After 3 years of complicated negotiations BBC iPlayer has launched on the Xbox 360 games console. United Leeds Endeavours looks at the streaming service revolution.
United Leeds Endeavours is a direct sales and marketing firm that specialises in the entertainment industry so they know better than many that the growth of on-line streaming services has been exponential over recent years. They were therefore delighted to hear that Xbox 360 has finally been able to add BBC iPlayer to the list of streaming services that it offers directly through the console.
The process has been a protracted one because Microsoft, who creates the Xbox, wanted to charge for all the content that is offered through its Xbox Live platform. United Leeds Endeavours feels that the BBC was right to hold out for a free service.
How has online, on-demand streaming grown over the past few years? The number of major online streaming services is rising year on year, YouTube now offers their service through many devices along with the country’s leading film DVD rental and streaming service LoveFilm.com. 4od is also another major player in the field. BBC iPlayer is now available on 450 platforms including Virgin Media, BT Vision, Freesat, Nintendo Wii, Sony Playstation as well as the majority of tablets such as the iPad.
The general manager for the BBC’s Programmes and On-Demand section, Daniel Danker, said “Xbox is hugely successful in the UK. Given the BBC’s goal to reach its entire audience, I’m particularly excited that the BBC will be bringing iPlayer to all Xbox users at no extra cost as part of Xbox Live’s free membership.”
United Leeds Endeavours believes that the most exciting aspect of the arrival is that because the Xbox 360 has the Kinect motion-controller, for the first time users will be able to navigate the BBC iPlayer using hand gestures and voice commands. The company believes that this is a giant leap forwards in what on-line streaming has to offer.
A spokesperson for United Leeds Endeavours said, “With companies like LoveFilm.com now holding a majority share of the market, video rental stores are becoming a thing of the past. Increasingly we’re going to see the disappearance of stores like Blockbusters and I think we’re going to see a total switch-over to postal DVD services for those who still want the hard disk, or online streaming as internet-ready TV’s becoming increasingly popular. This is going to be one of the biggest changes for the entertainment industry in decades.”
