BBC Comedy Show to Debut Online

Phil John writes "According to BBC News, the second series of "The Mighty Boosh" will be available to stream from the 19th of July, A full week before starting its run on BBC 3. Quoth the Article: 'It is one of a number of pilots that BBC Television will be undertaking over the next few months, exploiting the opportunities that new technologies offer to look at how programmes might be delivered beyond the traditional linear broadcast.'"

Comments

Hope they can be downloaded and viewed later

[cygnusx]

...like with the Beethoven symphonies. Just streaming sucks. And what would really rock is an RSS feed for the shows.

I'm not the biggest fan of the BBC and how they spend public funds, but the way they have leeway to experiment with programming is awesome.

Re:Hope they can be downloaded and viewed later

[Larry Lightbulb]

The BBC have told me that, in theory, only people with a TV license should watch the broadband section of their site, but they have no way of checking.

Re:Hope they can be downloaded and viewed later

[Tubusy]

Don't know if you are aware, but the Beeb is already starting to use RSS podcasts for some of their radio, likely they will do a similar thing with TV one day?

And yeah, it would so rock.

Re:Hope they can be downloaded and viewed later

[Anonymous Coward]

Christ, you are a whiny fucking bitch arn't you? Whine about the BBC, whine about being so shit you only have dialup. Why not move to a civilised part of the country were they have such "luxuries" as broadband? Or do you like whining too much to move from your shack in North Wales?

Re:Hope they can be downloaded and viewed later

[EvilMonkeySlayer]

IIRC, the broadband video in the UK is actually streamed from your ISP.

The BBC multicasts all the broadband video to ISP's who then have their own servers to stream the video to their customers.

That way the BBC saves bucket loads on bandwidth and also the ISPs aren't having to serve multiple requests for essentially the same content saving them bandwidth.
It only happens with participating ISPs though.
And the only way for someone outside of the UK to get this broadband content would be to setup a proxy on a connection with one of the participating ISPs.

Re:Hope they can be downloaded and viewed later

[EvilMonkeySlayer]

Damnit, you always discover the correct link right after you post.

Anyway, see here.

Good job BBC

[hugsa]

Is it me or is BBC simply the, how can I put this, 'coolest' media corperation on the planet? They already have a massive online presence, they do have podcasts and the list goes on .. and I am not british.

Anyway, I'm thinking about going to watch BBC Food now.

Re:Good job BBC

[Phil John]

They already have a massive online presence,

Which is sadly being scaled back as we speak. The cult section is being closed as it provides info that's available elsewhere online.

Re:Good job BBC

[Travoltus]

It's ironic that a socialist funded network can innovate faster than our great and mighty capitalist free market media can.

America used to innovate like this before MicroSoft and their gang came along... before the dotcom bust there was a huge sense of "let's throw money into the great evolutionary genesis pit and see which species wins". Now the winners have been declared by the decree of those with the big money, and new technologies are threatened with patent disputes or RIAA/MPAA lawsuits.

What the heck went wrong? How can we get our free market system working again?

Re:Good job BBC

[RickPartin]

Yes, damn you Microsoft for letting our TV shows suck.

Re:Good job BBC

[petermgreen]

one thing to remember is that the BBC get traffic to most uk internet users extremely cheap because they have direct peering arrangements with major uk isps and are on at least two major london traffic exchange points as well.

also the bbc are funded by the TV license which is essentially a tax. Afaict the main reason for keeping the TV license seperate from normal taxation is to make it harder for the government to get rid of the bbc (not impossible but much harder than just cutting its budget to almost nothing in a must pass budget bill).

Re:Good job BBC

[Travoltus]

... and their gang... you know, like Time Warner, etc., who all suddenly jumped into the online biz by merging with AOL?

MicroSoft = 1/2 of MSNBC, also.

It's hard to do what the BBC is doing in America, unless you have deep pockets to pay for bandwidth costs which are highly overinflated. Which is why we have the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, but they obviously are also lagging way behind the BBC, and they've just barely evaded some big funding cuts (er, cuts in funding increases, that is).

Re:Good job BBC

[donnacha]

It's ironic that a socialist funded network can innovate faster than our great and mighty capitalist free market media can.

Jesus, that's the stupidest thing I've heard all day; if you want to critize Socialism, it helps to know what Socialism actually is. The BBC is no more socialist than Time Magazine.

Re:Good job BBC

[cygnusx]

Don't blame Microsoft-- it'd be less work for them to ship media software without DRM. The problem is that the content cartel (my name for the RIAA/MPAA) are too greedy by half-- they'll stick with the dessicated corpse of Mickey and their old properties until he's no longer cool... it's happening already.

Honestly, the best thing that could happen to copyright is a patent-style 15-20 year regime. The thing is, forget Microsoft and the tech industry, the entertainment business seem to pretty much have the pols in DC in their pocket.

Re:Good job BBC

[Travoltus]

I'm not dissing socialism or the BBC. I find it ironic that America is falling behind them.

