After the launch of the iPlayer app on Android and iPad in February 2011, the BBC has released an iPhone and iPod Touch version. The new app provides access to almost all of the iPlayer video on demand catalogue and live BBC TV and radio feeds via both WiFi and 3G cellular networks. In parallel to the new release, the BBC has also updated its iPad app with 3G streaming and AirPlay compatibility. The Android app remains WiFi only until the BBC releases an updated version in early 2012.
The mobile iPlayer app is extremely popular. The BBC reports a total of 2.7m iPlayer app installs - 1.5m on iPad and 1.2m on Android - from its launch up to December 12, 2011.
Analysis
The BBC has always been very proactive in making its services available to smartphone users, for example with the launch of the iPlayer mobile website on the iPhone in June 2008 and the Nokia N96 in October 2008. Today, the popular video on demand catch-up service is accessible from over 40 different mobile devices and the BBC has over 30 apps on the Apple App Store.
While making the service available via the browser with HTML or Flash implementations over WiFi was fairly straight-forward, the development of a native iPhone app has proven more difficult. The BBC has re-designed the user interface to match iPhone users' high expectations and, most importantly, they have modified streaming technology to handle unstable, highly resource-constrained 3G networks.
Despite the wide availability of the browser-based version of the iPlayer on mobile, usage has remained relatively low compared with home-based iPlayer-device: less than 10 per cent of requests have come from all mobile devices including portable media players, smartphones and tablets. The launch of the iPhone app and 3G streaming greatly improves the mobile experience and will drive mobile usage further, especially during the festive season when many users are away from home and there is a great deal of quality TV programming competing for attention.
Mobile data usage is growing exponentially in the UK and mobile operators that offer unlimited mobile data packages are likely to find the availability of iPlayer video over 3G worrying. IHS Screen Digest doesn't expect the iPlayer will have the same impact on mobile networks as it had over fixed networks because 1) mobile data caps imposed by most mobile operators will limit heavy usage and 2) the picture quality of video streaming over WiFi is far superior to that experienced over 3G. Most operators should see iPlayer's availability over 3G as an opportunity to up-sell more expensive data tariffs and raise additional revenues per user.
Find Out More > IHS Screen Digest Mobile Media Intelligence