Download Monkey

Who's it from?

The iPlayer streaming and download service is from good old Auntie Beeb. It's built on the Kontiki Peer to Peer platform (also used by Sky Anytime and 4OD) and paid for out of your licence fee - which is why it's "free" to UK households. ("Make sure you go to settings and turn off Allow programmes to be shared when you exit Download Manager. This saves on your upload allowance" - King Kong, from the forums).

Where can i find it?

www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer

What does it offer?

A selection of BBC programming broadcast in the last seven days. The real gems here are entertainment and comedy based, with a large amount of children's programming. Also incorporates BBC Radio "Listen Again" service. A lot like the BBC, surprisingly.

So?

First up, lets look at the streaming video side of things. Just a reminder, streaming is the service that allows you to watch a video in your browser without downloading any additional software. Think YouTube.

Initial reaction? The site is decked out in the HMV brand regulation black and pink now the de facto colour scheme for, well just about anything. A slight case of trying too hard to be down with the kids? Knee-jerk cynicism aside, the layout is intuitive: pick a programme that looks interesting, click to select it, click to play, click to see it full screen it - and voila, high quality streaming programs.

There's no need to sign up, which is always a bonus, but it is restricted to a UK only audience, thanks to those pesky rights issues (or you could argue that as people outside the UK don't pay anything for it, maybe they shouldn't get it for free..?).

Speed and Quality

There are some slight slowdown issues, even though I'm on a hyperfast broadband connection from the future. So anyone on basic 1mbps speeds can expect their viewing experience to resemble bad stop-frame animation unless you allow it to buffer for ten minutes, thus negating the concept of streaming video. It's not just your broadband speed though. Remember this is based on a peer to peer network system so quality it will depend on exactly where on this vast network your PC is taking the file from - and how popular that show is and how many people are also currenly online streaming it to their PC.

Network issues aside, the picture quality is pretty decent on the small screen, but blow it up to full screen and the Top Gear presenters look like pinky blobs. Ok, make that more like pinky blobs that usual. But lower quality is the price you pay for instant gratification. Don't get me wrong though - this looks a lot nicer than anything you'll find on YouTube.

Another downside is that you do have to sit through an overly long BBC ident (10 -15 seconds). The thinking behind this escapes me as it appears five times on screen before the video even begins. Don't worry beeb - we know it's your service, you can stop reminding us. I said you can stop reminding us. In case you forgot, we don't need reminders. Annoying isn't it...

The download service itself is incredibly easy to install and use. Because I'm a bit anal about these thing, from first click to complete installation it took one minute and forty seconds. The same cannot be said for the actual download speed. For a thirty minute program, it takes around two hours. Hardly the lightning fast service it's been made out to be. Compared to the larger and more dubious file sharing bitorrent systems available out there, it's almost like going back to dial-up. (The download version does not work on Windows XP Pro 64bit -  users will have to use the web based player which is ok but not ideal..." - NaughtyDrunkenMonkey, from the forums)

Eventually, the program is downloaded (Mitchell and Webb since you asked...) It plays through Windows Media Player, and I am impressed. Nice hi-res image and optional subtitles. Good work BBC. I've now got seven days to enjoy my download (actually thirty days to play it and seven days to finish it or watch it again once it's first been played.)

While Mac users can enjoy the stremaing, only Windows users can actually download anything. The FAQs on the iPlayer site explain all this, but who reads those first? It's all to do with wrapping up programmes in digital rights management (DRM) software so that us users can't just rip it off and keep it forever or make copies for friends.

The actual programming available is excellent, as you would expect with the BBC. If you like the BBC's recent output then you'll like the iPlayer. The decision to use an On Demand service as simply a catch up tool and not show anything from the illustrious BBC archive is a strange one. I would really like to see some Attenborough documentaries or recent Doctor Who available here, the flagship programming the channels are built on, but according to the About page - plans are in the works to make these shows available in the near future. Which is ace.

Download Monkey's Conclusion...

All in all, a very decent system. Streaming in browser is always preferable to any kind of download - its instant gratification! But once the download is done, the quality is great and it does look excellent. Whatever it's shortcomings (and they are few), you can't underestimate what the BBC have done here. They've introduced millions of people with computers and broadband to the idea of instant 7-Day catch-up TV for free, instantly creating a whole new market for online video. And that can't be a bad thing at all.

BBC iPlayer Review by VonTurbo

April 2008