Re:Good job BBC

[Sinus0idal]

I for one, am happy to pay for my TV license in order to avoid advertising on BBC channels and the BBC news website. It is amazing to see the so called 'half hour' simpsons finish in about 20 mins when there are no ads.

Maybe though the BBC should check the location of the IP address and stick up adverts to all those outside the UK who aren't paying a license though :-)

Ok, just kidding.

Re:Good job BBC

[donnacha]

I'm not dissing socialism or the BBC. I find it ironic that America is falling behind them

Fair enough, I just get a little touchy because the BBC has had a lot of flak recently because it failed to entirely roll over for the government on Iraq and, as revenge, open season has been declared on what is probably the best funding model for quality content and objective reporting ever seen.

Re:Good job BBC

[Anonymous Coward]

i'm taking it you don't know that much about the way
the tv licenCe works or the royal charter?

Re:Good job BBC

[acb]

Actually, the BBC is intending to use GeoIP-type technologies to discriminate between British users (who are paid for from license fees) and overseas users (who aren't), in the Creative Archive, which will be available in Britain only. (This is due to a management decision; the people actually working on the project wanted it to be available to everyone, but the powers that be said no.)

Re:Good job BBC

[acb]

That's true. Other commonwealth countries such as Australia and Canada have broadcasting agencies modelled on the BBC, though don't always have the license fee. In Australia, for example, the ABC (of no relation to the Disney-owned US network of the same name) is 100% government-funded, which allows the government to put pressure on it every time the party in power disagrees with its reporting. The result has been a timid, self-censoring network that's next to useless for critical reporting.

I'll bet that Tony Blair wishes he had this sort of power over that recalcitrant "Baghdad Broadcasting Corporation".

Re:Good job BBC

[donnacha]

I for one, am happy to pay for my TV license in order to avoid advertising on BBC channels and the BBC news website. It is amazing to see the so called 'half hour' simpsons finish in about 20 mins when there are no ads.

Yeah, best 35p a day you'll ever spend, especially as they occasionally hold the government to task on all their spin. Okay, they're pretty timid but nowhere near as unquestioning as the US media.

Whenever I stay in America I'm shocked by how intrusive the advertising is but Americans seem to have become numb to it. I gather, though, that it's only really the poorest Americans who are subjected to the full onslaught, more affluent Americans subscribe to cable which has less ads and educated Amercians tend to simply watch a great deal less.

Re:Good job BBC

[Pentagram]

Best? It's horrendous. A multi-billionaire with a telly in each room of his 90-room mansion pays less than a student household where individuals are on separate tenancy agreements. Not only that, but a fair proportion of the cash collected goes back into bureacracy and enforcing the system.

I'd much prefer to see the cash come out of the general taxation system. Much fairer, and more efficient, and it would mean fewer court cases too. And less paperwork all round.

Re:Good job BBC

[neil.pearce]

A multi-billionaire with a telly in each room of his 90-room mansion pays less than a student household

Who exactly, of the THREE UK based sterling multi-billionaires is "abusing" the TV licence laws the most?

Duke of Westminster
Richard Branson
David Sainsbury

Re:Good job BBC

[rokzy]

I'm a student myself but you're talking bollocks.

of course the students pay more - you're comparing multiple people to a single person. you can only watch TV once at a time.

in related news, did you know that all the poor taxi drivers pay more in driving licence fees than all the billionaires with their luxury cars? outrage!

Re:Good job BBC

[gilesjuk]

They're trying to be too cool. Their best programming often gets the least hype.

They were commited to providing their entire archives online, but this hasn't happened. DVD sales are obviously too lucretive.

Re:Good job BBC

[praksys]

especially as they occasionally hold the government to task on all their spin.

And when there is no spin to hold them to account for they just make shit up.

Re:Good job BBC

[LordSnooty]

I'd much prefer to see the cash come out of the general taxation system. Much fairer, and more efficient, and it would mean fewer court cases too. And less paperwork all round.

Australia's ABC is funded in that manner. And any Australian will tell you that its funding in real terms has fallen consisently over the years. So much so that they can on the whole only afford to buy shows from other broadcasters, like err, the BBC.

Re:Good job BBC

[The Original Yama]

This is the main problem with the ABC: their funding model leaves them at the mercy of the government. The ABC does its best to fight back, but often they have to give in under threats of budget cuts.

If anything, this politicises the network much more than the guaranteed revenue stream that the BBC has. The ABC can't be nearly as independent or impartial as the BBC. They have to suck up to their masters.

Re:Good job BBC

[The Original Yama]

The BBC plays an important role in British (and dare I say world) society. If I was British I'd gladly pay the money. I wish we had a similar funding strategy here in Australia for the ABC. We need a body capable of and willing to take on large powers like governments and corporations. Commercial networks have failed us in that regard.

Re:Good job BBC

[Anonymous Coward]

I trust them for my news now online, since they often have a level headedness I don't find with a lot of news outlets.

