A new-look BBC iPlayer is rolling out to TVs from today

BBC iPlayer
(Image credit: BBC)

The BBC is rolling out a new refreshed look for its iPlayer streaming service on TVs as part of the corporation's drive to modernise its digital offering. 

From today, viewers will find iPlayer's navigation menu moved to the left-hand side of the screen, which the BBC hopes will make it easier to browse different categories and create more on-screen space for content discovery.

This is the first of a number of iterative updates over the coming months that BBC is making to improve user experience and navigation across its online, mobile and TV platforms. These enhancements will sit alongside similar ones to other digital services including BBC News, BBC Sport and BBC Sounds.

The iPlayer first launched in 2007 (the same year that a rental company called Netflix also began streaming service) and in a recent blog post, the BBC's chief Chief Customer Officer Kerris Bright said that much had changed in the way the BBC provides its services over last 20 years. She also acknowledged that it had been a long time since the look and feel of the iPlayer had been updated and that users felt the platform looked "old fashioned". 

The new-look iPlayer launches today and will come to everyone who watches iPlayer on TV in the coming weeks. If want to try the new look iPlayer immediately you can do so by switching to 'beta' from the settings menu. 

MORE

Read our full iPlayer review

 29 BBC iPlayer tips, tricks and features

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Mary is a staff writer at What Hi-Fi? and has over a decade of experience working as a sound engineer mixing live events, music and theatre. Her mixing credits include productions at The National Theatre and in the West End, as well as original musicals composed by Mark Knopfler, Tori Amos, Guy Chambers, Howard Goodall and Dan Gillespie Sells. 

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