I bought the 2016 revival of Goodnight Sweetheart from BBC Store (as it was never released on DVD). I was somewhat surprised to see it start with a second of the BBC1 hippos ident and end with a credit squeeze and announcer VO. I'm guessing for whatever reason that is how it went up on iPlayer, and it was transferred straight to the BBC Store in that format, but a bit shoddy to purchase a programme and basically get an off air recording.
A lot of iPlayer stuff comes from off-air recordings. Which is fine for that and catch-up purposes but yeah if you buy it off the Store you'd expect at least a clean credit sequence surely?
Yep - the whole premise of the BBC Store was, wherever possible, to use the iPlayer version of the show. Effectively you were buying the ability to watch the iPlayer version indefinitely.
Usually the iPlayer version is pre-encoded from the TX masters (clean in and out and no credit VO/squeeze) prior to broadcast, but in some cases a provisional version is taken from the off-air broadcast (and in the case of live broadcasts this is often the only version published) Sometimes this version is not replaced. (I imagine the iPlayer file is archived. ISTR that since the BBC went to their new workflow - as detailed in a couple of blog posts - a single file is created containing all the various resolutions required for various platforms and variable bitrate streaming solutions?)
ISTR that BBC Store was heavily integrated into iPlayer (to reduce running costs), so I guess this explains it?
Personally I felt BBC Store had come a little too late to the game.
Buying shows to keep is no longer as popular as it once was. The era of streaming is where it's at nowadays.
In terms of my personal spending habits, the last time I bought something to keep online was probably about 2 years ago. Nowadays my content is on Spotify and Netflix.
Overall I spent about £20 in the whole 2 year lifetime of BBC Store. Yet if they offered a subscription service, I'd probably be spending about £10.99 a month and Joe Bloggs would see it as much better value for money as I'd have access to all content.
I reckon we may see BBC Store return in the form on BBC-flix. Knowing Auntie Beeb it might take a while for them to get there though.
1. Website design poor, especially search which was restricted to programme titles only, not presenters or genres. No easy way of identifying new content added either.
2. Apps restricted to playing content not acquiring
and the damnedness one of the lot
3. Inability to play on Connected TVs with native applications relying on casting, which wasn't that good, from other devices to replicate content on TVs.
I'm contesting my refund incidentally as I feel that for items available elsewhere the repurchase cost rather than price paid should be offered. They're also refusing to acknowledge any discounts offered when content was purchased which were incentives at the time. I'm not playing hard-ball just feel that this should be recovered too.
Personally I felt BBC Store had come a little too late to the game.
Buying shows to keep is no longer as popular as it once was. The era of streaming is where it's at nowadays.
In terms of my personal spending habits, the last time I bought something to keep online was probably about 2 years ago. Nowadays my content is on Spotify and Netflix.
Overall I spent about £20 in the whole 2 year lifetime of BBC Store. Yet if they offered a subscription service, I'd probably be spending about £10.99 a month and Joe Bloggs would see it as much better value for money as I'd have access to all content.
I reckon we may see BBC Store return in the form on BBC-flix. Knowing Auntie Beeb it might take a while for them to get there though.
I don't think TV show downloads have ever been popular have they? I've only ever downloaded a handful of episodes since they launched on the iTunes Store years ago. The use of DRM had always put me right off - would much rather own a DVD or BD in a nice physical package which I can rip and not have to worry about it suddenly being unwatchable because they've pulled the plug 12 months after I bought it. (Same reason I don't pay for music streaming services - already had problems with music disappearing with no warning).
I can't imagine a monthly paid BBC streaming service, on top of an already increased licence fee, will go down particularly well with the public. Course, they already had a service like that with all the broadcasters, See Saw, that could have been a popular steaming service. But they shut that down too!
I must be the exception then. I have 81 series on Apple TV and had 32 BBC Store ones too. Much better than DVD equivalents, if you have the BB speed to accomodate. Portable too if on a journey to load iPad with.
So when they claimed that you could download and keep programmes forever, they were just plain lying? Lucky for them that the Consumer Protection From Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 aren't actually enforced in any meaningful way.
I have always seen digital downloads as a waste of time, especially if they rely on some form of subscription (like Sky Store). I always buy physical media or obtain an unencrypted digital version and burn it to physical media/backup drive.
Technology is always going to be changing, with digital files which have some form of protection, you cannot guarantee access to them will be maintained. Whereas with physical media, you will always be able to get hold of a player.
I see the point of downloads from subscription services like Netflix, Amazon, and also from DRM-ed but non-pay services like All4 and iPlayer, a they let you watch in areas you don't have access to a decent network connection (planes, trains, tubes etc.).
However - like others here - I'm wary about purchasing content outright if it is DRMed. You have no guarantee that playback will continue to work on future platforms and OSs. At least with a Blu-ray or DVD you are likely to be able to continue to play those for a time to come yet.
Having an iTunes or Ultraviolet (though they aren't great) download that comes with a DVD or Blu-ray purchase is probably optimum - as you get the convenience of being able to watch on tablet/phone/PC/Mac - but also the guarantee of a high quality disc to play at home on your TV.
My major bugbear with the BBC Store was that iPlayer quality is just 'meh'. It's not Blu-ray...
The main reason I used the store was to get items that were not available elsewhere or available at a significant discount
Here's my list of purchases ....
1066: A Year to Conquer England, Series 1
A Very British Romance with Lucy Worsley
All Aboard! The Canal Trip
All Aboard! The Country Bus
Armada: 12 Days to Save England
Art of France, Series 1
Atlantis, Series 1
Atlantis, Series 2
Blood and Gold: The Making of Spain with Simon Sebag Montefiore
Britain Beneath Your Feet
Britain's Ancient Capital: Secrets of Orkney
Byzantium: A Tale of Three Cities
Castles: Britain's Fortified History
Chivalry and Betrayal: The Hundred Years War
City in the Sky
Colour: The Spectrum of Science
Empire of the Tsars: Romanov Russia with Lucy Worsley
Galapagos
Genius of the Ancient World
Genius of the Modern World
Hidden Killers, The Post-War Home
Immortal Egypt with Joann Fletcher
Mary Beard's Ultimate Rome: Empire Without Limit
Rome's Invisible City
Sacred Rivers with Simon Reeve
Sarah & Duck, Series 1
Sir Terry Wogan Remembered: Fifty Years at the BBC
The Beginning and End of the Universe
The Greatest Tomb On Earth: Secrets of Ancient China
The Musketeers, Series 1
The Musketeers, Series 2
The Science of Doctor Who
The Secrets of Quantum Physics
The Vikings Uncovered
Treasures of Ancient Greece
Vienna: Empire, Dynasty and Dream
Most of which would never feature on Netflix, Amazon or iTunes.
Yes. It's a real pity the BBC doesn't offer (or isn't allowed to offer) more open access to its archive. SVT's Öppet Arkiv site is a treasure trove of old shows, made available free for streaming in the same way as new shows are on SVT Play.
Yes. It's a real pity the BBC doesn't offer (or isn't allowed to offer) more open access to its archive. SVT's Öppet Arkiv site is a treasure trove of old shows, made available free for streaming in the same way as new shows are on SVT Play.
Once again Sweden leading where others are yet to follow.
The biggest problem I had with it - and it may be an unfair criticism - would have gone along the lines of "I already pay a licence fee for all this stuff, why am I paying for it again?"
The BBC could probably shut the licence fee debate down if it was able to make part of its huge back catalogue available for free if you have a licence fee number. Albeit commercial rivals would probably scream about unfair competition etc etc.