And for those of you who think the Mighty Boosh has something to do with the dear ol' president, it's about two zookeepers who get into crazy and weird adventures (and no, not in the corny Rocky and Bullwinkle way). I highly suggest, um, "legally" downloading some episodes to get a taste of it.

Re:Good job BBC

[tripslash]

Advertising in America is not only intrusive, it's pervasive. Whether watching broadcast TV/radio (esp. radio, you rarely hear more than one song without some bubble-head breaking in babbling ad-speak), paying $50 for cable/satellite, browsing the Web, even newspapers, American advertising is like an obnoxious kid with a big bag of popcorn flavored jelly beans who jumps in everyone's face with, "LOOKIT I GOT! BELLY BEANS! WAT SOME? HUH HUH HUH ...".

Thanks, but no; if I want something popcorn-tasting I'll get some -- popcorn!

Mostly I try to filter out all the crap. A few commercials are actually clever or funny or informative. Most are overblown market hype with fast cars, busty babes, driving "Classic Rock" (oh, my youth:() riff, and fast-talking/small-printed "disclosures" -- whatever they're selling, you gotta have it; if you don't have, you're [stupid,lazy,uninformed]; if you don't want it, you may be un-American.

I know, I know. I don't have to watch the stuff. But, I do enjoy TV/radio/WWW/print. I would just like to see an ad that didn't try to convince me that this one product is the be-all-and-end-all product of all time. Sheesh.

Oh yeah, WTF is up with that Quizno's baby? Jeez, but that kid gives me the creeps.

Re:Good job BBC

[WannabeTechHead]

Actually, the "poorest" Americans aren't even subject to TV adverts usually because they don't own one (when you're homeless, TV's usually not a priority...) and even the poorest households usually find a way to have cable - whether it's legit and they let other bills go or they have a "hot box" (an illegal cable hook-up). The American who are subject to the most advertising are those who venture out onto the Internet.....

Re:Good job BBC

[Alsee]

cable which has less ads

How 1980's.

-

Re:Good job BBC

[mlk]

I hope they add an internation-fee based access.

More money for the BBC == better Dr Who == Happy brits (me anyway), as long as it goes not get carried away and starts to target over-seas views.

Re:Good job BBC

[Anonymous Coward]

The BBC already makes extensive use of GeoIP stuff for streams for heavily rights managed stuff like the Olympics.

Re:Good job BBC

[Beige]

They are also taking a lot of stick for their online work. Many see the quality of it to be unfair competition to private companies and in conflict with their charter, which is soon up for review. Those in the government such as Tory Blair that consider themselves above criticism may present this as proof that the BBC has willfully failed to fulfill its obligations. They could then change the charter to suit their own ends, ruining the BBC in the process. The BBC knows this, but it has to do online work or it will fall behind the competition. Hence it is attempting to demonstrate that their online presence is largely an extension of broadcasting, as befits the charter - hence things like this and the creative archive.

Re:Good job BBC

[singleantler]

They are committed to providing the archives that they can make public on-line. However, they don't actually own lots of the shows that they broadcast, the copyright on those shows are owned by the production companies that made the shows originally.

I'll be very pleased to see some old BBC shows freely downloadable, but many of my favourites will be missing, because the BBC doesn't own them.

Re:Good job BBC

[Pentagram]

of course the students pay more - you're comparing multiple people to a single person. you can only watch TV once at a time.

The price is the same though if the person with the mansion has a spouse, seventeen children, all four grandparents and six friends living with them. It's based on household rather than individuals (and "household" is individual rooms if the inhabitants have separate contracts).

So in my scenario, the mansion with 29 people pays £126.50, and the house of 4 students (or 4 people on income support) on separate contracts pays £506.

And of course if you're over 75 you get a free license even if you have an income of £100 million. It's ludicrous.

in related news, did you know that all the poor taxi drivers pay more in driving licence fees than all the billionaires with their luxury cars? outrage!

Now you're talking bollocks. The driving license fee is a one-off, so hardly comparable. A better comparison would be car tax.

Re:Good job BBC

[soliptic]

It's ironic that a socialist funded network can innovate faster than our great and mighty capitalist free market media can

Ironic? Er, not really. Irony requires an element of "working against expectations", so it would only be ironic if it was a given fact that 'free market capitalism' was better than 'socialism'. (Both terms in inverted commas since nowhere that I'm aware of actually has free market capitalism, let alone the USA, and the BBC isn't socialist, but nevermind).

You might take it as a given fact but I would be hard pushed to think of any reason for you to think this, other than "believing the hype".

If you actually approach it with an open mind as to which forms of organisation produce what sorts of results, I fail to see why it should be "ironic", and not "illuminating", that the BBC consistently outdoes the entire corporate TV/media sector in terms of objectivity, reliability, diversity, accessibility, quality, etc, etc.

Re:Good job BBC

[soliptic]

That seems silly. There are plenty of people inside the UK who haven't paid a license fee, and no doubt plenty of people outside the UK (travelling businessmen, holidaymakers etc, perhaps even ex-pats) who have paid a license fee.

