Issue : BBC 'opens floodgates' to iPlayer hackers

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/mar/13/digitalvideo.television
· Anti-piracy breach allows unrestricted downloads
· Corporation says it is working to close loophole
This article has taught me that hackers are able to get through the BBCs anti-piracy systems to gain access to programmes on iPlayer. This causes problems with copyright protection.
Quote: "One of the hackers responsible said it took him only 12 minutes to find the loophole and make it work - but that such a simple hack potentially opened up every programme on iPlayer for unlimited downloading.
"The BBC accidentally opened the floodgates and gave the world DRM-free downloads," said one hacker with knowledge of the breach. "If only it were down to something other than poor design, decisions and ineptitude."
Also, the decision to incorporate anti-piracy protections has angered some campaigners, who believe that British citizens should have unprotected access to shows for which they have already paid with their TV licence fee.

Issues and Debates

http://www.ofcom.org.uk/tv/psb_review/digitalpsb/ "Digital PSB - Public Service Broadcasting post Digital Switchover"

Ofcom is the independent regulator and competition authority for the UK communications industries, with responsibilities across television, radio, telecommunications and wireless communications services.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7092822.stm " The town of Whitehaven in Cumbria has become the first place in the UK to turn off the analogue signal as part of the official switchover to digital TV. " The article explains that all ran smoothly, with little confusion, however David Sinclair, head of policy at Help the Aged, thinks more needs to be done to ensure the switchover runs smoothly across the rest of the UK.
"There are still analogue products on the market and we believe there should be mandatory labelling of analogue products and products which won't work after switchover without an adaptation," he said. "At the moment there are people still going into shops and buying products which may not work in a year's time," he added. Meanwhile, Digital UK played down reports that France's digital switchover scheme, which is scheduled to end in November 2011, might interfere with the digital terrestrial signal in parts of southern England.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/cumbria/6291668.stm According to BBC NEWS, "About a quarter of households at the forefront of the UK's digital TV switchover have yet to convert. With just under 100 days to go until Whitehaven's analogue signal is turned off, approximately 6,000 homes have not upgraded their equipment."

This article clearly links with my hypothesis, as it relates to who is able to make changes to work with the changes taking place, and who is left behind (information rich&poor)

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2007/sep/24/mondaymediasection.television2 "Teenage kicks-BBC Switch is a cross-platform initiative that hopes to capture the elusive 12 to 16-year-old market". This article talks about how the BBC is trying to appeal to 12 to 16 year olds, and some of the issues the BBC faces including the competition from iPods, mobiles, and online entertainment from site such as Bebo and MySpace.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/tv_and_radio/3067137.stm ''BBC faces debates over future role" - Key Quotes:

• The growth in digital TV has fractured the BBC's traditional audience, who are asking questions about the need for a licence fee which funds services they either cannot receive or do not watch.
• The BBC is criticised if they make programmes that are not popular but are worthy, and it is also criticised if it makes programmes which reach millions of people.
• The corporation has faced a large amount of criticism in the last 12 months from commercial rivals concerned that the BBC is encroaching into their territory.

Case study feedback #2

Well done Danny - very thorough research. You should now look at the links on PSB on the TWGSB blog and also consider how digital TV will enhance viewers experience of consuming television. Consider all the ways in which it is improved from analogue TV (timeshift technology, VoD, HD TV etc)

Also - what are the issues now for broadcasters with more fragmented audiences? (think about advertising revenue) What are the challenges facing them in producing HD TV programming? (think about renovating studio costs).

Also - do we ALL benefit from HD / VoD? Or does this create a digital divide?

Digital Switchover

From researching the ITV website in order to discover how they were marketing their product ('catch up'), i found these pages which were extremely relevant:
http://www.itv.com/Help/DigitalSwitchoverHelp/Timetableforswitching/default.html
http://www.itv.com/Help/DigitalSwitchoverHelp/Whatisit/default.html
From reading these pages I found a link to the 'digitaluk' website.
What is "Digital UK" ?
http://www.digitaluk.co.uk/
Digital UK is the independent, non-profit organisation leading the process of digital TV switchover in the UK. Digital UK provides impartial information on what people need to do to prepare for the move to digital, and when they need to do it. The company also works with digital TV platform operators, equipment manufacturers, installers, retailers, rental companies and consumer groups to coordinate the technical rollout of digital television across the UK. Digital UK was set up at the request of the Government. They work with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and the Department of Trade and Industry, as well as the regulator Ofcom, to prepare the UK for the biggest change in broadcasting since the introduction of colour. Digital UK is owned by the UK’s public service broadcasters (BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Five, S4C and Teletext), and multiplex operators SDN and National Grid Wireless.
http://www.digitaluk.co.uk/when
This website contains all the information you need to know about when the switchover takes place. You can even enter your postcode and find out when your region will switch. I found out that Kent will switch in 2012.

Region	Switchover happens in
Border	2008 - 09
West Country, Granada	2009
Wales	2009 - 10
West, STV North	2010 - 11
STV Central	2010 - 11
Central, Yorkshire, Anglia	2011
Meridian,London,	2012
Tyne Tees,Ulster,	2012

What are the institutions doing?

BBC iPlayer
I decided to research how the institutions (such as the BBC) were 'selling' their products (iPLayer in this case) to the audiences.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/info/channels/iplayer.shtml
I wanted to find out what exactly BBC iPlayer was. The website above told me that:

"BBC iPlayer is the easy-to-use service that lets you access television programmes via your PC. It offers seven-day catch-up television and now also incorporates radio 'listen again' and live streaming. The TV programmes are free for UK licence fee payers, at high quality and with no advertising. Once you have downloaded a programme to your computer you have 30 days within which to start watching and seven days to finish watching it"

I then decided to research how the BBC was 'selling' iPlayer to the audiences

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/

"With BBC iPlayer you can catch up with the programmes from the past seven days you've missed or want to watch again free of charge by playing them direct on the BBC iPlayer website or downloading them to your computer. As long as you are in the UK and connected to the internet you can:

• Find programmes you want to catch up on or watch again from the past seven days and watch them on the website through a method known as streaming.
• Download and store them on your computer for up to 30 days if you have a Windows PC.
• Play back high quality programmes on your computer as often as you like during the time that the programme is available."

4od
http://www.channel4.com/4od/index.html
Channel 4 has also decided to make programmes available digitally through 4od (on demand). I visited the above website to see how C4 were marketing 4od. It said:
"This is 4od, the best of channel 4, on demand
With hundreds of hours of TV, films and music, you can watch what you want, when you want. Catch up on the last 30days' TV for free
Enjoy 100s of classic shows for free
Pre-book your favourite shows and never miss a thing"

Hypothesis

In order to give my case study some structure, i have developed a hypothesis which i will prove either correct or incorrect. 

"The switch from analogue to digital television is beneficial to information rich citizens, but leaves behind those who are information poor."

case study feedback #1

Well done - perceptive analysis - keep up the good work!