Over the last few weeks I’ve been using the BBC iPlayer via my cable TV service. Although it’s not so intuitive navigating with a remote, it’s still a lot nicer ‘on demand’ experience than watching on my laptop.

This creates an interesting overlap - I’m getting BBC content (which is currently paid for via the license fee) over Virgin infrastructure (which I pay for directly). Notionally I’m getting this content as part of Virgin’s TV offering - though in reality there’s little difference in how the content is being delivered compared to downloading the programmes using my broadband service and watching on my computer.

So with 4OD, iPlayer and now skyPlayer is broadcast TV on the way out? There’s already a vast amount of ‘content’ available via YouTube et al, additionally other content providers such as the The Guardian are weighing in with video reports on their homepage (there’s obviously a whole black market of P2P downloads, but that’s all whole different can of worms). If most of my TV viewing is ‘on demand’ should I cancel my pay TV subscription and just up my bandwidth? Obviously some content needs to be in real time, such as live news and sport for example - but a vast array of programming isn’t really that ‘urgent’. The interesting thing with the skyPlayer is that Sky (in the UK particularly) is both an infrastructure and content provider. What becomes of all those dishes if you can just pull down sky content as and when you need it?

Thrown into the mix is the investment in Sky+ (and V+) type technology that these hybrid content / infrastructure providers have made. Now if the skyPlayer had Sky+ type functionality (so that it ‘knew’ that I liked a certain type of program) and could recommend content, then I really wouldn’t need my Tivo clone. Additionally, how the broadcast spectrum is being used (and sold) starts to look outdated. Do we really need to be broadcasting 80s sitcoms and time shifted history programmes (UKTV History +1!), when that content is available ‘on demand’.

The downside of all this is that I have to jump from one bespoke, closed protocol ‘on demand’ system to another to see if my favourite programme is available - as well as scouring youTube and Vimeo HD for any UGC that might take my fancy as well. This isn’t looking very attractive. I’m going to need some kind of aggregator, a Netvibes or Google reader for my TV viewing options - or an open standard for rights managed online video content. I don’t really see either of those things happening any time soon.

Header image: Walt Jabsco on flickr

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