Re:Good job BBC

[drsquare]

Why not just use a normal username/password? It could be sent out with every payment of the licence fee. It'd have the advantage of keeping out people who don't pay the licence.

Interesting

[ScrewMaster]

"The Mighty Boosh, eh?" Odd that they'd base a new show around the current American President.

Re:Interesting

[Larry Lightbulb]

Wasn't there something called "Where's My Bush"? It was so bad I've tried to cut out the part of my brain which remembers it.

Re:Interesting

[geofferensis]

I think you are referring to the show "The Mighty Douche".

Re:Interesting

[The Original Yama]

There was a show titled "That's My Bush!" It was created by Trey parker and Matt Stone, the guys behind South Park.

Re:Interesting

[Breakfast Pants]

You are thinking of "That's my Bush!" Indeed it was terrible, but it was indeed slated for a second season until September 11th happened. Can't oppose the president now can we? Just kidding, it was cancelled because it was terrible.

Excellent Comedy

[donnacha]

The first season was really innovative and genuinely funny, a good example (along with Brass Eye, Spaced, Peep Show, Nathan Barley etc) of the best wave of British comedy since the Monty Python/Fawlty Towers era.

Re:Excellent Comedy

[bumptehjambox]

Great list, however, i'd have to say the genius series "The Office" deserves more than an "etc" mention...
To those who haven't seen it: purchase series 1&2 DVDs, and do not forget the Christmas special! Especially, if you've only seen the American version!

Re:Excellent Comedy

[byolinux]

Nathan Barley? Have you gone insane?

Re:Excellent Comedy

[donnacha]

Great list, however, i'd have to say the genius series "The Office" deserves more than an "etc" mention...

Actually, yeah, The Office should be in there and probably a couple more I can't think of. I suspect that The Office was temporarily erazed from my memory because I recently downloaded a couple of episodes of the rather unfortunate American version.

Re:Excellent Comedy

[lowmagnet]

Stupid-funny, that. It's not great television by any stretch though. I did enjoy the series, but it doesn't approach previous BBC comedies in staying power. It was too gimmicky.

Re:Excellent Comedy

[jonathan_ingram]

I suppose someone who liked The Mighty Boosh would like Nathan Barley... personally I found them both mediocre. Peep Show wasn't that great, either.

15 Stories High, on the other hand, was genius. "Blue Rat: All the Power of a Rat, in a Can".

Re:Excellent Comedy

[Bertie]

And there's also the fact that it wasn't a BBC comedy at all, and in fact went out on Channel 4...

Re:Excellent Comedy

[Larry Lightbulb]

Another one which started on the radio.

Re:Excellent Comedy

[Anonymous Coward]

Blue Rat - one of the best single episodes of anything I've ever seen! When I got the dvd, I just showed that one to people and the deal was done.

I'm a fan of both 15 Storeys and The Mighty Boosh, call me a BBC whore ;)

The fact that stuff's just piped into every home in the country is what makes this place what it is.

Re:Excellent Comedy

[LordSnooty]

And since we're on the subject of error-correcting, Brass Eye was broadcast eight years ago, so I don't think it counts as a "new wave of British comedy". Although it was very, very good.

Re:Excellent Comedy

[jez9999]

Please, elaborate a little. Because if it was as good as Little Britain, I'd gladly poke my eyes out with a sharp stick to avoid watching it.

Re:Excellent Comedy

[Badfysh]

Nathan Barley was well jackson. A lot of people didn't like it because they thought it was a comedy, when in fact it was a documentary. It's a hell of a lot funnier if you've actually met some of those media wankers, although I must admit I was a bit disappointed that it wasn't more like NB in TV Go Home.

Re:Excellent Comedy

[byolinux]

Brass Eye Special: 4 years ago.

The special wasn't quite as good as the series though.

Re:Excellent Comedy

[Anonymous Coward]

Most british comedy seems to be of a certain style right now. Very dark and disturbing, and quite deadpan.

Which is a shame. If it's not to your taste, it's all actually quite unpleasant. I'd really prefer to see something a little more upbeat and witty. Or at least silly.

Re:Excellent Comedy

[singleantler]

The Mighty Boosh is very different from Little Britain, fortunately. I quite like LB, but I've found the recent series very repetitive and as the media seem to love them the comedians behind it are getting exposure absolutely everywhere (e.g. introducing Elton John at Live8.) I love Boosh and find it a lot funnier, and friendlier, than LB. You can't hate a show that loves ponchos.

The Boosh is highly surreal and odd, but delightful at the same time. Each episode is it's own little adventure in to madness. I think it's well worth a look, but you might want to try seeing a couple of episodes because some of them may appeal where others won't.

Re:Excellent Comedy

[moonbender]

Broadcasted 8 years ago, I heard about 4 weeks ago, downloaded it 3 weeks ago, finished watching the last episode 2 weeks ago. I love the internet. There's no chance whatsoever I would have even heard about it without the net.

"To ensure the anonymity of the 15-year-olds we replaced each of them with three 5-year-olds. None of them had ever used drugs."

