14 DAY TRIAL // Sources on the Internet have revealed that the Mac version of BBC iPlayer will be launched this year. The new application will enable Mac users not only to stream, but also to download TV content from the Internet, and watch it at their leisure. BBC found that the iPlayer was having a significant effect on the web TV market in the UK.
The BBC's General Director, Mark Thompson, wrote a while ago in a blog entry that there was a lot of criticism for a lack of Mac and Linux compatibility, all this while a lot of positive feedback was also received, ever since iPlayer was officially launched on Christmas.
"Contrary to what some believe - the BBC actually works hard to provide internet services on a 'platform agnostic' basis. However, the issue of download of programmes to Mac and other platforms has always been a more complex issue for technical and rights reasons," webuser.co.uk quotes Thompson.
Naturally, some issues concerned protecting content from being copied and redistributed illegally. The BBC has overcome those issues and can now confirm the upcoming availability of a Mac-compatible download application during the course of this year.
"Work is still ongoing, but I am happy to be able to confirm here that we are aiming to launch a download version of BBC iPlayer for Mac this year," he said. Thompson added that the Mac-compatible iPlayer application will also be compatible with Firefox and Internet Explorer.
Explaining why the BBC chose to launch a beta version of the app only for Windows, Thompson revealed that "at the time of the development of the BBC iPlayer, the BBC was forced to choose between offering the service to a majority of users immediately - or to not offer catchup TV over the internet until full platform neutrality could be achieved." As such, the broadcasting corporation "chose to begin by serving the greatest number of licence-fee payers possible, and to follow up on that work to extend the service to other operating systems at the earliest opportunity," according to the same man.
Stay tuned for when BBC announces an exact launch date for the Mac version of BBC iPlayer.