AppleTV tips for Podcasters

I, and I’m sure everybody else with a Apple podcaster account have just received a series of Tips on making my Video Podcast more usable on the new Apple TV.

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iPlayer Downloads on a Mac?

BBC New Media head, Ashley Highfield, has hinted in a blog post that we may soon see iPlayer downloads made available on the AppleTV using their new rental model.

The post was a follow up to one he made asking users for tips on how to get content from his PC to the television - so he could watch downloads on the big screen. The follow up post was a response to comments on the original - but also included a small throwaway line in the middle.

He was talking about the AppleTV and its improvements and how this could be the idea solution for getting downloaded video content on to a TV without having to mess about with wires and software.

He then went on to say that “This, coupled with Apple’s (long anticipated) move to a rental model, means that we can look to getting BBC iPlayer onto this platform too, as we should be able to use the rental functionality to allow our programmes to be downloaded, free, but retained for a time window, and then erased, as our rightsholders currently insist.”

Exciting stuff and as the rental model also works on Desktop and laptop machines - it could be a way for the BBC to offer iPlayer downloads for the Mac as well as Windows - I wonder whether this would be through a BBC iPlayer section of iTunes or whether the Beeb would be able to get permission to use Fairplay Rental on iPlayer files.

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The missing link

I’ve written quite a lot recently about the iPlayer and the other related catch-up services offered by ITV, Channel 4 and to a MUCH lesser extend five and SKY.

These are all great concepts, giving me the chance to watch almost any show broadcast on that channel for up to a week after broadcast - I’ve used the BBC, ITV and Channel 4 offerings quite a lot - mainly when I forget to Sky+ something or when my wife already has two shows lined up for that time.

But these solutions are never really going to hit mainstream - ok so they’re getting really good numbers - more than a million viewers since Christmas watching around 3.5 million shows - but that doesn’t mean it will hit mainstream.

I’ve spoken to a number of people who have said they’ll never use the iPlayer because they don’t want to sit in front of a small screen watching TV when they’ve got a big screen in their living room for doing that on.

I know a number of people that HAVE already used the service - mainly people bored in an office needing a lunchtime fix - after all it is pretty easy to use - select a show and press play! But I think there are more people out there that would like to use a catch-up service but can’t get their head around it.

These people might have WiFi at home (after all most ISPs offer it as a default set-up option now) but don’t have the computer skills to get the streaming services working OR don’t want to watch on a small screen.

Enter the set-top-box idea.

Basically for the iPlayer and all related products to reach mass appeal it needs to be as easy to use as Freeview or Sky+ - it really needs to be on a set-top-box that plugs into the scart socket of the TV and just works when you turn it on.

But I don’t think for a second the BBC, ITV or any broadcaster should think about building their own box - but if BBC, ITV and Channel 4 released an SDK or similar for their catch-up services to hardware manufacturers it would mean we could start to see boxes with iPlayer streaming built in.

On such box is the newly revamped Apple TV - it would fit the bill (even if it is a bit costly) as it already plays streamed video from You Tube, lets you download directly from the iTunes store and has podcast download support.

An iPlayer menu on the Apple TV could give you access to the iPlayer streaming service, could eventually include the iPlayer download service (maybe with Fairplay DRM) and give you access to all the BBC audio podcasts (and video podcasts when they re-launch them).

To me this would be the real missing link - it would mean I could comfortably sit on the sofa and watch anything from the iPlayer without having to get up to my computer and click on a new video everytime one finishes (I already have video from my computer displayed on the TV but it isn’t ideal).

It’s also probably the only thing that would cause me to spend £200 on the device. But it doesn’t have to be limited to the Apple TV - there’s no reason why the XBox 360 shouldn’t support iPlayer streaming or any other third party device that might come out in future.

In fact there’s no reason why a Freeview box manufacturer couldn’t add WiFi and build in an on-demand menu.

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Kerplunk to go to Five

One of the closest things Britain has to the American news megastar - the god awful Natasha Kerplunk - is to leave the BBC for Five after five years terrorising the BBC.

Finally we can put an end to stories like “There was a lightblub blown in the TV Centre Newsroom for six months - it couldn’t be fixed until Natasha Kaplinsky was available to cut the ribbon that opened the ladder.”

The sharp faced news personality, who seemed to manage to get her mug everywhere, all the time - is to head to Five in 2008 where she will front their main news programme - and in turn probably be EVERYWHERE across five, five life and five US.

In a statement, Kaplinsky said: “After five incredibly rewarding years at the BBC, I found the chance to work with the team at Five too exciting to pass up. Chris Shaw has an unrivalled track record in reinventing television news and I already know how talented Jay Hunt and David Kermode are, having worked with them at the BBC. Five has changed the face of news before, and now they’re going to do it again. I can’t wait to be a part of it.”

She will be replacing Kirsty Young who left Five News to join … the BBC!

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