Now there is TV on the Internet!

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Which is great for me because i don't have a tv in my room :D

BBC1: http://support.bbc.co.uk/multicast/rams/uni/bbc1.ram
BBC2: http://support.bbc.co.uk/multicast/rams/uni/bbc2.ram
BBC4: http://support.bbc.co.uk/multicast/rams/uni/video16.ram
BBC24: http://support.bbc.co.uk/multicast/rams/uni/news24.ram

You need Realplayer and it's only a "trial" apparantly
but it IS very high quality and i imagine of great interest (or not) to Non-UK types

I'm watching a show which seems to be about the history of cooking programmes... live on the internet!

― Slumpman (Slump Man), Sunday, 1 May 2005 08:59 (twenty years ago)

For those who dont want Realplayer.

http://fileforum.betanews.com/detail/Real_Alternative/1054136293/1

― Jarlr'mai (jarlrmai), Sunday, 1 May 2005 10:09 (twenty years ago)

Seems to have about a 8-9 second delay from broadcast.

― Jarlr'mai (jarlrmai), Sunday, 1 May 2005 10:13 (twenty years ago)

OMG this is amazing.

― Trayce (trayce), Sunday, 1 May 2005 10:23 (twenty years ago)

Ironically, an Australian cook is on TV right now haha.

― Trayce (trayce), Sunday, 1 May 2005 10:23 (twenty years ago)

hey, I hope you all have TV licences.

― RJG (RJG), Sunday, 1 May 2005 10:24 (twenty years ago)

Pfft we dont have those in THIS country ;)

― Trayce (trayce), Sunday, 1 May 2005 10:27 (twenty years ago)

Also, the sound is fine but the picture wont update, I get like one fram every minute :( but I am only on 256K dsl.

― Trayce (trayce), Sunday, 1 May 2005 10:27 (twenty years ago)

Also you are in Australia.

If only Channel 4 had this when the cricket is on.....

― Jarlr'mai (jarlrmai), Sunday, 1 May 2005 10:35 (twenty years ago)

this is incredible. much higher quality, than I had expected.

licence question is a real one, though.

― RJG (RJG), Sunday, 1 May 2005 10:38 (twenty years ago)

Yeah thats the first thing my bf said, "how about the UK licence thing?" I mean if this continues long term I'll upgrade my dsl, but otherwise..

still, wow wow. I lpve bbc2. Come on, Alan Partidge or something.

― Trayce (trayce), Sunday, 1 May 2005 10:45 (twenty years ago)

licences: i read that they're looking at ways to restrict it to UK IP addresses only, and there can't be THAT many people with broadband but not a tv, right?

― Slumpman (Slump Man), Sunday, 1 May 2005 10:46 (twenty years ago)

aw really?

― Trayce (trayce), Sunday, 1 May 2005 10:50 (twenty years ago)

I mean that seems silly, shows us all bbc! I have tapes of BBC comedy shows.. Im seriously excited about this.

― Trayce (trayce), Sunday, 1 May 2005 10:51 (twenty years ago)

People at work....

― Jarlr'mai (jarlrmai), Sunday, 1 May 2005 10:51 (twenty years ago)

it is quite silly... they can't get revenue from US viewers anyway, why not let them watch!

― Slumpman (Slump Man), Sunday, 1 May 2005 10:53 (twenty years ago)

OMG: i don't know if this is new or related or not but EVERY BBC RADIO station streamed HERE: http://support.bbc.co.uk/multicast/streams.html

― Slumpman (Slump Man), Sunday, 1 May 2005 10:54 (twenty years ago)

bandwidth is expensive.
xpost

BBC Radio has been stream for quite sometime now

― Jarlr'mai (jarlrmai), Sunday, 1 May 2005 10:54 (twenty years ago)

Checkout "Listen Again"

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/progs/listenagain.shtml

― Jarlr'mai (jarlrmai), Sunday, 1 May 2005 10:56 (twenty years ago)

The BBC One stream was hammered by Dr Who fans last night.

― James Mitchell (James Mitchell), Sunday, 1 May 2005 11:12 (twenty years ago)

Heh gee I wonder why =)

― Trayce (trayce), Sunday, 1 May 2005 11:14 (twenty years ago)

I wonder if Two will be up when the snooker final is on today. There was nothing on that third stream, BBC4, just now.

― Curious George (Bat Chain Puller) (Rock Hardy), Sunday, 1 May 2005 11:54 (twenty years ago)

BBC4 doesn't start until the early evening, i think.

