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iPlayer

BBC Red Button reprieve

The BBC has reviewed its decision to bring an end to its interactive Red Button TV text services. In November 2019, the Corporation said it planned to remove the text and data element of the service as a result of financial pressures and the significant technical effort and cost of retaining the service, which would […]

October 1, 2020By Colin Mann

Lance Armstrong doc on iPlayer

Lance, a two-part documentary about one of sport’s most controversial figures, Lance Armstrong, is now available on the BBC iPlayer, and will be broadcast on BBC Two at a later date. Acquired from ESPN, who earlier this year were responsible for Michael Jordan docu-series The Last Dance, the documentary covers Armstrong’s remarkable rise to the […]

September 21, 2020

iPlayer sees 4.8bn requests in 12 months

The BBC’s annual report, covering April 2019 – March 2020, shows the BBC remains the most used media organisation in the UK, with 41 million people per day on average using it last year. The 90 per cent of the UK population using the BBC each week rose to 94 per cent in March this […]

September 16, 2020

New DG ‘BBC has no inalienable right to exist’

Tim Davie, the BBC’s new director general, has said he doesn’t support any switch from the licence fee to a subscription model. In his first speech since taking over, Davie said “For the avoidance of doubt, I do not want a subscription BBC that serves the few. We could make a decent business out of […]

September 4, 2020

Battlestar Galactica coming to iPlayer

The BBC has acquired celebrated sci-fi series Battlestar Galactica from NBCUniversal Global Distribution and is bringing it to BBC iPlayer as a box set. Originally broadcast between 2004 and 2009, every episode of the acclaimed show will be available to watch on iPlayer from September 5th. The series will also begin being broadcast on BBC […]

August 27, 2020

BBC Director: “BBC One fuels iPlayer growth”

Speaking at the 2020 Virtual Edinburgh Television Festival, Charlotte Moore, Director of BBC Content, said: “2020 has been unprecedented, and while the pandemic has had a devastating impact on so many, it has also highlighted the power of television and the valuable role that BBC One plays in people’s lives. She continued: “BBC One has […]

August 25, 2020

BBC News: “Heading for 1 bulletin a day as social takes over”

Fran Unsworth, the BBC’s head of news, has said the number of traditional TV bulletins will likely be cut over the next few years as more people consume news online. In an interview with The Daily Telegraph, Unsworth said she thought there might only be one bulletin a day. Asked whether the News at Ten […]

August 20, 2020

BBC celebrates Reading & Leeds Festival

The BBC will celebrate the legacy of Reading and Leeds Festival with a weekend of live music and entertainment from August 28th to 30th when this year’s festival was due to take place. BBC Four, iPlayer, BBC Sounds, BBC Music Introducing, BBC Radio 1, BBC Radio 6 Music and BBC Radio 1Xtra will be joining […]

August 13, 2020

Ofcom: Lockdown doubles SVoD screen time

A surge in screen time during lockdown saw UK adults spend 40 per cent of their waking day watching TV and online video services, broadcast regulator Ofcom has found in its annual study of the nation’s media habits. People spend

August 5, 2020

iPlayer requests up 47%

A record-breaking number of viewers turned to BBC iPlayer in the first half of 2020, with 3.1 billion requests to stream programmes, up by 47 per cent on the previous year. April-June also marks a new best-ever quarter for iPlayer with 1.6 billion requests, an increase of more than half (59 per cent) on the […]

August 5, 2020