Slashdot Mirror
BBC to Try TV On Demand
Shevek writes "The UK Independent newspaper is reporting on a new BBC trial: 'Later this month, the BBC will launch a pilot project that could lead to all television programmes being made available on the internet. Viewers will be able to scan an online guide and download any show. Programmes would be viewed on a computer screen or could be burned to a DVD and watched on a television set. Alternatively, programmes could be downloaded to a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) ... By launching iMP, the BBC hopes to avoid being left at the mercy of a software giant such as Microsoft, which could try to control the gateway to online television.' Yet more proof that the BBC license fee is an unmitigated Good Thing(TM)."
Who do I have to blow to work for a company that hands out PDAs with 512 meg CF to all its employees, just so they can watch TV at work!?
The BBC License Fee is great if it means that us Americans can get all that great programming without having to pay for it! :-)
I am not an active TV watcher - I have it on most of the time, but only passively. If I have to "make" it work by "demanding" it, I'm likely to find another source that's easier - a "flip-the-switch-and-go" kind of thing.
TV and teeth on demand! How the hell did they lose the empire?
Great, now I can start another lost episode of Dr. Who, when ever I want.
-Patrick
"They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we."
Extracting a tax for simply owning a television set...
As has been pointed out in other threads, the licence is for as many TVs as you like in a single household, NOT per TV.
You should see the (lack of) quality on our major commercial analogue channels then; one wants to be a 24x7 soap/Hitler/pr0n/US TV Movies channel, and the other is dumbed-down sensationalist news/soap/reality TV/blockbuster hollywood movies.
Only Channel 4 has any quality programmes that compare with the BBC's, and lots of those are being bought in from the likes of the Discovery and History channels these days (it's easy to tell them from the programmes they make themselves as the bought-in programmes repeat themselves every 5-10 minutes for where the ad. breaks would be).
I'm curious about something, and maybe some of you british slashdotters can answer some questions for me. What else is there on the air other than the BBC?
BBC1: soap, blockbuster films, major sporting/cultural events, sport, investigative journalism, news, popular comedy, minority sports (e.g. darts, snooker). Funded by licence fee.
BBC2: documentaries, arts, investigative journalism, economics/finance, science, history, art/cult films, new comedy. Funded by licence fee.
ITV: soap, reality TV, sport, blockbuster films, sport, sensationalist news, regional content. Privately owned and funded exclusively by advertising.
Channel 4:much like BBC2, but more mainstream content (e.g. some soaps). Minority sports include horse racing and various non-European sports. Publically owned, but funded exclusively by advertising.
Channel 5:soap, Hitler documentaries, softcore pr0n, old blockbusters, US TV movies. Privately owned, funded by advertising (and deep pockets, since the last I heard, it wasn't doing very well).
With Freeview (free-of-subscription charge digital TV), you get BBC News 24, The History Channel, Parliament, CBeebies (kids TV) and some ITV and BBC channels mostly used for repeats right now. Oh, and the usual set of home shopping channels and suchlike.
How many channels do brits generally have to choose from?
I would guess most AB social class homes only have the five broadcast analogue channels I described earlier, or maybe Freeview.
Is cable TV common, and if so what kind of channels are there on it?
Other social classes are more likely to have Murdoch-owned SkyTV with programming most North Americans would be familiar with, I'm sure - Fox, SciFi, Nick, etc.
Do you get HBO?
Channel 4 and, especially, Channel 5 show quite a lot of HBO-sourced material. I think HBO is available from Sky.
ESPN?
Sports? Dunno. A lot of the content wouldn't be of much interest in the UK. Soccer has a much bigger following here than American Football, Basketball, etc. and SkySports + BBC + ITV cover that well.
I was told when I was a little kid that the BBC was the ONLY channel available over there. I find that hard to believe. Imagine if the only channel americans had to watch was PBS.
No, that's absolutely correct. We don't have running water, sanitation, or electricity either. Also, we all have tea with the Queen each week, after kissing her feet. ;-)
--
Of course lots of the good programs could never get shown on broadcast TV in the USA - they freak out over a single female nipple after all.
>This is The Independent, one of the major newspapers
>in the UK. That's like mirroring the New York Times.
The New York Times gets slashdotted every time it's linked here. All I ever see is a stupid signup screen.