― Slumpman (Slump Man), Sunday, 1 May 2005 11:58 (twenty years ago)

I don't want to get my hopes up, but if I'm able to watch the snooker final, I'm naming my next child Slump Man. Thanks, dood.

― Curious George (Bat Chain Puller) (Rock Hardy), Sunday, 1 May 2005 12:04 (twenty years ago)

The snooker has been streaming from the BBC sports pages for most of the tournament.

― Jarlr'mai (jarlrmai), Sunday, 1 May 2005 12:13 (twenty years ago)

I'm naming my next child Slump Man

i'll hold you to that

― Slumpman (Slump Man), Sunday, 1 May 2005 12:16 (twenty years ago)

xpost: it's been blocked to non-UK viewers, and I'm too stupid to figure out IP anonymization.

― Curious George (Bat Chain Puller) (Rock Hardy), Sunday, 1 May 2005 12:22 (twenty years ago)

Dang

― Slumpman (Slump Man), Sunday, 1 May 2005 12:24 (twenty years ago)

Quite a development.

― Ally C (Ally C), Sunday, 1 May 2005 12:36 (twenty years ago)

not to be a dick but good.

― RJG (RJG), Sunday, 1 May 2005 12:37 (twenty years ago)

very happy about BBC4!

― jed_ (jed), Sunday, 1 May 2005 12:42 (twenty years ago)

actually i can't get bbc4 to work but i dont think it's on air during the day, is it?

― jed_ (jed), Sunday, 1 May 2005 12:46 (twenty years ago)

yeah, it isn't on, yet.

I have no idea what to expect, when it does come on!

― RJG (RJG), Sunday, 1 May 2005 12:48 (twenty years ago)

i cant find a listing on the bbc site for these (just for the radio streams) is this a big secret?

― jed_ (jed), Sunday, 1 May 2005 12:55 (twenty years ago)

woohoo, snooker! Slump Man Crump... I'm not sure it has much of a ring to it, but what the hell.

― Curious George (Bat Chain Puller) (Rock Hardy), Sunday, 1 May 2005 13:04 (twenty years ago)

is this a big secret?

it is a bit of a secret, apparantly. i guess when too many people find out about it they'll change the links or shut it down.

so, er, tell your friends!

Slump Crump DOESN'T have a ring to it??

― Slumpman (Slump Man), Sunday, 1 May 2005 13:19 (twenty years ago)

I fully expect to go to bed now, as I am, and wake up in 6 hours to find this gone... a dream... we'll see.

― Trayce (trayce), Sunday, 1 May 2005 13:34 (twenty years ago)

this is so amazing!

― Wiggy (Wiggy), Sunday, 1 May 2005 15:57 (twenty years ago)

A lot of the Premiership football is streamed online - illegaly - Coolstreaming.

― James Mitchell (James Mitchell), Sunday, 1 May 2005 16:39 (twenty years ago)

It just went down for me -- free ride over?

― Curious George (Bat Chain Puller) (Rock Hardy), Sunday, 1 May 2005 18:45 (twenty years ago)

bah, me too.

― jed_ (jed), Sunday, 1 May 2005 18:57 (twenty years ago)

BBC1 down, 2 is still working for me.

http://support.bbc.co.uk/multicast/rams/uni/

Not sure which others are still working.

― Jarlr'mai (jarlrmai), Sunday, 1 May 2005 18:58 (twenty years ago)

support.bbc.co.uk/multicast/rams/uni/

Wow, suddenly the info in that link disappeared, like, while I was blinking.

― Curious George (Bat Chain Puller) (Rock Hardy), Sunday, 1 May 2005 19:24 (twenty years ago)

gone. all gone. precious television. what have i done?!

ah well, it was nice while it lasted. cookery, bargain hunt, easteneders and some dolphins

― Slumpman (Slump Man), Sunday, 1 May 2005 20:15 (twenty years ago)

They've been streaming radio for a while now, but multicasting is newer more exciting and cheaper. Not all ISPs will support multicasting on their switches.

― Ed (dali), Sunday, 1 May 2005 20:20 (twenty years ago)

Standard radio streams are accessed through the bbc radio player (set to radio 4)

― Ed (dali), Sunday, 1 May 2005 20:22 (twenty years ago)

dp you guys suppose this was a test of some kind? where and how did you find the sites originally, Slump?

