iPlayer - the BBC's Most Underappreciated Product

The iPlayer is the BBC at its best.

Sep 1, 2023

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In a newsletter back in March, I said that “[YouTube] is, quite simply, the biggest social video platform and the second-biggest search engine in the world”. The piece noted the Google-owned service remains the default home for creators and is under no political threat. I ultimately argued that we take YouTube for granted.

When recording an upcoming podcast with Press Gazzette’s Bron Maher, it occurred to me that the BBC’s iPlayer streaming platform is similarly taken for granted. (Fair to say that, unlike YouTube, the BBC is under constant political pressure.) Maher pointed out that the official Warner Brothers Discovery announcement naming Mark Thompson as CNN’s new chairman and CEO highlighted that “he led the development of the BBC iPlayer, the world’s first streaming service from a major broadcaster.” It is not often American firms praise British tech innovations in such a way.

Launched on Christmas Day 2007, the iPlayer still puts many of its competitors clunky alternatives to shame. It is easy to use, has a wide range of content and is available to all BBC license fee payers at no extra cost.

In January this year, the BBC revealed that 2022 had been the best-ever year for the iPlayer. Boosted by the World Cup in Qatar, there were a staggering 7 billion streams on the platform in 2022, 2 billion of which came between October and December. (The World Cup took place in November and December). Overall, there was a 9 per cent increase in streams from 2021. It is rare to have such a widely used product receive so little public praise. The iPlayer also sits at the heart of the BBC’s somewhat controversial plans to revamp its news output.

Culture secretary, Nadine Dorries, who finally departed the House of Commons last week, declared an end to the license fee model in January 2022. The BBC will have to negotiate how it will be funded from 2027. Certainly, there are plenty of people who object to the failure to pay the license fee remaining a criminal offence. “The days of the elderly being threatened with prison sentences and bailiffs knocking on doors are over,” was Dorries’ hyperbolic take. We will have to see which proposals make it through both a General Election and a likely change in government.

As with any major public body, there is plenty to criticise the BBC for. As reporting on The Addition has shown, a steady stream of talent has been leaving the corporation and consolidation to a single news channel has caused huge issues. Defenders of the BBC often praise its high-quality drama and world-class news coverage. The iPlayer is similarly an example of what the BBC can achieve when it is well-led and allowed to innovate. Beware of those who would damage that.