The BBC iPlayer continues to go from strength to strength. Last week saw the service win the Judges’ Award at the 2009 Royal Television Society Innovation Awards and get its own dedicated channel on the Nintendo Wii.

BBC iPlayer

The BBC iPlayer has shone like a beacon since its full launch almost two years ago in December 2007. The catch-up TV service lead the way not only in the U.K. but around the world, with Hulu being its big-name opposite in the U.S.

Rather than rest on its laurels, the BBC carried on improving the service despite already providing millions of streams to viewers. The current iteration of the iPlayer service is more user-friendly and easy-to-use than any Web application or online video site.

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There’s a definite feeling that Microsoft is bouncing back after a dismal last few years which saw Bill Gates leave the company and Windows Vista hit the shelves. Windows 7 is now with us, its Bing search engine is competing with Google, and the company is also making efforts with online video.

Microsoft Returns

Microsoft is doing all it can to replenish its tarnished reputation. The release of Windows 7 is huge, and Bing is a search engine which may actually manage to provide competition for the ubiquitous Google.

Silverlight 3.0 is obviously proving popular with media companies seeking to stream video over the Internet but 2009 has also seen a few changes take place in terms of Microsoft’s approach to online video.

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Emma Synopsis

Emma is a drama television series produced by BBC that debuted in October of 2009.

Based on the book written by Jane Austen Emma follows the story of Emma Woodhouse (played by Romola Garai) who is pretty, rich and she likes nothing better then to meddle in other people’s love lives and match them with suitors she finds worthy of their affection. Playing her long time friend Mr. George Knightley is Jonny Lee Miller, while Emma’s father Mr. Woodhouse is played by Michael Gambon.

Emma aired four episodes.

• Watch Emma on BBC iPlayer (UK residents)
• Watch Emma on iTunes (UK link)
• Search for Emma Episodes
• Find Emma Torrents

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As Web television offerings grow, both free and paid-for, cable providers are finding customers canceling their subscriptions in order to save some much-needed money. Hulu is looking to offer a paid subscription service and now Apple may be looking for similar with a monthly iTunes offering.

From Free To Paid

There is more television and movie content to watch for free on the Web now than ever before. Hulu in the States, BBC iPlayer in the U.K., and YouTube and all the rest worldwide, the Internet is now awash with programming.

Interestingly enough, both Hulu and the iPlayer are thought to be looking at paid options in the future. But this is, if anything, a sign that the business is getting serious and offering an alternative to the traditional cable and television networks.

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The BBC iPlayer service is currently free to all residents of the United Kingdom. But should the BBC start charging now that the service has proved its worth and kick started the online television sector in the U.K.? Ashley Highfield, thinks so.

Ashley Highfield?

Who is Ashley Highfield? Only the man who as director of future media and technology at the BBC did more than anyone else to push the iPlayer through from being a mere concept to a reality.

Highfield left the BBC shortly after the iPlayer launched to become managing director of consumer and online at Microsoft U.K. While there he has helped launch the MSN Video Player, which quite frankly pails into insignificance against the iPlayer.

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Last Chance to See Synopsis

Last Chance to See is a nature documentary television series produced by BBC that debuted in September of 2009.

Last Chance to See is a television series based on a BBC radio program and a book written by Douglas Adams and Mark Carwardine that was first published in 1990. They traveled the world to find animals that were on the verge of extinction. In 2007 a follow up television series was commissioned in which Stephen Fry and Mark Carwardine re-visited some of endangered species.

Last Chance to See aired one season.

• Watch Last Chance to See at BBC iPlayer (UK residents)
• Search for Last Chance to See Episodes
• Find Last Chance to See Torrents

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The Thick of It Synopsis

The Thick of It is a comedy television series produced by BBC Four that premiered in May of 2005.

The Thick of It follows the story of the British Department of Social Affairs and Citizenship and it’s employees. The Department is headed by a blundering minister Hugh Abbot who is unsuccesfully trying to make his mark and install new policies however it is proving difficult under the watchful eye of Prime Minister’s enforcer Malcolm Tucker and disrupting members of Civil Service.

The Thick of It is currently in it’s third season.

• Watch The Thick of It on BBC iPlayer (UK residents)
• Watch The Thick of It on iTunes (UK link)
• Search for The Thick of It Episodes
• Find The Thick of It Torrents

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