Peer 2 Peer Revolution

[Abandon]

From the guardian:

BBC invests in a world of endless repeats

Corporation begins trial of programme download technology that could revolutionise the way we watch TV

Owen Gibson, media correspondent

Tuesday May 17, 2005

The Guardian

Five thousand households are to become willing guinea pigs for a new experiment that the BBC expects to revolutionise the way we watch television.

Randomly drawn from applicants around the country, with the only stipulation being that they have high-speed internet access, they will be the first to experience the BBC's so-called interactive Media Player, or iMP.

The corporation will move a step closer to delivering what it calls "iTunes for the broadcast industry" later this year, launching a public trial of iMP, which allows viewers to download any show from the previous week that they may have missed.

Yesterday's announcement by the BBC comes at a time when broadcasters, telecom companies and hardware manufacturers are pouring hundreds of millions of pounds into defining the way we will watch television in the next decade.

While live sporting events, popular reality shows and soaps are still liable to attract big audiences, broadcasters expect viewers to "time shift" more and more programmes and watch them "on demand".

The media industry has been talking about convergence - the idea that all entertainment, from television to music to movies, will be delivered to a single box in the living room and relayed around the house - since the dotcom boom of the late 1990s.

But several factors have recently coalesced to make the vision a more likely reality. There are now over seven million UK households connected to high-speed broadband lines, while companies such as Microsoft are having some success with new devices that merge the home computer with plasma screen TVs.

Telecom giants such as BT and France Telecom will also later this year launch new initiatives to link the internet to the TV through a set-top box. A company called HomeChoice already offers a similar service in the London area.

Meanwhile, the success of digital music players such as the iPod, the continuing evolution of the mobile phone and the likely success of handheld devices such as Sony's new PSP have convinced broadcasters that viewers in the future will also download TV shows to portable players to watch on the move.

The BBC has invested heavily in developing content and services that will appeal to online viewers in an effort to be ahead of the game. Executives reason that whether they view content on their computer screen, web-connected TV or a portable device, they'll want to access BBC shows "any time, any place, anywhere".

And as competition has increased, from multichannel TV and now the web, the corporation recognises the need to widen the distribution of its content in order to make a convincing argument for the licence fee.

The BBC said that it would use the iMP trial to assess the demand for different types of programmes, with soaps such as EastEnders, dramas such as Hustle and Spooks and comedies such as Little Britain expected to be among the most popular.

The phenomenon of illegally downloading programmes over the internet hit the headlines earlier this year when a leaked copy of the return of Doctor Who was made available using BitTorrent technology.

For some time, the BBC has been investigating ways of legally delivering programmes online but has faced significant problems in clearing the idea with rights holders such as Hollywood studios, acting unions and independent production companies.

The pilot scheme, initially limited to 5,000 people and running from September to December, will look to iron out any outstanding rights issues and resolve teething difficulties with the technology ahead of a full launch next year.

Using the iMP, households involved in the trial from around the UK will be able to search through more than 190 hours of TV shows, 310 radio programmes, regional programming and some feature films. After seven days, the content will be automatically deleted from their computer.

The BBC hopes that iMP will become the standard way of downloading television programmes over the internet in the same way as Apple's iTunes has become the favoured means of downloading music for iPod owners.

Unlike personal video recorders such as Sky Plus, viewers will not have to signal their chosen programmes in advance, allowing critically acclaimed shows to benefit retrospectively from a favourable review or word of mouth.

Already the BBC's interactive radio player, which uses similar technology to that proposed for iMP, adds millions to the radio division's listening figures. Some shows, such as Radio 1's Essential Selection, have as many "catch up" listeners online as they do when broadcast live.

Ashley Highfield, the BBC's director of new media and technology, said: "iMP could just be the iTunes for the broadcast industry, enabling our audience to access our TV and radio programmes on their terms, any time, any place, any how - Martini media.

"We'll see what sort of programmes appeal in this new world and how people search, sort, snack and savour our content in the broadband world."

The BBC - which is developing iMP alongside another major project known as the Creative Archive, which aims to offer a huge library of classic shows for download - will try to keep costs down by using "peer-to-peer" technology to distribute the programmes.

Instead of storing the material itself, those who sign up to use the service will share the weight of the downloads among themselves. Inbuilt digital rights management software is designed to ensure that users cannot keep the programmes for longer than seven days, transfer them to disk or send them to friends.

Initially, the service will feature programmes from all the BBC's television and radio services but it is also in talks with other broadcasters about making the iMP a gateway to other channels.

Channel 4, which recently launched a broadband-only documentary channel and a new music website, is understood to be particularly interested in taking part.

Search engines such as Google and Yahoo! are also investing millions in developing "video search" tools that allow web users to trawl through and download all the audio-visual content on the internet.

Commercial rivals have already voiced fears that the BBC's substantial investment in iMP and the Creative Archive could damage their chances of making money from the concept.

The corporation said that the trial would also look at the possible commercial impact of the services, enabling the BBC governors to decide whether it should be given a full launch.

[Firefoxx]

The big problem is that TV revenues come from advertising, which means commercials. With this type of distribution, it's hard to ensure that advertising gets to the consumer (it's already hard in the US with TiVo). The consumer can easily edit/hack out any attempts at advertising if it's downloaded to their computer. As for the digital rights management, that will be cracked sooner or later, with emphasis on "sooner".

[Thomas_Merton]

The big problem is that TV revenues come from advertising, which means commercials.  With this type of distribution, it's hard to ensure that advertising gets to the consumer (it's already hard in the US with TiVo).  The consumer can easily edit/hack out any attempts at advertising if it's downloaded to their computer.  As for the digital rights management, that will be cracked sooner or later, with emphasis on "sooner".

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The BBC is not a commercial television company in the UK.

It is financed from a licence fee paid by all households in the UK that have a television set.

Edited May 17, 2005 by Thomas_Merton

[Abandon]

The big problem is that TV revenues come from advertising, which means commercials.  With this type of distribution, it's hard to ensure that advertising gets to the consumer (it's already hard in the US with TiVo).  The consumer can easily edit/hack out any attempts at advertising if it's downloaded to their computer.  As for the digital rights management, that will be cracked sooner or later, with emphasis on "sooner".

Right - the BBC (aka Beeb) has no advertising. However, if it is a case of simply watching regular tv programs, I would not really mind adverts that were not invasive while the tv program downloads.

As for the rights.... hope it is sooner ... but anyway - if these things are free to DL and watch, then there's not much point in collecting them and recording. I would guess the programs would be copied about as much as regular tv programs are taped on VHS - which is to say, not that many poeple are really that interested in keeping tv programs. And not much point putting them out on P2P platforms illegally, when the Beeb is giving it for free anyway.

It was interesting that the system they are looking at involves the downloader Uploading to other peers, much like bit torrent. Means that TRUE would likely be blocking it ...

[Firefoxx]

Ah, I forgot about the weird way the BBC operated, ala NHK... but that's not the norm, is it? So I doubt that it will be spreading anytime toon, for the above reasons.

[meadish_sweetball]

In most European countries there is non-commercial TV paid by license fees.

My friends from countries like Thailand and the US find it a refreshing change from having to endure the hacked-up nature of commercial channels.

Of course, for the commercial networks, it is not as interesting.