ISPs have been showing concern for the amount of bandwidth used by online video for some time now. However, the first salvo now seems to have been launched in a war that is likely to get very bloody over the next few years.

Net Neutrality Vs. Costs

Net Neutrality is the idea that all Internet traffic should be treated the same, no matter where it’s coming from, or what it’s being used for. It’s an important tenet for the future of online video because here is a medium that, by its very nature, requires more bandwidth than any other.

Cisco recently estimated that, by 2013, 90 percent of total Web traffic will be from video. This is down to the fact that video uses more data than Web pages, images, or text files. As well as the fact that online video is growing ever more popular, with new services being launched and new viewers discovering the joy of video on demand.

ISPs are not happy with the way things are going. Most, at least in the UK, now offer services with unlimited bandwidth and downloads. More fool them, maybe, but while offering customers these kinds of deals, they are starting to complain about being burdened with the costs of delivering online video.

Continue Reading…

Could an International version of the BBC iPlayer be on the way? Possibly, if rumors of talks happening between Google and the BBC prove to be true. Could this finally be where the international licensing of television programs starts taking the Internet and online video into consideration?

I’ve long argued for the relaxation of international rights licensing in order to open the online video market up. The Web has made the world a much smaller place than ever before and television networks and content providers need to realize this.

Hulu Vs BBC iPlayer

As a Brit, I’ve been frustrated to see Hulu launch in the United States only, with a lot of great content on the service I’d love the chance to watch but cannot due to being resident in the wrong country. In May it emerged that Hulu may be planning to right this wrong by launching a Hulu service for the UK, before potentially rolling out an international service to the rest of Europe and beyond.

In the same way I’m annoyed at not being able to (legally) watch Hulu on my computer, many Americans feel the same way about the BBC iPlayer. I’m banned from watching the likes of Heroes and 24 over the Internet while U.S. citizens are effectively banned from watching Doctor Who, Planet Earth and all the other great BBC-produced content. But maybe not for much longer.

Continue Reading…

YouTube has, for a long time, been the king of short-form content. And despite various pretenders to its crown, this looks likely to remain the case. But what about long-form content? Which is currently the domain of services offering premium content such as Hulu (in the States) and the BBC iPlayer (in the UK).

The Long and Short Of It All

There has been speculation for a long time that youTube is going to roll-out a redesign which focuses more on long-form content such as episodes of TV shows and movies rather than the mostly user-generated short-form content which has been the site’s bread and butter since it began.

The reason for this is purely one of money. As traffic-worthy and entertaining as short-form content is, it rarely makes any money. Mainly because it’s almost all user-generated and unable to be monetized. Whereas long-form videos, premium content acquired through deals with third-party media companies is ripe for monetizing.

More Long-form On Way

YouTube’s efforts to secure long-form content have been patchy so far. It has managed to grab some independent films, and episodes of classic television shows such as Star Trek: The Original Series. But only a fool would think that these alone could turn YouTube into a site as revered and renowned for long-form content as Hulu is.

Continue Reading…

The BBC iPlayer is currently a free service to all those living in the UK. However, that could be about to change, with the BBC considering a range of options to cover the cost of the service, currently not a part of the TV license fee. So, would you pay to use the BBC iPlayer?

The BBC iPlayer

The BBC iPlayer is an astoundingly solid and reliable service which offers all UK residents the chance to watch BBC programming for up to seven days after broadcast. It has gained in popularity massively over the last year or so and is now used by a fair portion of British television viewers.

With that in mind, you’d think that the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) would be happy with the way things are going with its Web strategy. And it is to a certain extent. However, there’s one massive loophole that the BBC, or at least its technology chief Erik Huggers, thinks needs closing. As usual, it comes down to money.

Continue Reading…

The growth in online video, both in popularity and the number of services available, has been great to see. And it’s likely to carry on in the same vein for years to come. However, could sites such as YouTube, Hulu, and the BBC iPlayer end up slowing down the Web?

From Bad To Worse?

Depending on where you live, the type of Internet connection you have got, and the terms your ISP enforces, that image to the right could be a regular occurrence for you. As it stands, the Internet can slow down at times to make loading heavy-graphic Web pages or transferring files a very pedestrian affair.

However, it could be about to get a lot worse, if new research to be published later this year is to be believed. Internet brownouts could become very regular happenings, and online video is being touted as one of the main reasons behind it.

Continue Reading…

The BBC iPlayer is constantly evolving to better suit the needs of its users. The latest innovation - high-definition programming, just one of a number of new improvements made to the service.

iPlayer = Awesomeness

The BBC iPlayer is already awesome. So much so that I’m sorry for people outside of the UK who aren’t given the chance to use the service without employing some proxy server shenanigans. Just think of it as payback for Hulu and all the other U.S.-based premium programming services off-limits to anyone who isn’t blessed enough to reside in the States.

As awesome as the iPlayer is, there is always room for improvement. And the BBC is great at keeping on top of new advances in technology and new ways of delivering and packaging television content. Which is why the iPlayer has now gone HD, and had a host of other improvements tacked on at the same time.

Continue Reading…

Project Kangaroo, the joint project between the BBC, ITV, and Channel 4, may be dead, after having been killed off by the Competition Commission in early February. But its successor, Project Canvas, ultimately more exciting and more ambitious, is just now getting off the ground.

Project Kangaroo

Kangaroo was envisioned as a one-stop online video portal which would have put content from the BBC, ITV, and Channel 4 into one central place. Unfortunately, due to complaints from BSkyB and cable companies, the project was forcibly canned.

Project Canvas

But even before this happened, the BBC and ITV had signaled their intentions to work on a new collaborative effort, along with phone operator, BT. Project Canvas is its name and the details of the plan are just now being revealed. The reason being that the plans have to go before the BBC Trust before being put into action.

Project Canvas is an effort to develop a new open standard for online video, which could be used by all who wanted to do so. Any Internet-enabled television or set-top box could then be modified to run a range of online video services, such as, but not limited to, the BBC iPlayer and ITVPlayer.

Continue Reading…