Mighty Boosh

[nother_nix_hacker]

The Mighty Boosh is a fantastic show. I think you should all watch it and revel in its comical genious!

Re:Mighty Boosh

[bscott]

It's very weird for me to see "The Mighty Boosh" mentioned here. Rich Fulcher lives near me and now I have to figure out how to explain Slashdot to him... worlds are colliding here, people!

This just in

[RickPartin]

This just in. Reports are comming in that the BBC has just went completely bankrupt after letting people download a TV show for free.

Re:This just in

[Anonymous Coward]

ermm no, welcome to the unique way the bbc is funded.

Re:This just in

[Anonymous Coward]

Reports are comming in that the BBC has just went completely bankrupt after letting people download a TV show for free.

Huh?

Re:This just in

[Anonymous Coward]

I think this is what's known in certain circles as a "joke." I could be wrong, though. Ya never know.

Mighty Boosh?

[patrickclay]

Kind of a step down from ol' Ludwig van...

Re:Mighty Boosh?

[Larry Lightbulb]

The songs are catchier.

bbc and the boosh

[thelost]

It seems that the BBC is more and more in the press recently, pushing innovation in tech and approaches to broadcasting, I for one as a brit paying my bit for the bbc am very glad to see my money being used in a way that I would like to see it being put to use. Certainly the bbc are not the first to offer their shows over the web (i'm thinking in particular of Battlestar galactica in particular as an example of this new phenomenon) but it's excellent to see them embracing it. Also even more importantly The mighty boosh has to be one of the most humourous pieces of comedy I have seen in recent years, well worth tuning in. More info on the boosh here: http://www.themightyboosh.com/

Torrent anyone?

[Anonymous Coward]

...

(blabla)

Are You Sure It's Comedy...

[__aaclcg7560]

The Mighty Bush... Sounds like horror to me. Oh, wait a minute, maybe it is British humor. Will the Ronald Reagan and Tip O'Neil muppets be making an appearance?

Oh dear

[CheesyPeteza]

Hmm BBC 3 is hardly comedy central. I hope they don't think because it worked for Dr Who it will work for anything. Dr Who worked because it was actually good, so everyone told their friends to watch it. If this comedy is as crap as everything else on BBC 3 then surely everyone will just tell their friends not to watch it. I hope I'm wrong though.

Re:Oh dear

[SpooForBrains]

Just because you don't watch BBC3 doesn't mean it isn't good. A lot of the BBCs best programming debuts on BBC3 - Spooks and Little Britain to name but two.

Re:Oh dear

[Col. Bloodnok]

Two pints of lager, and the Smoking room? - no wait they're pretty crap.

Little Britain is just too hip-gay for me. I mean it's quite funny, but I don't need reminding that there are 'gheys in this village' every 30 seconds.

Re:Oh dear

[Anonymous Coward]

Monkey Dust - now that was not crap.
And 15 Storeys. It's not all Little Britain.

Shame the BBC go so heavy on plugging their digital channels. It makes we naturally grumpy islanders presume it must be because they're shite.

Re:Oh dear

[mlk]

I'm sure Little Britain started on Radio 4.

Re:Oh dear

[six809]

And Ideal. That rocked, even with Johnny Vegas.

Re:Oh dear

[DanBrusca]

Spooks is an out-and-out BBC1 show, it's just that you can see episodes a week earlier on BBC3.

Re:Oh dear

[soma_0806]

"Hmm BBC 3 is hardly comedy central.."

This is the nicest thing you could possibly say about BBC 3. Aside form the Daily Show, Comedy Central hardly presents innovative material these days.

Re:Oh dear

[Insipid Trunculance]

Just because you don't watch BBC3 doesn't mean it isn't good. A lot of the BBCs best programming debuts on BBC3 - Spooks and Little Britain to name but two.

If you havent , you might want to watch The Thick of it.

Re:Oh dear

[Larry Lightbulb]

A couple of recent goodies on Comedy Central were The Hollow Men [a UK group doing sketches] and Stella [US, but seeming very English, in a sitcom of sorts].

Re:Oh dear

[Larry Lightbulb]

Little Britain, 15 Storeys, Boosh - all Radio 4 programmes, and can be caught on BBC7 or bought on CD from Amazon. If only there was a site listing radio programmes...

Just wait for iMP!

[Anonymous Coward]

So those of you that don't know, the BBC are getting ready for the second trial of it's p2p programme download service - http://www.bbc.co.uk/imp/ Places on the trial still up for grabs!

Re:Just wait for iMP!

[Anonymous Coward]

following your link, it also says:

- After seven days the programme file expires (using digital rights management software) and the user will no longer be able to watch it. DRM also prevents users emailing the files to other computer users or sharing it via disk.

So how is that positive?
No *nix and *bsd system can handle the DRM!

Also, why may we view it only for 7 days? We got it for free in the first place!

A Happy FreeBSD User

Re:Just wait for iMP!

