BBC iplayer from outside the UK

[Schneebored 0]

Originally Posted By: veronica

Does anyone know, is there a way I can view programs on the BBC Iplayer from here in Japan? I have looked into it a bit and I soon get lost in talk of proxys (or something). Seems it can be done but it might be a bit complex.

And, is it naughty? I only really want to watch one program next week.

Proxy or some other 3rd party software is your only real option.

Try googling foxyproxy & BBC IPlayer and you will find some semi-straight forward guides.

Probably alot of hassel just too see a hobbit pianist.

[Tubby Beaver 209]

the proxy's aren't always good though, almost all I have tried to use slow the computer right down so that the program is always buffering. Try siging up to UKNova, it's a torrent site which is free to use but you have to sign up for it (no fees though). People post programs almost as soon as they come off the TV, you can even make requests if you don't see it in the upcoming guide. You have to seed the programs though, if you just leech them then you get a bad score and you have to wait a while before you can download anything

[BagOfCrisps 24]

Originally Posted By: bobby12

You should just be able to get any movie/program on download to your TV via XBOX or PS3, regardless of country, but I wonder if that day will ever come.

Why do you feel entitled to that then?

You don't pay for the BBC living in Japan. People in the UK do.

[Tubby Beaver 209]

cos free stuff is good and we WANT it!!

[RobBright 35]

Originally Posted By: BagOfCrisps

Why do you feel entitled to that then?

You don't pay for the BBC living in Japan. People in the UK do.

Better start paying more for us than BoC - seeing as we subsidise your trains and stuff while you are over here.

[BagOfCrisps 24]

And in what strange logic is that anything like the same?

[Tubby Beaver 209]

being serious though, Bobby didn't mention the BBC specifically, just said that you should be able to download or watch any movie anywhere at a click of a button

[RobBright 35]

Originally Posted By: BagOfCrisps

And in what strange logic is that anything like the same?

Same crazy logic that makes people in the UK think that foreigners don't do anything for the BBC. Have you tried looking at the BBC site from outside the UK? Covered with paid ads, videos interspersed with adverts, hell, even the news channels have ads on them to subsidise the costs.

If we have to sit through ads to watch stuff for free, then so be it, but don't think that we should have to pay for it.

Out of the license fee £0.67 per house per month goes on BBC online and the iPlayer. If ITV and Channel 4 can survive with paying ads, then why can't the BBC?

[BagOfCrisps 24]

It seems you are misunderstanding.

 

Either ads or pay is fine.

But free, without ads, is not really.

[Tubby Beaver 209]

is that only from abroad you get all them ads? I did not know that

[RobBright 35]

Originally Posted By: BagOfCrisps

It seems you are misunderstanding.

Either ads or pay is fine.
But free, without ads, is not really.

But you said yourself that we don't pay for the BBC, well if it wasn't for us, the BBC wouldn't be getting ads to subsidise the programs and radio.

Whatever

[RobBright 35]

Originally Posted By: Tubby Beaver

is that only from abroad you get all them ads? I did not know that

Yeah, got the adds in Fiji, Maldives, Thailand, Guam and Indonesia when surfing the net. Bloody annoying, as they sometimes have massive pop-ups with TINY "X" for closing them.

[BagOfCrisps 24]

Don't use the BBC then.

See if I give a crap.

[Tubby Beaver 209]

yeah, I hate the ones that get shown before the videos and you have to watch them....its only a minute or so but it bugs me

[bobby12 0]

I meant that I should be able to download any program *for a fee* or *with ads* regardless of location and watch it on my tv. This is the ideal situation and inevitable conclusion, it will just take time.

 

I have been studying more about how to watch iplayer on tv (not pc) from japan.

1) It seems PS3 etc are a deadend unless you buy a special vpn-enabled router from the us at $200.

2) Another idea seems to be to make a 'bridge connection' from PS3 to PC but I am still trying to work out if that will suffer from problem in (1) above.

3) I am now looking into devices such as Boxee which has plugins available to handle vpn, but it seems they only work on a mac LAN not windows.

 

Any ideas/success stories?

[NoFakie 45]

Originally Posted By: big-will

$10 an episode?
Not from me they won't!

Yeah stuck in the past.

Content providers have to realize that distribution is essentially free now (if you don't use Apple etc.). Instead of looking it as a menace, all the file-sharing and streaming options out there are essentially market research for the kind of things people want. What they are doing is filling a void, classic free market capitalism for those who follow that religion. With more capacity and high quality all of them could be improved, and with sensible pricing a decent number of people will pay. Just as a decent number of people pay for things on Itunes. Obviously some people wont pay and still use torrents etc., but that can't be helped. The easiest way to encourage people to use torrents and streaming for free is not fill the void, to not provide a better alternative.

I bet a fair few thousand people overseas pay more than the licence fee for proxy services that let them watch Iplayer. Channel4/ITV detect proxies better than the BBC does, so such people may be paying more than the licence fee solely for the BBC. I think its what you call a market failure.

[bobby12 0]

what wiggles said.

[arcadia 0]

So did you manage to watch/download it Veronica?

[scouser 4]

I think I can do without my Dr Who.

 

What is there on BBC actuallh worth watching these days?

[veronica 2]

No, I found it on youtube the next day.

 

It wasn't Mr Holland, of course, but a performance I wanted to see.

[scouser 4]

Eastenders.

 

Not.

[big-will 7]

The BBC's iPlayer service is to be launched globally this year and it will cost people outside Britain half the price of the UK licence fee.

 

The international version of the iPlayer app will cost less than U.S. $10 per month - £6.13 - which equates to around £73 per year.

 

The annual license fee for UK viewers is £145.50 per year.

'We're exploring internationally what the right pricing and models are ... the most important thing is the consumer pricing is right,' said Mark Thompson, the BBC’s director general, at a conference in London.

He added that the iPad service will launch 'definitely this year', and said it will cost, 'a small number of dollars per month, definitely fewer than 10'.

 

The BBC has said that the global iPlayer app will not provide all of the BBC's content to overseas subscribers, but the catch-up service is expected to allow those abroad access to full series of shows.

 

The licence fee gives Britons access to 10 TV channels and 55 radio stations, as well as the Online, Mobile and iPlayer services.

 

However, the BBC said that the international iPlayer app will help to provide more funding for services for people in the UK, a view was echoed by industry experts.

'There are two ways of looking at this,' Ian Maude, head of internet at Enders Analysis, told the Telegraph.

 

'One way is that people overseas should pay more for BBC content than those in the UK who are forced to pay the licence fee, whether they like or not, as it is imposed as a flat tax.

[bobby12 0]

sweet!

 

i guess it will only be homemade bbc shows available though.

[brit-gob 9]

"The international version of the iPlayer app"

 

Wonder what it means by 'app'?

Haven't they just released an iPad App for iplayer, only available in the UK?

Perhaps that is what they are meaning..

[NoFakie 45]

There's demand, and it'll bring in more money so good on them. Ichiman a year isn't bad. Cheaper than buying dvds for kids if you want to give them some English. Some of the specialist radio shows are pretty good too.

 

Hope it works on the Wii. It used to work really well (with a proxy) via Opera, the Wii's browser, but then they stopped browser access and made it into a Wii Channel that you can't get outside the UK. Watching tv on a tv (via a game console etc.) is much nicer than on a computer, even with a limited resolution feed like iPlayer.