― Wiggy (Wiggy), Sunday, 1 May 2005 22:50 (twenty years ago)

i hope this is better than tv on the radio

http://neilhamburger.tvheaven.com/images/houston8sm.jpg

― corey c (shock of daylight), Monday, 2 May 2005 04:32 (twenty years ago)

I agree w/RJG. British people all pay for this, so why should all us other freeloaders get to watch?

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Monday, 2 May 2005 04:45 (twenty years ago)

Because we pay for all the BBC's crusty old reruns on BBC America?

The whole idea of streaming this kind of stuff is just so frustrating to me though. Please get one realization that the web is not a linear medium! Thanks!

― walter kranz (walterkranz), Monday, 2 May 2005 05:19 (twenty years ago)

They've been streaming radio for a while now

At least three years, if not four.

Because we pay for all the BBC's crusty old reruns on BBC America?

You don't have to pay for the right to watch any TV in order to fund the BBC, though.

― caitlin (caitlin), Monday, 2 May 2005 06:53 (twenty years ago)

Since before I worked at the Beeb and that was 1997-1998

― Ed (dali), Monday, 2 May 2005 06:56 (twenty years ago)

(there have been vague noises recently about extending the licence fee to any device capable of displaying broadcast TV - ie, to broadband-equipped PCs. If it remains a per-household charge,* though, it would only affect people with a PC but no telly.)

(* technically, if you live in a shared house then everyone with a TV in a private room is supposed to pay for an extra licence. I have no idea if they ever bother to enforce this, though.)

― caitlin (caitlin), Monday, 2 May 2005 06:56 (twenty years ago)

I would like the BBC to get off the real player wagon. i realise it was the only game in town when they started. However I'd like them to move to H.264 for video and AACPlus for audio.

― Ed (dali), Monday, 2 May 2005 06:59 (twenty years ago)

Mmm, I don't like realplayer either

To be honest I didn't think it was available for my OS, but checking, apparently realplayer 10.0.3 and 10.0.4 are listed as "available (testing)"

― caitlin (caitlin), Monday, 2 May 2005 07:07 (twenty years ago)

You don't have to pay for the right to watch any TV in order to fund the BBC, though.

No, but I would gladly. Is it expensive? Is this something that bothers most people in the UK? Anyway, the point of public arts funding should be to give jobs to local artists and create noncommercial work, regardless of who ends up seeing it. Presumably the BBC employs plenty of actors, DJs, writers, and many other creative people. I wouldn't begrudge anyone outside the US watching PBS for free though there's admittedly little of value to watch (and it's mostly corporate sponsored these days).

― walter kranz (walterkranz), Monday, 2 May 2005 07:13 (twenty years ago)

The license fee is £120 a year (give or take a bit I can't remember). Good value if you ask me. Just one outlet (Radio 4) commissions over 300 original pieces of drama a year. this doesn't even include long running serials, adaptations, books and short story readings etc. etc.

― Ed (dali), Monday, 2 May 2005 07:17 (twenty years ago)

Is it expensive?

£126.50 per year, or £42 if you only have black and white TVs. Half-price if you're blind.

(the black-and-white rate will probably disappear when analogue TVs are abandoned, supposedly within the next few years)

(bah xpost)

― caitlin (caitlin), Monday, 2 May 2005 07:18 (twenty years ago)

The BBC's page about the licence is here.

― caitlin (caitlin), Monday, 2 May 2005 07:19 (twenty years ago)

You don't have to pay for the right to watch any TV in order to fund the BBC, though.

But we DO have to pay for the right to watch anything but crap. You know all those "lovely" little inane American programs you guys get bombarded with? Yeah. They started mainly from broadcast television. Anything that's interesting comes from pay cable, and HBO, i.e. the home of "Sex in the City" and "Six Feet Under" among others, is a channel you have to pay an additional monthly fee on top of the regular cable rates in order to see.

In fact, we DO end up having to pay in the long run in order to see TV -- if you consider the constant barrage of ads we become insensitive toward to be "paying". We have to see SO MANY ads that it's easier just to give up and try to be entertained by the ads than it is to try to avoid them. Certain channels -- the HBO ones, for example -- operate completely without commercials, but every single one of the others, INCLUDING BBC America, runs commercials like you wouldn't believe. (Ha, as I type this out, the channel I'm currently paying half-attention to has cut to a commercial break!)

I would LOVE the chance to see BBC's programming on a streaming basis, with the opportunity to "record" programs if I feel like it. I would definitely agree to "subscribing" to a site in order to do that, paying roughly -- oh, maybe $30 a year would be rational? I don't know -- how much is the license fee you guys have to pay? Maybe something a bit less than that, because of more limitations regarding streaming. If there would be no ability to record -- half the amount of the license fee and no more. But subscribing at a reasonable rate wouldn't strike me as completely unreasonable. It'd certainly give me a break from watching commercial-filled TV.

