BBC iPlayer (stylised as iPLAYER or BBC iPLAYER) is a video on demand service from the BBC. The service is available on a wide range of devices, including mobile phones and tablets, personal computers and smart televisions. iPlayer services delivered to UK-based viewers are free from commercial advertising. The terms BBC iPlayer, iPlayer, and BBC Media Player refer to various methods of viewing or listening to the same content. To use the service, a valid TV Licence is required by law.
History[]
The concept for the BBC iPlayer was dreamt up by Ben Lavender in 2005, a BBC employee frustrated by attempting to BitTorrent Buffy the Vampire Slayer. BBC Redux was developed as a proof of concept for a cross-platform, Flash Video-based streaming system. BBC iPlayer left beta and went live on 25 December 2007. On 25 June 2008 a new-look iPlayer was launched, originally as a beta-test version alongside the earlier version. The site tagline was "Catch up on the last 7 days of BBC TV & Radio", reflecting that programmes were unavailable on iPlayer after this time (with some exceptions). The BBC states on its website that this is for copyright reasons. The marketing slogan was later changed to "Making the unmissable, unmissable". In May 2010 the site was updated again to include a recommendations feature and a "social makeover".
In February 2011, the BBC iPlayer was once again modified to include links to programmes from other broadcasters, including ITV, ITV2, ITV3, ITV4, Channel 4, E4, More4, Film4, Channel 5, 5Star, 5USA and S4C. The feature was added to the search function and the channels function. When users click on a programme by another broadcaster they are redirected to the relevant broadcaster's catch-up service (either ITV Player, 4oD or Demand Five).
In April 2014, BBC iPlayer was once again relaunched with a new look and a different user interface.
In 2015, the BBC reported that it was moving towards playing audio and video content via open HTML5standards in web browsers rather than via Flash or its Media Player mobile app.
On 17 October 2018, the BBC iPlayer Radio brand was replaced with BBC Sounds.
On 20 October 2021, the BBC announced that BBC iPlayer would be given a new logo which would involve being rebranded as "iPLAYER".
Currently, some programs can be watched in UHD on iPlayer as part of an ongoing trial, as well as streaming major live events in 4K on iPlayer.
Programme Availability[]
When first launched, the programme availability lasted for 7 days. From October 2014 the BBC extended the programme availability for programmes on iPlayer from 7 days to 30 days. The COVID-19 pandemic from 2020 and the subsequent lockdowns have changed this; many programmes are available for more than a year, and entire series - for example, Peaky Blinders, Top Gear, and Killing Eve - are available in their entirety going back to the first episode. However, for legal reasons, most news bulletins are available for only 24 hours after the initial broadcast (with the exception of World Business Report, Business Live, Victoria Derbyshire, Daily Politics, Politics Europe, Sunday Politics and Newsnight). Some archive programming, such as Timewatch, is available for the long term. Select live programmes such as Saturday Mash-Up! are available for up to a week after broadcast, whilst others are available for up to a month. Specific applications for mobile platforms were launched in February 2011, initially for iOS and Android devices, where the launch would have the biggest impact.
Involvements with Learningblocks[]
As of today, all seasons of Alphablocks, Numberblocks and Colourblocks are available to watch on the service, as well as gradual additions of Wonderblocks episodes and Alphablocks Series 5 episodes. However, the following Season 1 Alphablocks episodes are not on there for unknown reasons:
In 2025, the Wonderblocks episodes and Alphablocks Series 5 episodes are gradually being added and for a short time all episodes of Numberblocks were inaccurately put in reverse order for every season (similar to the reversed season order of most Netflix shows).