[Anonymous Coward]

I agree, Do people really want to hoard copies of newsnight and panorama for future reference, or do they want the ability to
download something if they missed it?

As for the DRM, depends on what they use hey.

Re:Just wait for iMP!

[fistynuts]

I spy condtradictions!

> No *nix and *bsd system can handle the DRM! ...
> A Happy FreeBSD User

> why may we view it only for 7 days?
You helpfully provide an answer to your own question..

> We got it for free in the first place!

It's free. So shut up about what you can and can't do with it. At a guess this service is just for people who missed the programmes when they were on and would like to watch them once.

what media player will be required

[epaton]

i do hope it will play in mplayer on xine, i dont really see the point in them locking down the format when we have already paid for the program as the bloody annoying "adverts" keep telling us it is a damn funny show and though i recon they are probably just trying to increase its profile it does signal a new direction in brodcasting

Re:what media player will be required

[Tony Hoyle]

BBC stuff is currently dual format realplayer and WMV.

Realplayer is scumware but there's a de-fanged version available from Here

Re:what media player will be required

[arkhan_jg]

To be fair, realplayer 10 is a lot nicer than previous versions. It's based on the their opensource helix player, but with the proprietry real codecs added. No adware, spam, or popups.

I have no trouble recommending it now.

Nice

[jb.hl.com]

This just helps cement my positive opinions of the BBC...I'm not usually very patriotic, but the BBC makes me want to start running around singing Rule Britannia at the top of my voice and hitting Welshmen with Union Jacks.

Re:Nice

[donnacha]

This just helps cement my positive opinions of the BBC...I'm not usually very patriotic, but the BBC makes me want to start running around singing Rule Britannia at the top of my voice and hitting Welshmen with Union Jacks.

Um... it's probably worth pointing out that Wales is actually in the Union.

Also, just for the sake of clarity, BBC Wales has been responsible for many important elements of the BBC's success including the one that's probably most familiar to slashdotters: the recent Doctor Who series.

Re:Nice

[stimpleton]

"Um... it's probably worth pointing out that Wales is actually in the Union"

Yup, and that really helped them get Welsh players into the test matchs in the Lion's tour to New Zealand.

So we get things like this:
Disgusted Lions fan auctions burnt jersey

ahem

[SpooForBrains]

This just in: Parent poster has no clue what he is talking about.

Re:ahem

[GutBomb]

it's you that doesn't know what he is talking about. it's the RIAA/MPAA/Entertainment Industry's view that if they give entertainment away for free that they can't survive. This proves the opposite. the parent poster was trying to be funny.

Re:ahem

[mlk]

Not attempting to defent the RIAA/MPAA, but they have to sell stuff to live, the BBC just taxes the British public, plus it'll most like use the BBC Broadband thingy, which I understand only aviable to tax payers.

So not really free then.

Re:ahem

[Badfysh]

Not attempting to defent the RIAA/MPAA, but they have to sell stuff to live

I wouldn't deny anybody the right to earn a living, but those guys would be more honest if they just stuck a shotgun in your face and demanded all your money. What happened to just being reasonable? Greed is what happens when you just see art as a product, and the product ceases to be art. All the BBC want is a contribution for their trouble, they're not trying to be a mega rich supercompany. Also don't forget the BBC is a UK based station at the end of the day, they have no remit to provide services for the rest of the world (although they do anyway.. ).

Re:ahem

[Anonymous Coward]

BBC Broadband is available to non-tax payers too.

So...

[Anonymous Coward]

Anyone got the torre... Ah, forget it.

Better as a radio show

[jone_stone]

Personally I thought this show worked better on the radio, where I didn't get distracted by extremely low budget. Are British people just used to this sort of production value? No, I'm not being a troll -- I do think it's a very innovative series, but the TV version just didn't hold my interest. It seems like a lot more shows that come from the UK have much lower production values than we're used to seeing in the US. Anyone have any insights as to why there's such a difference?

Re:Better as a radio show

[jonathan_ingram]

You're right -- TV series in the UK tend to be lower budget than US shows. You can explain most of this just by noting that the UK is a much smaller market than the US (population of 60 million vs. 260 million), and that the UK's much more likely to buy US programming for the main channels than the US is to buy UK programming. We also have a much smaller number of channels. Ignoring the minor satellite channels, only have four networks: the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, and Five. The main satellite network, Sky, are responsible for a small amount of original content, but almost all the material they show are US imports. Less competition means less need to spend millions of pounds on a show to differentiate it from its competitors. On the other hand, the smaller number of networks means that they tend to stick with shows, even if the first few episodes aren't particularly popular. It's very rare to see the sort of mid-season show cancellation common in the US.

So, you have to realise that the TV landscape in the UK is very different from that in the US. TV is also not the be-all and end-all in the UK: thanks to the BBC we have a flourishing radio network, which commissions new drama, comedy, and quizzes. Many popular TV shows are adaptations of shows which first appeared on radio.

