BBC to show programmes on iPlayer first

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The BBC will trial showing selected content online before it airs on TV, in an effort to further boost growing iPlayer viewing figures

bbc iplayer

The BBC plans to show selected TV programmes on iPlayer before they air on TV, in a 12-month experiment.

The trial will see 40 hours of programming make its debut on BBC iPlayer rather than BBC TV, a move that will test the strength of online TV viewing.

BBC iPlayer already allows you to watch live TV on some channels, and selected programmes, but this will be the first time that content (other than selected TV pilots) has aired first on iPlayer.

It is as yet unclear which shows will air during the trial or when the trial itself will start, but it points to a future where online is no longer purely the domain of catch-up TV.

Netflix, a streaming film subscription service, recently aired its own commissioned content, Kevin Spacey's House of Cards, for the first time.

This gave Netflix customers an exclusive - the programme won't be shown anywhere else - and showed that the company won't always have to wait for content partners to allocate TV programmes and films in future.

BBC’s online-only TV content has previously been restricted to pilots for new shows. One example of this is the BBC Three comedy Impractical Jokers.

In 2012, 36.5 billion minutes of programmes were watched on iPlayer, with mobiles and tablets seeing year on year growth of 177%. However online viewing still takes up only around 2% of the Beeb’s total viewing figures.

Watching live TV could give that a further boost, though it's worth remembering that ro view live TV, including online, you do need a TV license.

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Joe Cox
Joe Cox
Content Director

Joe is the Content Director for What Hi-Fi? and Future’s Product Testing, having previously been the Global Editor-in-Chief of What Hi-Fi?. He has worked on What Hi-Fi? across the print magazine and website for almost 20 years, writing news, reviews and features on everything from turntables to TVs, headphones to hi-fi separates. He has covered product launch events across the world, from Apple to Technics, Sony and Samsung; reported from CES, the Bristol Show, and Munich High End for many years; and written for sites such as the BBC, Stuff, and the Guardian. In his spare time, he enjoys expanding his vinyl collection and cycling (not at the same time).