Aunty squirts serendipity into TV apps

Agreed

And if they could stop using my license fee to incessantly advertise - for that is what it is - Twitter, that'd be nice too.

why downloads/installations?

Surely they are able to tell what type of iPlayer installation is playing the content? Whether it is on a tv, or pc or mobile device.

So these figures could easily be the growth in usage, not just installation.

Whilst the Reg do often headline grab

Here Andrew is just reporting what the New Media Chief at the BBC has said. If he said this conversationally then it's hardly Andrew's fault there isn't more qualifying data, but it is still news that this guy rates tablets only as second to PC's even if there is no unambiguous qualifying data. It's news simply because of who has said it. But yes it would be nice to get the underlying data. It's probably backed up by the numbers because these kind of BBC execs live by the numbers.

Not quite

Since the license doesn't actually apply to all tvs (just all tvs which are actively used to receive transmissions - those which are not used in that way are exempt) I doubt they'll manage to push the internet one through.

Even if they do we'll have a little warning before-hand, since they'll have to get the license to apply to televisions which aren't used for transmissions first. Then I'm sure someone'll be setting up an ISP which specifically doesn't provide the iPlayer.

Not that I wouldn't like to see them wiped out of course.

They could just add a paywall to the live iplayer stream.

That's if they actually bother - whilst I do watch a lot online that's usually because SWMBO is watching some godawful melodramatic drivel on the other side. I don't think TV is going away anytime soon.

If Nigel Mansell comes over my Gaff

And wheelspins over my lawn, churning up my grass, I'd say "OI NIGEL, NO !"

(in joke for those who remember it)

Que?

The licence already applies to computers receiving live streams.

http://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/check-if-you-need-one/topics/technology--devices-and-online-top8/

Long live the Beeb

BBC? Propaganda? Nevar!

The BBC is a perfectly unbiased source of news. Absolutely. There is no agenda anywhere whatsoever. The BBC produces news entirely independantly of any human interaction at all, and as such is utterly flawless.

And in other news, a tax on all forms of telecommunications has been decided to be a really good idea!

I'm not sure your interpreting the assertion correctly Jedidiah

It's not about how many tv's and tablets you have in your house. It's about media consumption. Tablets are very effectively competing for what is called entertainment time. It's in that context they are becoming or indeed have already become the "second tv." There are now many market research reports backing this up. So it's not that the tablet is being propped up somewhere and being used like it's a TV, it's that people are getting their entertainment through tablets, which includes a multitude of media including video.

Just because you can't see it, doesn't make it untrue

I just look at my kids, iPad is definitely their second television, in fact, some days it's their only television ... and if it's not that, it's a laptop.

"If you are well off then a tablet is going to be your 4th or 5th TV", I think you'll find there's an inverse relationship between wealth and size and number of televisions in a household. ;)

The claims have good foundation

Tablet growth is phenomenal. The iPad alone is the fastest selling consumer device in history, bar the Kinnect before this last Christmas. But the difference being, accepting expected seasonal variation, tablet sales are continuing to ramp up and the rate of increase will be sustained. They are by far the biggest earning. By the end of this year it is predicted there will be as many iPads sold as xBoxes over from it's launch up to today (and that for a device costing significantly more). And up to 68 million in 2012. And that's just iPad. With Android and the rest you can near enough double those figures.

http://www.gartner.com/it/page.jsp?id=1626414

http://broadstuff.com/archives/2480-Cord-Withering-and-The-iPad-as-Driver-for-OTT-TV-Adoption.html

The rate of iPlayer usage amongst tablet users is far higher than with PCs - can't find the citation for that one now, but I can guarantee it's true.

Guess it depends on your "circles"

I don't know many households without an iPad -- friends and family, all got 'em, and sometimes more than one.

@ ironic move

The licence fee is paid by UK TV-watchers, not overseas ones, so it's perfectly reasonable for the Beeb to restrict access from outside the UK.

Ah, the joy of VPNs..

"I can confirm that the BBC censors some online content, no matter how benign, to foreign IP addresses"

Damn, you just discovered why I have a linux VM hosted in the UK :-). It's not actually for iBBC stuff, it's more to stop those stupid ads on BBC News. I find it irritating to be sold life insurance before images of a major disaster are shown. Call me strange, but I think it's inappropriate..

amen to that

the most interesting part of this story is the sneaky link to the curtis blog at the end. Bravo