We also traditionally have much shorter series lengths: it's quite typical for a series to only have 6 programmes long, or 12/13 for a longer run, compared to the 22/24 episodes in a typical season of a US show. There are several reasons for this, one of which is that in the UK TV shows are typically written by a very small number of people, compared to the committee-based script writing common in the US.

Re:Better as a radio show

[Spad]

Production Values are something that are often over-valued - similar to Graphics in games.

Take Red Dwarf, for example - a successful Sci-Fi comedy. It started on a very low budget, but it didn't matter, because the scripts were excellent. In fact, it actually went downhill after they started adding fancy CGI because part of the appeal was its "low budgetness".

If the story is good, you don't need a $2 million an episode budget to tell it - people will watch it for the story.

Re:Better as a radio show

[mike260]

Are British people just used to this sort of production value?

I suppose so. I prefer to think of it as valuing content over gloss; I honestly can't see how doubling the Mighty Boosh's budget would have made it any funnier. Anyway, the beeb's not shy about spending cash on programmes that actually require it, so we get to see expensive shows too.

Re:Better as a radio show

[Anonymous Coward]

Small nitpick: The US's population is a little over 295M, which is about 60% of the UK's population :).

Re:Better as a radio show

[Larry Lightbulb]

The style of the humour was such that the radio was always going to 'look' better than the TV, regardless of how much was spent on it - things can be described which can never be created.

Re:Better as a radio show

[Anonymous Coward]

So there are 492M people living in the UK? I thought it was getting crowded over here ;)

Re:Better as a radio show

[pipingguy]

TV series in the UK tend to be lower budget than US shows.

All countries' TV programming is lower budget than US shows. I no longer bother to subscribe (digital) to the big 3 American networks, it's 95% crap. One might think that cost per episode equates to quality, but it doesn't.

Re:Better as a radio show

[soliptic]

Your Red Dwarf example is very well chosen, but you don't even land the killer blow ;-)

Having upgraded their budget for later series, they went back and "digitally remastered" the early series for the DVD release - replaced the cheesy model FX shots with CGI equivalents, and so on.

The fans complained, and now the early series you buy on DVD (or see repeated on TV) are back to the original, "charmingly shabby" versions.

BBC learns fast...

[Brakz0rz]

Sounds like this makes perfect sense after success of the Dr. Who 'Leak'.

Re:BBC learns fast...

[BHAX]

I also thought of Dr Who when I read this article. I never had an interest in Dr Who, but when "Rose" the first episode was "leaked". I have no doubt that the BBC might not me as smart as I am crediting them as being, but just in case they are.

Just think of the ripple effect that the Dr Who leak had. It put Dr Who in the American newspapers. I'm guessing a quarter of a million people downloaded the episode, whom each told five to six other people. People that went out and bought Dr Who dvds. I wouldn't be suprised if Dr Who torrents generated millions of dollars of revenue for the Dr Who franchise. If only they would be less greedy with the quarters they would make many dollars. Dr Who torrents gives Dr Who a cool factor which never existed in the United States. I am speaking for myself but I know there must be others.

Sweet

[NeoCode]

Good start but how about some classics:
- Faulty Towers
- Mind Your Language
- Black Adder
and others.

And of course Monty Python. I doubt that'll happen anytime soon one can hope.

Re:Sweet

[Anonymous Coward]

"Mind Your Language" was produced by ITV, not the BBC, and is unlikely to be promoted anyway as it's not seen as politically correct nowadays.

Re:Sweet

[Larry Lightbulb]

Or funny.

does anyone else see this as a parody of

[krunk4ever]

'the mighty bush' (aka our USA president)

Re:does anyone else see this as a parody of

[Anonymous Coward]

No. Watch the show.

A modest proposal...

[drewcaster]

Let me charge a *mandatory* fee on every television in the US to fund my network and I'll promise to make all sorts of programming *free* for download. I'm that nice.

I grew up watching BBC programs. I love the BBC. But, that has more to do with brit humor and sensibility than anything else. The BBC is a government funded entity that's supported by taxes. Comparing it with private networks that don't have the luxury of making subscribership mandatory is silly.

Step 1. Tax everyone who owns a TV set
Step 2. Profit!!!!
Step 3. Create some good and some mediocre programming and *give* it away because it's already paid for

Re:A modest proposal...

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm British and have to agree with you - especially step 3.

The BBC is only interested in "infecting" the Internet because it will then have grounds to claim broadband usage as a basis for demanding a licence fee at some time in the not too distant future. It currently gives free broadband programming to ISPs in the U.K. - nobody asked for it but the BBC does it anyway.

You've got to be pretty gullible not to see any BBC net initiatives as anything other than softening up for the extension of the licence fee to cover net connections.

Re:A modest proposal...

[Anonymous Coward]

You forgot the bit about:

ignore and even offend commercial companies freely, because they don't own you, the people do

The BBC's one of the few particularly good things about Britain. I'd personally be happier to stop wasting money on advertising and enforcing the license fee, and just have it funded from the government instead. The editorial position can be kept independed as it is now regardless.