― Goodbye Indian Summer (Dee the Lurker), Monday, 2 May 2005 07:21 (twenty years ago)

(Ha! Xpostage.)

― Goodbye Indian Summer (Dee the Lurker), Monday, 2 May 2005 07:22 (twenty years ago)

£126.50 per year !!!!!

Um, okay. Instead of $30 a year -- $60? C'mon, we're a big country. Um. Hm. That's damn expensive. I think that'd pay for a month and a half of the digital cable service I have. With over 300 channels (some audio and "on demand" channels included therein) and limitless boxes.

― Goodbye Indian Summer (Dee the Lurker), Monday, 2 May 2005 07:25 (twenty years ago)

But commercial-free TV! Hm. Still -- $60 a year. Yeah.

― Goodbye Indian Summer (Dee the Lurker), Monday, 2 May 2005 07:26 (twenty years ago)

I'd happily pay more than 126 quid a year. It's worth it.

― KeefW (kmw), Monday, 2 May 2005 07:27 (twenty years ago)

The main (and usually right-wing) argument against the licence fee here is: you have to pay it in order to watch *any* TV. In the days before the BBC was broadcast by satellite, you still had to pay the licence fee even if you had a satellite-reception-only setup that was physically incapable of picking up any BBC channels. So, we have to pay the licence fee *and* watch all the commercials on the non-BBC channels. We have 2 state-owned TV companies, but only one receives any of the licence-fee money - the other has to get its money from advertising like all the commercial channels.

I think it's worth it too, though.

― caitlin (caitlin), Monday, 2 May 2005 07:32 (twenty years ago)

Incidentally, I'm sure that a lot of people in the BBC would *love* to be able to run ad-breaks. They're not allowed to, though.

― caitlin (caitlin), Monday, 2 May 2005 07:35 (twenty years ago)

Why isnt the money taken from taxes, Ive always wondered though? Thats how the ABC is funded in australia.

― Trayce (trayce), Monday, 2 May 2005 08:15 (twenty years ago)

I would like the BBC to get off the real player wagon.

Absolutely, won't work on my pocket pc, and it won't stream to wmp.

― Billy Dods (Billy Dods), Monday, 2 May 2005 08:35 (twenty years ago)

where and how did you find the sites originally

a friend pointed me at this forum:
http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13282109~mode=flat~days=10

people seem to be in agreement that streams are dust now :(

they can't take licence fee out of taxes because not everyone has access to a tv. it'd be real easy to set up the streams on a monthly pay system or something for international viewers

― Slumpman (Slump Man), Monday, 2 May 2005 08:41 (twenty years ago)

Also the fact that the license fee is separate from taxes and it's existence is only reviewed every 10 years goes some way to guaranteeing the BBCs independence from government, something that a lot of state owned broadcasters do no enjoy.

― Ed (dali), Monday, 2 May 2005 08:46 (twenty years ago)

I'd keep the license fee just because the main people calling for an end to it seem to be The Sun, The Times, News of the World, pundits on Sky News and other Murdoch-related ventures. Seriously.

Or MPs, and I can't think what they could gain for themselves or their parties by siding with Murdoch.

― James Mitchell (James Mitchell), Monday, 2 May 2005 11:00 (twenty years ago)

Favourable news stories in The Sun, The Times, News of the World, Sky News and so on, of course.

― caitlin (caitlin), Monday, 2 May 2005 11:03 (twenty years ago)

from a non-UK perspective, the oddest thing about licensing = the detector vans!! apparently they're less conspicuous now but they used to look like this:
http://www.sterlingtimes.co.uk/detectorvan.gif
(is the "post office" logo supposed to be a disguise??)

― jones (actual), Monday, 2 May 2005 12:43 (twenty years ago)

I assume the Post Office administrated licences back then. Until the 1970s the Post Office was much bigger, and was responsible for just about all UK communications (apart from the phones in Hull, of course).

Detector vans worked well when TVs produced a distinctive interference signal, but they don't work very well with solid-state electronic tellys. Nowadays their main "detection" policy is visiting unlicensed houses and saying "we know you've got one really".

I did once have a TV without a licence, and the detection people did come round after a while. I didn't hear them knocking on the door - and avoided a nasty fine - because the volume on the TV was turned up too loud.

