[ajbaker]

Going out to buy a new 30gb iPod in the UK very soon.

First though I wanted to start a sensible discussion about video (TV/film, not msuic videos) content for the UK. In the US you obviously have an incredible number of channels. One of which (2 inc Disney) has agreed to sell content to Apple for the iTunes store.

In the UK however we have a slightly different situation. The main broadcaster is the BBC, which has an incredible catalog of past and current archives. The quality of which I would argue is unrivalled due to the relatively unique licence fee.

While I am purchasing the iPod mainly for music, I said at the time of release if they had a content distribution deal with the BBC I would have ordered on the spot. Most videos have little appeal to me, but the BBC has such a varied catalog, I would never be short of something to watch.

However, the licence fee does present a problem. Due to this public funding, I do not believe they would ever be able to sell their content commercially, particularly to the UK public. As a result of this (IMO) they started work on their own download service (to be launched within the next 7 months). This would see episodes available for download up to 7 days after broadcast. After which time the content would delete itself.

In addition, I know the BBC have been working on an open source video encoding format.

However the problem for Apple will be the DRM system used by the BBC. It is likely to be Windows Media (WMA) since this supports content expiration, they currently stream in Windows Media format and... a hunch! Now, not being able to view this content on the iPod will be a killer. However I do not believe the BBC would consider encoding in a second format, which just leaves two distant possibilities: they would consider FairPlay instead or more likely use an open DRM system. Either way Apple will be left having to add an additional supported video format to the current or 6th gen iPod.

I myself believe if alternative devices are able to access BBC content while the iPod cannot, Apple will have already lost the video battle here in the UK.

What are peoples thoughts? Have I missed a political, social or technical issue? What of the other broadcasters in the UK. What are their plans?

[michaelb]

The BBC seems to be aware of the potential, so it's possible they will offer some sort of transfer facility in the future. They've also demonstrated their willingness to embrace new video distribution methods, as they've started producing UMD recordings of Doctor Who.

However, I would like to suggest this: if you can see it on the screen, you can record it...

For example, for the recent SteveNote, I set Snapz Pro X to capture the contents of the QuickTime Player window that was streaming the video. I then saved the resulting movie, encoded it to MPEG-4, and transferred it to my PSP. The quality was superb.

Assuming you have a fast enough computer to capture the full frame rate (I have a dual 2.5 G5), there's very little any streamed DRM can do to stop you from doing this.

(By the way, whenever you see discussions of video for use on the PSP, they generally apply equally to the new iPod, as both devices use MPEG-4 Standard Profile or H.264/AVC formats. In fact, many of the PSP video encoding apps are being quickly repurposed to appeal to new iPod owners. I'm happy because I'll soon have both - my 60GB 5th Gen iPod is currently on a slow boat from Shanghai, giving me enough time to bash through another few levels of Lumines and Mercury!)

[ajbaker]

All interesting points.

Part of the uniquness of the BBC is that they do embrace web technologies in useful, as opposed to purely commercial, ways. I was surprised to see them producing PSP movies though.

I think what strikes me though, is that the movie downloading business is not going to pan out the same way as music for Apple. They must know this. As a result I look forward to seeing how the many different formats can be managed within one application, such as iTunes.

[piot]

Originally Posted by ajbaker

However, the licence fee does present a problem. Due to this public funding, I do not believe they would ever be able to sell their content commercially, particularly to the UK public.

http://www.bbcshop.com/