get TV abroad

Posts Tagged ‘bbc abroad’

The BBC has just released news that they have hit record highs of users registering for the iPlayer service, with request numbers reaching heights of 187 million last month. The new figures show that the trusty iPlayer is really a huge hit, with users registering and watching TV online via tablet PCs, smart phones and Internet enabled TVs.

What’s more is the BBC also revealed that throughout 2011, there were a staggering 1.94 million users who made both radio and TV requests via a vast array of platforms. Computers however, seem to still be the main access point for users who wish to use the BBC iPlayer to watch TV programs and listen to radio, with almost two thirds of the new figures being from computer users. That being said, last month was great news for the BBC, as there new data reported that there was a massive increase in those who accessed the iPlayer via other means such as smart-phones and tablet PCs.

During December 2011, the BBC saw 10 million programs viewed on tablet PCs; 7 million viewed on internet enabled TV’s; and an incredible 13 million tuned in to the BBC iPlayer on their smart-phones.

BBC iPlayer is entirely free to use, and is available to those who are in the UK (though of course readers here know how to get around that!). It is via iPlayer you can catch up on all of your favorite programmes that are available on BBC Channels, including soaps such as Eastenders and much more. The catch up service in particular is continuing to prove a great hit, with its busiest period being the week after Christmas, where 29.7 million users logged on to view programs aired over the festive period. The most popular show that was viewed on BBC iPlayer over Christmas was the Top Gear Christmas Special, which saw Clarkson, Hammond and James May travel throughout India in a British car of their choice. The controversial show was a clear hit on the iPlayer, seeing a record 1.7 million views.

As we entered 2012, users continued to access the BBC iPlayer, thus another record was made for the BBC. The first week of January 2012 has seen an impressive 623,000 hits in one day, as users new and existing logged on to catch up on the popular TV show Sherlock.

Programmes and On Demand Manager at the BBC, Daniel Darker commented, “2011 was a fantastic year for the BBC iPlayer, however the real news is how the iPlayer is accessed with the likes of smart-phones and tablets growing at a fast pace, thus quickly outpacing access via computers. 2012 is going to be a great year for the iPlayer, as we anticipate many users will be tuning in direct from their living rooms using internet connected TV.”

Despite the growth and ever continuing success of the BBC iPlayer, the BBC are not getting too comfortable with this year’s success. In fact they have huge plans to better their service, continuing to bring users new and innovative ways to catch up and view TV and radio programmes. One of the new services the BBC hopes to launch soon is You View, which is said to be the new Free View Box. You View will allow other internet service providers and UK TV broadcasters, to provide a service to the BBC iPlayer users via an internet connected set top box for viewers to use with their home TVs.

Like most people, I rely on the media to give me accurate news and information. It has been greatly disturbing to me, therefore, to watch as conglomerates have bought up radio and TV networks over the last decade. This reduction in the variety of media sources means that there is less breadth of opinion and source material on the news. As we have seen recently, it is now all too easy for a false or exaggerated statement to be picked up and replayed over and over. There simply is not enough diversity to provide a balanced account of current events.

Even though I do not necessarily agree with everything they broadcast, the BBC has remained my long-standing bastion against this intrusion of corporate media giants. Because they enjoy government support and are required to follow a public charter, the network maintains a level of even-handedness and transparency that other networks cannot rival. I would even go so far as to say that the network has a stabilizing effect on the UK by acting as a link between the public, government, and other important resources.

One vital piece of this successful formula is the BBC Trust. This is a panel of twelve trustees plus support staff who safeguard the independence of the network from corporate interests while insuring that the network listens to the public. This important group guards the gate, as it were, governing the network's radio and TV stations and making sure that they remain what they were designed to be. As technology has continued to reshape the world around us, the Trust has taken on the important new responsibility of managing the new BBC iPlayer.

Built to utilize the technologies that have made iTunes, Amazon, YouTube, and other media platforms leaders in the industry, BBC iPlayer opens up the network to huge new audiences and is helping to keep radio and TV current amidst the changing technological landscape. The inclusion of the iPlayer has thrust the BBC Trust and the BBC as a whole into uncharted waters, raising new questions about access to broadcasting. The BBC Trust is entrusted with the task of sorting out what can and can't be done with this new feature so that it stays democratic, efficient, and useful.

