BBC Launches CBeebies iPlayer Catch-Up Service, Targeted at Children Under Six

The BBC has launched a version of its online catch-up service, the BBC iPlayer, for children six and under. The launch of the new player, which features around 35 hours of programming per week from the BBC's CBeebies channel (i.e. around 40% of the channel's total output), follows the launch last year of a dedicated iPlayer service offering programming from CBBC, a BBC channel targeted at six- to 12-year-olds.

The BBC bills the new CBeebies iPlayer as being intended to provide "a shared and flexible online experience with parents," as "a dedicated place on the Internet for the BBC's youngest viewers to view BBC children's programs on-demand," and as being designed to restrict "inadvertent access" to non-children's programming (note: the regular BBC iPlayer allows parents to password-restrict access to non-children's content). It says that most CBeebies programs offered on the service will be available for a week after their linear-TV broadcast, and that some will be available for up to 13 weeks as "series catch-ups" (wherein all episodes of a series will be available on the service until seven days after the broadcast of the last episode). In order to keep the CBeebies iPlayer user experience simple, the BBC says, it will not (unlike the regular iPlayer) support downloads.

According to the BBC, the BBC iPlayer has generated over 414 million requests to watch BBC television content (both streams and downloads) since its launch in 2007. The corporation says that, while the iPlayer already receives a "significant number" of requests each day for CBeebies content, it expects requests to view its children's programming will increase now that the dedicated CBeebies iPlayer is available. It claims that the CBeebies Web site was accessed by over a million unique UK users during the first week of February, a record for the site.

The BBC says that the launch of the new CBeebies iPlayer follows comprehensive user testing, and that it was designed by a team that brought together children's interactive experts from its BBC Vision arm and VOD specialists from its Future Media and Technology division. "Children live in an on-demand age and with the launch of the new BBC iPlayer designed for the under-sixes, children can now watch some of their favorite programs whenever they want and parents have greater flexibility and freedom to choose what their children watch and when," Richard Deverell, the BBC's controller of children's programming, said in a prepared statement. "This is why I am so delighted that we are launching the CBeebies iPlayer and I hope it will significantly increase the public value we deliver to this important audience."

The BBC is also planning a number of upgrades to the CBeebies channel's red-button interactive TV service. According to the corporation, viewers who press red while watching the channel will soon be able to access an "enhanced interactive area mirroring the content on the channel," as well as new games based on the shows, "In the Night Garden" and "Green Balloon Club." In addition, the BBC says, later this year the CBeebies red-button service will allow viewers to access a CBeebies radio service and a new section that will provide information for parents. According to the corporation, the service's new design will feature an easy-to-use "carousel," that makes it simple enough to be used by viewers of all ages, and the service will be tailored to optimize its performance on whichever of the UK's free main digital TV platforms (Sky satellite, Virgin Media cable or Freeview digital terrestrial) the viewer is using.

In other BBC iPlayer news: In an interview with CNET UK last week, Anthony Rose, controller of the BBC's Vision and Online Media group, provided some information on version 3.0 of the iPlayer, which is scheduled to launch later this year: "At the moment we've got the Web site--you go there and click play or you click download," Rose said. "But imagine a future where things come to you, where you can subscribe to things and have favorites and so on. Users are clearly telling us they'd like alerts and an online library, and having delivered HD and video quality that for the most part is similar in quality to TV, we now turn our attention to the personalization and socialization, and customization of iPlayer. Although at the moment (iPlayer Desktop) is just a download system," Rose continued, "in due course it's going to grow to become more part of the Web site. You'll be able to optionally log in to get enhanced iPlayer services: pre-booking, the equivalent of series link, and you'll be able to see which programs you're subscribed to for automatic download."