The BBC talking about streaming/downloadable TV/content

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According to this What America Could Learn From The BBC ZDNet article from last week the BBC seem to be doing all the right things when it comes to video and keeping ahead of the game. I especially concur with:
The biggest Web 2.0 explosion in the next two years will be the advent of video on demand. Whatever you want, whenever you want it. Cable television adoption will slow and start to recede, as more and more content becomes available online. The BBC recognizes this is what people want and is thinking of the audience first and foremost

Hence Google having YouTube and trying it's darndest to get its video search as good as its web page search.

If you want to see what the BBC has been asked to do in detail check out the BBC Trust reaches Provisional Conclusions on BBC on-demand proposals press release.

When we were over there one of the, "Wow!" moments I had was discovering BBC Interactive (BBCi) which is the new millenium replacement for Teletext if you received your TV digitally either via the free services (Freeview or Freesat) or Sky/cable. It was bringing together 3 disparate elements of the BBC:
  1. TV
  2. Web content
  3. Interactiveness-ity
Strangely no digital radio content.

A story of how it was all melding into one concerns watching a Welsh club game (rugby, Llanelli v Edinburgh I think) one Friday evening on BBC. I asked my Father what the red button* labelled "Commentary" meant, "Dunno, never pushed it, give it a go and see what happens". I did and I was presented with choices of what commentary to listen to:
  • BBC - the normal, standard one you get without digital TV
  • BBC Scotland - the commentary from the BBC Scotland as the away team was from that neck of the woods
  • BBC Welsh - Welsh language
  • Fans
Now the fans commentary was some Llanelli dudes at the game with a BBC microphone telling it like they saw it ... you know, just like you and I would, one-eye'd, humourous and only just remembering who was who.

Again, brining together a lot of BBC generated content to the user (me) and adding a smattering of user generated content. All terribly "Web 2.0" but delivered via a digital TV - very clever and someone (many probably) is doing it all very very right.

* The BBCi remotre control is remarkably similar to an NZ Sky one (or vice versa) with red, yellow, blue and green buttons that change functions depending upon what's on the screen

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