Want to Watch BBC iPlayer Abroad? Learn How

As use of the BBC iPlayer has increased, it has fallen to the Trust to determine such things as how much access to programming the public will have, how far back episode archives will reach, and the effectiveness of the design of the player itself, as well as analyzing public response to these factors. In this capacity, the BBC Trust fulfills a hugely important role by acting as consumer agents with direct access to management. By instigating thoughtful rules and then collecting responses from the public, the Trust has been an essential part of developing a media platform that is useful and fair. In my opinion, safeguards like this are what keep the BBC far more responsible to the public than for-profit networks, and perhaps goes a long way to explaining the continued popularity of the BBC and its iPlayer service abroad.

As technology rolls quickly forward, we must remember that the precedents that we set today will have an impact on the way systems evolve. Over the last few years, the BBC Trust has proved its worth by guiding the network in its launch of this new and powerful technology. Through its ability to govern the BBC while remaining responsible only to subscribers, the BBC Trust is an excellent example to follow as we forge ahead into the rapidly evolving world of new media access. In the years to come it will be partly down to the BBC Trust to decide exactly what content will be available on the much talked about Global iPlayer service (though TV rights holders, and no doubt EU politicians are going to have the final say!).

What is certainly clear already is that the Global iPlayer service will be an extremely limited one, containing only a selection of BBC content, and unlikely to contain any live streaming. Thus while I am happy that the Trust is there to keep the standards of the BBC high, I am equally happy that the services of Identity Cloaker allow me to continue to enjoy the full content offered by the BBC abroad.
 

I have had a few emails recently about the ability to watch BBC iPlayer abroad for free and if this is a valid solution. Well…

Firstly it is 100% true you can do it for free, there are many things you pay for every day which you can get for free. You don't need to pay rent or a mortgage if you are willing to live under a tree, and you can always eat for free from the bins outside the supermarkets. While both options are free I don't think many of you would choose to live that way!

Watching BBC iPlayer for free generally requires the use of open proxy servers, which are both unreliable and a pain to find. There are various programs out there which will track these down for you, and then you can take the information and manually enter it in to your browser or proxy program and then IF the server is fast enough you will be able to watch iPlayer abroad for free…for a while… perhaps…

The issue is they are just not reliable, you will find that they only work for a very short period before they are either turned off or just simply swamped by the thousands of other people using them. So you will be forced to search over and over again for new proxies, wasting hours of time. Liken this to needing to retune you TV every time you turn it on and then again every 20 minutes of viewing. Annoying? Certainly!

There are also security risks, as you have no idea who is running the proxy and what they are doing with all the data you are passing through them (a quick look over at change-my-ip.com will reveal many of the dangers of public proxies!).

Running with a professional and secure private proxy company such as Identity Cloaker costs under $10 a month, saves you a lot of time and it works (you open the program, select UK, connect and watch iPlayer).

Sure give the free iPlayer abroad options a try, but you will most probably regret it.

 After a month, or was it several years, the close battle for who with run the next UK Government is perhaps coming to an end (well assuming there is not a hung parliament!). Those of you living abroad but with close ties to the UK may well want to enjoy the UK Election TV coverage abroad, and of course as always you can!

With most programs starting around 10pm UK time you can watch using Identity Cloaker anywhere in the world on:

• BBC iPlayer
• Sky News
• ITV Player

If you don't already have Identity Cloaker then don't worry as the signup process only takes a few minutes, and if all you want to watch is tonight election broadcasts then the 10 day trial for 5 Euros is all you need (and don't worry at the end of the trial the subscription DOES NOT auto renew). If you want to know how to setup Identity Cloaker to watch BBC iPlayer Abroad along with all the other UK TV channels then take a look at our simple guide.

SeeSaw TV has just been launched and as always all you need to watch it outside the UK is a copy of IDC! Simply use the UK proxy from IDC, though you can use the VPN method too if you prefer, and start viewing UK TV abroad from this new supplier! They offer archived TV from several UK TV companies, including the BBC. Be sure to turn off encryption in IDC if you want the best quality video streaming experience.

.

SeeSaw uses technological know-how from Venture Kangaroo, the now defunct venture owned by BBC Throughout the world, Channel 4 and ITV plc. Kangaroo was blocked by the European Competition Commission in February 2009. In September 2009 all of Kangaroo's technologies and assets were bought by Arqiva for approximately £8m.

SeeSaw hopes to has around 3,500 hours of TV content offered, which includes a mix of free advertising-supported content material and paid-for programming. SeeSaw has already announced a content deal with BBC Worldwide, so shows like Cranford, Lark Rise to Candleford, That Mitchell and Webb Look and classic Doctor Who are going to be offered for viewers