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Post by Stephen Byers on May 25, 2017 16:48:41 GMT
BBC Store to close after failing to compete with streaming services from Netflix and Amazon
•The broadcaster announced the service will close for good on November 1
•BBC Store, launched 18 months ago, lets you buy and download classic TV shows
•But the store will close because of a 'growing appetite' for streaming services
•Customers will be refunded for every show they've bought in the last 18 months
By Daisy Dunne For Mailonline
www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-4541750/BBC-Store-close-failing-compete-Netflix.html
So what about all the archives we were promised?
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Post by Simon B Kelly on May 29, 2017 10:59:19 GMT
I'm surprised no other members have chosen to comment on this...
Firstly, BBC Store should never have been about trying to compete with Netflix and Amazon. It should have been, as originally proposed, a method of making archive programmes, both video and audio, available to a wider audience.
Like most members here, I was disappointed when all it had to offer at launch was over 90% of shows that had been simply ported across from BBC iPlayer, many of which were still available to view for free on the iPlayer. How stupid could they be!
Below is my 7-step blueprint for a successful BBC Store:
1. Launch with no less than 10,000 hours worth of original material, both video and audio, that is unavailable to buy or play (legally) from any other source...
2. Allow users the opportunity to watch or listen to a 30 second preview of every show in the same way that you can hear a 30 second soundbite on iTunes and Amazon Music...
3. Provide a choice of streaming and download options: video from 240 to 1080, interlaced or progressive, 12fps to 50fps; audio as MP3, M4A, WAV or FLAC...
4. Give the option to buy or rent (like Amazon Video), or pay a monthly fee for all-you-can-eat (like Netflix)...
5. Make sure you have working, user-friendly apps for every device: smart TVs, gaming consoles, set-top boxes and mobile devices, that can be used to buy or rent shows, in preference to visiting the website...
6. Include a search box that searched every BBC programme ever broadcast and returned a results page telling you:
a) whether the programme existed
b) what episodes were in the archive, and
c) allowed you to add the currently unavailable programmes to a wish-list which could be used by the Store to determine which programmes to upload next...
7. Get rid of the ridiculous territorial licensing agreements and make the shows available to everyone, everywhere around the world...
Just imagine how wonderful such a service would be for members of this forum. It wouldn't be "competing" with anyone (except the illegal services that remain the only way of getting hold of such material). It would be a totally unique concept that would not only cater for the older generation, but would give younger users an opportunity to relive the past.
It's nice to know that I'll be getting a full refund for the hundreds of pounds worth of shows that I bought from them. I was more than happy to keep paying thousands more for other shows that have been unavailable since broadcast. I didn't consider them over-priced - their pricing was exactly the same as iTunes, Google Play and Amazon Video, and in fact, much cheaper, when used with the many discount codes they provided. If only they had focused on shows unavailable elsewhere, instead of trying to sell what had only just been broadcast on TV and was already available from multiple other sources...
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Post by Tony Walshaw on May 30, 2017 5:55:29 GMT
Very good points Simon.
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Post by Stephen Byers on May 30, 2017 7:22:16 GMT
As compensation they are offering all purchasers 'Vouchers to View' at Amazon; or 100% refunds on monies paid. So basically it was a con on the licence fee payers as an interest free loan.
So much for the marketing tag of 'yours to keep and view for forever.' Keep maybe - but always requiring a specialist interface to view the DRM-loaded programmes (an interface that rarely worked anyway). When starting up the BBC Store viewing window it always crashed for me with a 'blue screen of death.'
I did purchase the Dad's Army recon. cartoon "Stripe for Frazer" - it wouldn't download. It was the only source for this reconstructed episode. Now it'll be consigned to the dusty archives - yet again. The Beeb wiped the original years ago. Its not available anywhere else. And I still haven't seen it.
And they never supported Linux.
SB
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Post by John Williams on May 30, 2017 7:50:47 GMT
A Stripe for Frazer is available on iTunes and Amazon Video.
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Post by Stephen Byers on May 30, 2017 7:55:38 GMT
A Stripe for Frazer is available on iTunes and Amazon Video. Thank you for that. However I have paid for it once and I am not paying for it again. And I understand that I still need to view the said programme via The Store window due to the DRM embedded in the file. Also I understand that the file will be unplayable anyway from November 1 when The Store and its systems are switched off. I guess the same goes for all of the purchasers of other programmes from The Store. Whilst we might all be getting refunds for programmes purchased to 'own and view forever,' that does not compensate for the time and money wasted in actually downloading the damned files. And some purchased hundreds if not thousands of pounds worth. |
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Post by John Williams on May 30, 2017 9:10:15 GMT
A Stripe for Frazer is available on iTunes and Amazon Video. Thank you for that. However I have paid for it once and I am not paying for it again. And I understand that I still need to view the said programme via The Store window due to the DRM embedded in the file. Also I understand that the file will be unplayable anyway from November 1 when The Store and its systems are switched off. I guess the same goes for all of the purchasers of other programmes from The Store. Whilst we might all be getting refunds for programmes purchased to 'own and view forever,' that does not compensate for the time and money wasted in actually downloading the damned files. And some purchased hundreds if not thousands of pounds worth. Yes, all files will be unplayable by 1 November so that's that unfortunately. In the circumstances though, maybe you could just watch it on the BBC Store via streaming rather than downloading if the latter has been a problem. At least then you'll have seen the episode. |
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Post by Stephen Byers on Jun 3, 2017 9:07:17 GMT
Some years' ago didn't the Beeb spend millions on an abortive i.t. project to digitise and make its archives available to all? Now the Store is another i.t. failure - and they're refunding all monies paid!! What appalling management and waste of licence fee payers' hard-earned
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Post by Stephen Byers on Jul 22, 2017 7:26:45 GMT
BBC suffers a £12.5million loss as it shuts down its failed online shop that was designed to bring in millions by cashing in on viewers' nostalgia * The broadcaster announced the service will close for good on November 1 * BBC Store, launched 18 months ago, let you buy and download classic TV shows * But the store closed because of a 'growing appetite' for streaming services By Katherine Rushton For The Daily Mail PUBLISHED: 01:44, 22 July 2017 | UPDATED: 02:00, 22 July 2017 The BBC squandered £12.5million shutting down its failed BBC Store, it can be revealed. The download service, which launched in 2015, was supposed to bring in millions by cashing in on viewers’ nostalgia. www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4719892/BBC-suffers-12-5million-loss-BBC-Store.html |
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