3alacarta VoD, a mirror for IMPlayer and BBC

3alacarta is the IPTV service of TV3 or TVCat, the Catalan public broadcaster. It was launched a couple of years ago through the CCRTV Interactiva, the Internet division of the Catalan Radio and Television Corporation (CCRTV).

Up to now the business model was based on an mixture offer of free and and pay per view content. Always on a Video on Demand scheme. It is to believe that this model was not very successful, though the website was very popular. From now on 3alacarta will show for free all content broadcasted during the last seven days.

But what is "astonishing" is that 3alacarta can be watched worlwide! (People from the BBC, are you writing it down?)

We recommend you the radio internet service from the CCRTV: ICatfm. Enjoy it before copyright nights will stop them webcasting abroad (as it has happened with Pandora).

BBC iMPlayer ready to go (but internet is not international network)

Some weeks ago we exposed that the BBC was undergoing a Public Test Value to analyze the impact and suitability of their iMPlayer proposal.

Well, some days ago the BBC Trust Board has finally aproved the iMPlayer with some changes. I would say minor changes.

You can read the it here.

Two outsanding observations:

1. the large participation of implied actors (consumers, industry, lobbies, etc.)
2. the iPlayer will use Digital Rights Managment (DRM), although it will be under a neutrality plataform scheme, that is, they will not use a single type of DRM, as Apple used to do up to not long ago.

the iPlayer is intended to be "an application in development offering UK viewers the chance to catch up on TV and radio programmes they may have missed for up to seven days after they have been broadcast, using the internet to legally download programmes to their home computers. iMP uses peer to peer distribution technology (P2P) to legally distribute these programmes. Seven days after the programme transmission date the programme file expires (using Digital Rights Management - DRM - software) and users will no longer be able to watch it. DRM also prevents users emailing the files to other computer users or sharing it via disc." BBC

Of course, there is a doubt on what content will be available from abroad. Something is clashing and it is time to fix it. But who? WIPO? We will come back to that.

If you have been a iMPlayer trial tester, your opinion will be welcomed.

Here it is a good comment in the Guardian Technology Blog.

Previous post on iPlayer: iPlayer BBC on-demand service goes under Market Impact Assessment

iPlayer BBC on-demand service goes under Market Impact Assessment

BBC has recently published their intention to launch an on-demand service (see Guardian new). The service would comprehend 4 channels, three of them would run through Internet under a its iPlayer (DRM-free).
As a public service, BBC has to undergo a Public Value Test (PVT) commissioned by the OFCOM in order to analyze the iPlayer and the service impact in the british audiovisual market (see OFCOM update)

Issues to follow up:
- Other operators reactions to BBC online strategy.
- Where does BBC online strategy goes? social or simulcast?

I'll Keep an eye.