But yes, don't insult our Beeb. If we didn't have that, we'd all be Minnesotans! :D

Look for much more of this happening soon.

[crovira]

Apple has shown that a company and the artists can make some dough at this.

The net can serve as a distribution channel, with DRM and the Beeb, or any one else for that matter, can make some dough from this DIRECTLY without having to rely on the availability of some commercial channel who might be willing (for some dough) to carry their shows.

Actually, look for for production companies to test market their shows directly to the internet to figure out if there is any demand.

Who needs some expensive theatre to play a movie for only three weeks when you can stream it on demand directly to the consumer. (I expect that this will really take off for TV shows since most PC monitor resolution exceed TV and you can even download HDTV with the appropriate codecs.)

Yeah! Somebody's finally 'getting it.'

It's a conspiracy!

[zanderredux]

Actually, the BBC is engaged in a highly secret conspiracy orchestrated by 10 Downing Street and the British Crown to standardise spelling and pronunciation around the British English, putting to an end over than 20 years of American English domination in the global media, in the most un-American way ever conceivable: by giving stuff freely via Internet.

Want proof? If you go abroad, take a look at CNN International. It uses British English as an attempt to present theirselves as a neutral news outlet, in a trend that began around the late '90s

Re:It's a conspiracy!

[Anonymous Coward]

Really??

http://edition.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/europe/07/10/lon don.attacks/index.html

"synchronized"

Quality!

[Martz]

The Mighty Boosh is a hilarious, quality TV series. It's slightly off the wall, but it's good to see comedy cover new ground rather than reinvent the old gags.

I'm also proud that the BBC is going to trial the streaming shows, they seem to have been heavily investing in multicast routing with the ISPs to enable delivery. More details about it here: http://support.bbc.co.uk/multicast/

If anything, you need to watch it to see just how good Vinces' hair is!

Re:Quality!

[Anonymous Coward]

Actually New24 is on a unicast stream this weekend due to the incidents in London:

support.bbc.co.uk/multicast/rams/uni/news24.ram

My ISP (pipex) is already on the multicast trial, the BBC even had a 1.5mbit stream during Royal Ascot.

Re:Quality!

[aslate]

Thanks for that, i use Pipx but i didn't know of those feeds. That News24 feed is excellent!

imitation

[aneroid]

i think (read: imho) they're just picking up on the popularity of battlestar galactica with "the online community" before it aired on sci-fi channel at primetime. (i think it was sky-one before that).

cool way to get a bunch of geeks to check out something (boosh) they may not have bothered with otherwise.

my 0.02 euro.

Re:imitation

[Anonymous Coward]

cool way to get a bunch of geeks to check out something (boosh) they may not have bothered with otherwise.

Yes. When it comes to matters of that nature, us geeks need all the help we can get.

US' PBS probably helped BBC's popularity

[absinthminded64]

The US had many very "rural" areas where the only outside connection (aside from satellite TV) was the telephone that sat atop a pole outside (green acres joke). Those areas didn't get much in the way of TV reception but could usually rely on their being a PBS signal that would usually be watchable. PBS was "free" of adverts and actually showed a great deal of BBC shows. Dr. Who, Keeping up appearances, Faulty Towers, Are you being served, and many other great shows were aired on PBS. The way PBS got their funding was to interrupt a popular show such as 'Are You Being Served' to beg for money. Just as Ms. Slocum was about to tell you about the fire brigade climbing a ladder to grab her pussy PBS would interrupt and beg for money in front of a crowd of inmates or homeless people who were forced to answer phones. You didn't watch the rest of the show until they met their goal and they would usually send you a complimentary "something" for sending them money. My Grandmother still has her prized PBS John Inman toilet seat. You may remember Homer Simpson's faux pledge to PBS where he had to leave the country to avoid the PBS collectors. The BBC is great and I would pay dearly to get their content on a regular basis.

Still best signal

[imthesponge]

When using the antenna on my little portable TV, PBS is the only channel that comes in clearly.

More than cuts

[imthesponge]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/artic le/2005/06/09/AR2005060902283.html

In addition, the subcommittee acted to eliminate within two years all federal money for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting -- which passes federal funds to public broadcasters -- starting with a 25 percent reduction in CPB's budget for next year, from $400 million to $300 million.

(emphasis added)

Licence fee until 2016 and then

[hughbar]

Yes, I think they are looking for new ways to fund after the current charter runs out. It's interesting that some BBC email now has a sig: www - world wide wonderland! As a Brit, I like what the BBC used to stand for, but currently its an alarming, expensive mixture of waste, arrogance and bias. Also, it's sprawling into areas that need to be independent such as grass roots activism (BBC Ican). All these are arguments for a smaller, more responsive BBC, back to basics.

The Mighty Mighty Boosh on Slashdot?

[matt me]

Wow. My fave comedy program. Pretty Obscure. On Slashdot. I'm amazed.

I have to say here though, however sexy Noel Fielding and her hair is, the Boosh was better on the radio. So much more surreal.