Now we know what makes you people tick: the BBC. Our inboxes (and
comments) have been flooded with news about the BBC iPlayer in one of our most-tipped stories
ever.
If you're one of the five people who
didn't send us this tip and don't know what's up, the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) announced today that their iPlayer, which allows viewers to catch up with BBC shows online, is now compatible with the Wii. And yes, that means you'll be able to watch
Dr. Who,
EastEnders, and other such
programmes on your TV to your tea-drinking heart's content.
Should this venture by the BBC become successful (which we think it will -- after the news was announced, the number of people using the iPlayer rose significantly), we wouldn't be surprised to see other major networks adopt their services to Nintendo's console.
That's not to say that the BBC isn't running into some problems with the idea, though. Right now, the network is quarreling with ISPs over who should pay the extra service costs. Even so, the player can be used
as soon as today, with more polished video quality promised in the future. You'll probably also be relieved to know that the service is free, although it will cost you money to download Nintendo's internet channel if you haven't done so already.
The other catch? The BBC iPlayer is only available in the UK, for the time being, but BBC Worldwide is apparently working on getting an international player up and running.
[Via
TVSquad; thanks to everyone who sent this in!]
Those of us too cheap to buy DVRs love that most TV networks offer their programming online -- after all, we'd hate to tell our friends that we couldn't hang out on a Friday night because we had to watch BSG. Even so, we prefer to watch TV on actual televisions rather than computer screens. The Wii seems like a perfect way to compromise this, but until Adobe releases a Flash upgrade on their software development kit, it's not going to happen.
