It’s because the BBC want it offered freely to users, whereas Microsoft want it restricted to Gold Live subscribers, and they ”will not budge”.
”Microsoft only wants to offer its users access to platforms it can charge for as this is the model it is pursuing,” the sources told The Telegraph, reports CVG.
”It wants to ensure that only those paying for Xbox Live Gold accounts can access its additional content services and even then there is usually a charge on top to get access to those.” They cite Sky Player as an example, requiring both Gold Live membership and a Sky subscription on top of that to access the service.
”This does not fit with the BBC’s model and Microsoft will not budge at the moment,” they added. ”It is really frustrating for those involved on the BBC side who want to make sure iPlayer is rolled out on as many popular entertainment platforms as possible.”
The BBC is not permitted to charge for such content in the UK as it is already covered by the license fee all must pay if they own a TV. Both PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Wii offer iPlayer freely, leaving Xbox 360 as the only platform.
”BBC iPlayer has been extremely successful on PS3 and we recently re-launched on Nintendo Wii, from which the public response has been fantastic,” said the BBC.
”People clearly want the BBC iPlayer on their gaming consoles, and we don’t think Xbox users are any different, so we’ve had discussions with Microsoft about bringing the service to the platform.” Have you been using the iPlayer, on console or elsewhere?
Loading comments…