Directories listing the various UK radio stations that have a live online
feed are nothing new, but the BBC and commercial radio have revealed a joint
venture entitled UK Radioplayer that should mean that people listening to radio
online will be able to jump around stations while staying within the same radio
player.
The press release tells us that the pop-up console will be able
to stream over 400 stations, which will be a mixture of licensed national,
local, community and student radio stations. A key feature would appear to be
the search functionality allowing people to look for specific types of shows
and music. A BBC blog has a video demo of what some of the features
embedded within the console will be. These include support for advertising,
programme sponsorship and other interactive content. The radio player, while
initially limited to personal computers, will in later releases support
smartphones and IPTV set-top boxes.
As with projects like Canvas, this project will require approval from the
BBC trust. Approval is not a foregone conclusion, the Canvas project is still
in the balance with opposition from some broadcasters not involved in the
‘open’ project.
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But what a pity the BBC only streams in WMA – a Microsoft patented format that doesn’t work on many devices. All the other stations I listen to use open standards like AAC. I suppose the BBC doesn’t really want to be part of the digital revolution. Betamax all over again.
bbc not commercial company yet use highly commercialised standards. Do we still not get football match commentary not streamed?
Interesting article in The Times today by a certain J Clarkson on paying for internet content. Conclusion seems to be if its not free then many will be happy to do without it. Having used the internet since it was invented I despair at the commerciality of it, but, hey, that’s progress for you……
BBC Reinventing the wheel when there is already a brilliant free player called Songbird from Mozilla who also make Firefox
Will it work with Mac OSX Snow Leopard [aka 10.6.x]?
Paying for news on line seems to have, shall we say, a limited appeal? Bit like those bookreader screens, a few will pay or put it on expenses (somehow!) while the rest of us will manage without Murdoch news…
Songbird may be brilliant but it has on my xp machine proved unreliable and buggy. I keep on trying the latest versions and then uninstalling it- pity.