16/05/17 - iPlayer catchup service will require user login within weeks, says BBC (71)

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2017/may/11/iplayer-catchup-service-will-require-user-login-within-weeks-says-bbc-tv-licence-fee-evasion

This article is about how the BBC are going to require users to log in onto BBC iPlayer very soon. Users of BBC iPlayer will need to enter a password to access the online catch-up service within the next few weeks, the broadcaster has announced. In addition, the BBC denied the move was part of a crackdown on TV licence fee evasion, but said email addresses registered to an account may allow it to identify people using the service without paying.Th plans, say the BBC, include tailoring programme suggestions to users based on previous choices and will allow people to start watching a programme on one device before picking up where they left off on their television. And the changes come after rules introduced last year made watching or downloading BBC programmes through the iPlayer illegal without a TV licence.

• The introduction of a login, which was revealed last September, is part of the BBC’s plans to make services “more personal and relevant to you”, according to Andrew Scott, launch director of MyBBC.
• “So we will now use this alongside our existing enforcement techniques to help identify people who are watching licence fee-funded content without a licence.”
• From Thursday iPlayer users will be notified with a message saying they “will soon need to sign in to watch”, encouraging them to do so before the deadline in a few weeks.

In my opinion, I believe that this idea of wanting to make the BBC iPlayer the number one on-demand industry in the world is very ambitious and hard but would be very beneficial. Hall talks about wanting to make it better than Netflix and the only way I would believe that this can only become better is if they show all of the 'blockbuster' movies that are well recognised to the public audience. However, if they were to do this, there can potentially be many downsides towards this. One of them being the cost of it; the cost can increase massively and therefore, instead of making it better it can make it worse because in September 2015 the BBC said that only TV License audiences can view the iPlayer so therefore, there would be addition payments for the iPlayer and these are some of the things which the BBC would need to keep an eye out on if they are trying to make it better and number 1 in the world. Furthermore, the idea about doing the BBC worldwide is a great idea and everyone can have the access of watching British soaps etc in any country.