BBC need to make bolder decisions
May 14th, 2007
I read (and subsequently participated in) an interesting debate on the Guardian site today. The first was around the issue of the BBC Trust stifling their ability to launch a leading edge on-demand media player. Opting to use Windows Media Player / Microsoft DRM technology and Kontiki Delivery manager for the ‘iPlayer‘ that they’re soon to launch could be a devastatingly bad move for them; Channel 4 launched their 4oD service at the end of last year based upon this cocktail and it’s not a great experience to use. For a start, I use a mac (millions of us do) and so I can’t download and watch Ugly Betty (or anything else) from them (even if I’m willing to pay 99p for the privilege). It’s a PC-only service, which is what the BBC will be offering.
Whilst Apple have demonstrated with seeming ease that DRM encrypted media can be deployed to macs and PCs with exactly the same user-experience, Microsoft have no interest in delivering content to non-windows users. Apple have even gone one step further and finally managed to convince several Media giants that DRM is no longer necessary. So why is the BBC, world media pioneer, opting for a second rate, single platform solution for their eagerly awaiting (long suffering) license fee payers?