent user experience for the majority of streamed video and audio content.
When the BBC Trust gave the go ahead for the iPlayer in April there was criticism that the BBC was too reliant on Microsoft Windows and the Open Source Consortium (OSC) threatened to take the matter to the European Competition Commission.
“It is important to ensure that BBC iPlayer is available on as many platforms as possible. It will offer our audiences increased flexibility as to how and when they consume our content, both live and on-demand,” said Erik Huggers, BBC Future Media and Technology Group controller, who spent the ten years prior to joining the corporation with Microsoft.
The BBC is planning a consumer marketing launch at Christmas, when full downloading and streaming services will be available. Currently 400 hours of television programmes are available from the past seven days to be stored for up to 30 days.
Separately, the BBC has signed a deal with Wi-Fi operator The Cloud that will make its content available for free at Wi-Fi hotspots across the UK. Users will be able to access the content directly by clicking on the BBC logo located on The Cloud’s landing page.
