BBC and Adobe to add Mac and Linux support to iPlayer

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In an effort to address criticisms of its iPlayer service levelled by the BBC Trust and large chunks of the public, the BBC has today announced a technology deal with Adobe that will allow access to the service by users of non-Windows computers.

The BBC will begin using Flash-based video, in conjunction with the Adobe Flash Player software, thus allowing Windows, Mac and Linux users access to iPlayer and other BBC online content via streaming.

The switch to Flash-based video streaming will be in place by the end of this year. While it will mean that the BBC is tied into a single technology vendor, the Flash technology and browser plug-in is available across a multitude of different platforms and supports multiple browsers.

The BBC currently uses a mixture of Windows Media, QuickTime and Real formats for streaming content on the bbc.co.uk site.

"It is important to ensure that BBC iPlayer is available on as many platforms as possible. It will offer our audiences increased flexibility as to how and when they consume our content, both live and on-demand, on bbc.co.uk," said Erik Huggers, BBC Future Media and Technology Group controller.

The quick-fix announced this morning will not give users of Mac OS and Linux access to the iPlayer download service, which for the moment only runs on Windows XP-based computers and relies heavily on Microsoft's Windows Media digital rights management (DRM) technology.

"With more control over playback, interactivity and branding, the move to Flash Player compatible video will help the BBC to engage audiences by delivering a seamless, instant-on web video experience," added Bruce Chizen, chief executive of Adobe.

The BBC iPlayer is currently in public beta, and will officially launch to the public at Christmas, when it will offer both the Windows-only downloading service and the multi-platform streaming services, as well as radio.

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