I may have mentioned this before, but I was brought up to be a fairly selective television viewer. I don’t mean in the sense of watching only good, uplifting or critically acclaimed programmes -- hell, I’ve watched my fair share of dross across the years. What I mean is that I grew up in an environment where the TV was never just switched on in order to provide some background noise. In part, I think this was because my mother, for many years, viewed television as an undesirable distraction from keeping a household of husband, four sons, a dog and sundry other pets moving forward.
Every week the Radio Times would be purchased -- and less frequently the TV Times as well, just to check if there was actually anything interesting on ITV -- and every member of the family would take turns to mark out the programmes they wanted to watch. Of course, in those days, that meant you had to be in front of the television or radio when the desired programme was broadcast, but that was how the world was in those days. Talk to some old people if you don’t believe me.
In any case, decades later, my television viewing is, as a consequence, selective; indeed, it’s become increasingly so -- to the extent that I now think it’s a ‘tweet’-able fact if I sit down to watch or listen to a programme as it’s actually broadcast. For, in our modern multi-media world, I have simply taken the selection process to the next level; not only am I extremely selective about what I watch or listen to, I can now schedule the broadcast media to fit in with my life, rather than the other way round.
iPlayer, uPlayer, we all Player!
This is, in large part, thanks to the BBC iPlayer, which celebrates its (mere) second birthday this coming Christmas Day with an average of more than five million unique users a week and more than 80 million ‘requests’ a month.
Of course, the success of the BBC iPlayer shouldn’t actually come as that much of a surprise; quite apart from the service it offers, from the start, it has been heavily 'promoted' across the BBC (particularly alongside ongoing series, where the emphasis has been very much on ‘if you missed the last episode, catch it on...’ It’s also helped that some marketing genius came up with a concise, memorable little slogan: ‘Making the unmissable, unmissable.'
The UK’s other channels have, of course, attempted their own versions, but with the exception of Sky Plus, none have really entered the public conscious to the same degree as the BBC iPlayer -- it may not quite have become a verb to the degree Sky Plus has (“Oh, I’ve Sky Plussed that to watch later,” for example), but I do wonder if there’s actually an argument for the BBC iPlayer to extend its scope to all terrestrial television in the UK, as part of the Corporation’s public broadcast remit. Not that Murdoch television would approve of that; so I doubt that any of the main political parties would dare push that idea through. I mean, not that long ago the Conservative’s culture spokesperson actually said: “The BBC is very good at what it does -- and that’s part of the problem.” Eh? That’s a problem?
iShedule
According to the latest research, the material accessed through the BBC iPlayer does vary depending on which ‘platform’ is being used: Mac and PS3 users, for example, apparently prefer comedy shows such as Mock The Week, while PC and Virgin Media users are more keen on drama, with EastEnders and Waking The Dead proving to be more popular. There are big peaks in usage via mobile phones post 9pm weekdays and on weekend mornings. And the most popular television programme, currently, for download and viewing is Top Gear.
Erik Huggers, the BBC’s Director of Future Media and Technology, said: "These figures show people are making the most of the choice they now have – whether it's watching EastEnders on your PC during your lunch break, listening to Desert Island Discs on the bus or watching Mock The Week in bed, viewing patterns change depending on the time and location of the audience.
"We'll be looking to increase the availability of the BBC iPlayer on new platforms and devices in coming months and are looking towards more success in 2010."
the future
Actually, there’s just one particular platform I’d like to see the BBC iPlayer move on to. Indeed, I’d argue that it’s vital it does so as soon as possible, if only to conform to the Corporation’s public broadcast duty (as well as maintaining its growth, and continuing to provide an alternative to Sky Plus). Computers, game consoles and mobile phones are all very well, but -- coming full circle -- the BBC iPlayer really needs to become accessible through our televisions.
It’s already beginning to happen: through Virgin Media, and the next generation of televisions coming in to the shops. Physically, it might be a relatively short distance between computer and television in most people’s homes, but when that distance is bridged it could inspire the biggest change in television we’ve ever seen.
Assuming I’m still around in 30 years, I’m guessing that I’ll still be able to pick up a copy of the Radio Times in my local newsagent. The difference with the publication will be that it will no longer list the schedules of television channels; instead, it will simply list the content that will be available to stream or download that week, and leave it to us to schedule our own listening and viewing. Bad news for television schedulers, who may have to find another line of work, but great for us.
