BBC iPlayer on TV: BT Vision, Audio Description, live channels

Hi, I am a senior product manager for BBC iPlayer on TV devices. It’s been a busy few months for us and I wanted to let you know about some improvements we’re sharing with users.

BT Vision gets new BBC iPlayer on TV version

If you have the BT Vision set top box at home you may have noticed that the version of BBC iPlayer you get has changed. This is a very significant milestone for the BBC as it marks the last major platform to move away from the old server stack we used to power BBC iPlayer with to the new version of BBC iPlayer, which features 30 days availability, access to exclusive programmes only on BBC iPlayer, the Radio 1 video channel and collections. We’ve worked very closely with BT to help them improve the browser that runs on this device so it will run BBC iPlayer on TV.

From eight versions to one on TV

Over the last year, we’ve been focused on getting the same version of BBC iPlayer to all users on the TV where possible. If you have YouView or Virgin Media’s TiVo service, you’ll have had the new version for a little while now. In the last year, we’ve actually gone from eight different versions of BBC iPlayer on TV to one, which means we can focus more of our energy in improving the experience and making it even better.

Audio Described video

BBC iPlayer on TV now has an audio described category, which groups together in one place all the content available with the audio description track. We’re pleased to bring this feature to TV, aligning with the mobile, tablet and web version.

Live channel playback – Watch what’s on now

The BBC was one of the first to bring live video coverage to their TV applications in time for the London 2012 Olympics. We’ve now built on this experience and added live BBC channel playback to BBC iPlayer on TV. So, if you can’t access the channels via the traditional means or your signal isn’t great, then you can watch BBC One live, via BBC iPlayer.

This feature is now available on all devices that have BBC Sport and will be coming to Microsoft Xbox One and Sony Playstation 4 soon.

For the full list of devices and features check out the ‘where to get BBC iPlayer’ site.