― caitlin (caitlin), Monday, 2 May 2005 13:31 (twenty years ago)

I would gladly have $240 (126ukp) a year of my federal income taxes go directly to PBS! I pay almost $500 a year for TV service (around $40 per month for direct TV) and I probably end up with far less worthwhile programming than the BBC offers. But I suppose the grass is always greener.

That TV detector car is awesome!

― walter kranz (walterkranz), Monday, 2 May 2005 16:56 (twenty years ago)

It's ecto 1 for a less ghost heavy era.

― Jarlr'mai (jarlrmai), Monday, 2 May 2005 17:38 (twenty years ago)

> I'd happily pay more than 126 quid a year.

"i would gladly sell my house and all its contents..."

i'd be stuffed if they started licencing based on receivers - i have 7 what with TVs, PVRs, VCRs and PC cards (which also means i'm stuffed when they turn off the analogue signal and have to buy another 6 digiboxes)

bbcs 3 and 4 pissing me off at the moment for using onscreen logos. nobody likes them.

the ads on ch4 and ch5 also seem to be getting more prevalent. the first ad break, in particular, is getting earlier and earlier - the one in the 6 o'clock simpsons is sometimes as early as 6 minutes in.

― koogs (koogs), Tuesday, 3 May 2005 14:02 (twenty years ago)

the detector vans

Watching Monty Python in the early eighties without this context made the 'Cat Detector Van' sketch all the more surreal.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 3 May 2005 14:26 (twenty years ago)

yes!

― jones (actual), Tuesday, 3 May 2005 15:42 (twenty years ago)

I wish these were still working!!

― RJG (RJG), Tuesday, 3 May 2005 20:41 (twenty years ago)

me too.

― jed_ (jed), Tuesday, 3 May 2005 20:55 (twenty years ago)

he ideal solution vis a vis the license fee is juts to get a radio. you dont need to pay the license and you get all the stuff on radio 4 and 3, for a start. tv, i can live with out

"licences: i read that they're looking at ways to restrict it to UK IP addresses only, and there can't be THAT many people with broadband but not a tv, right?"

ive only had a tv for 2 yrs of my life, when living with others. surely with the increase of torrents, dvd rental servies etc, more and more people are going to ditch tv and go stright for the internet? thats what i do at the mo, get odd bbc4 docs off uknova and get dvds off lovefilm. dont need a tv.

haha doesnt mean that i wouldnt watch it on the internet if it was free (ie if this thing started up for reals)

― ambrose (ambrose), Wednesday, 4 May 2005 13:45 (twenty years ago)

I would like the BBC to get off the real player wagon.

Look here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/rd/projects/dirac/overview.shtml

It WILL happen!

― Chewshabadoo (Chewshabadoo), Wednesday, 4 May 2005 14:11 (twenty years ago)

And to think I pay for BBC Canada and get commercials AND Canadian tv like Holmes on Homes on the damm channel.

I want my endless reruns of Black Adder and Prime Suspect and I want it now. But for some reason I'm both pacified and repulsed by Bargain Hunters.

― Rufus 3000 (Mr Noodles), Wednesday, 4 May 2005 15:04 (twenty years ago)

Don't forget Da Vinci's Inquest!

― Leon Jones Reynolds (Ex Leon), Wednesday, 4 May 2005 15:14 (twenty years ago)

da vinci is on BBC Canada?? wtf kind of ripoff is that?

― jones (actual), Wednesday, 4 May 2005 21:34 (twenty years ago)

one year passes...

Looks like they have decided to treat broadband enabled pcs as devices that can recieve a TV broadcast

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/5081350.stm

― Ian Merrrington (Mezza), Thursday, 15 June 2006 13:07 (nineteen years ago)

when does a program stop being 'streamed' and become 'archived' given that they are making a distinction between the two. a day? 10 minutes? 10 seconds?

not a problem here as i've had my own licence for years despite probably being covered by other licences (ie in shared properties). if they ever start charging per device, as they have mentioned in the past, then i'll be stuffed. 8(

― koogy wonderland (koogs), Thursday, 15 June 2006 13:17 (nineteen years ago)

Its harsh on the people who use their broadband PC as a way of entertaining themselves without owning a TV, are the bbc going to offer someway of restricting the streaming so that you can in effect opt out?

Also for all the business that require broadband to operate, are they going to need a licence per building.

― Merrini (Mezza), Thursday, 15 June 2006 13:30 (nineteen years ago)

if you have a monochrome monitor would it be only £44 for your PC?

― ken c (ken c), Thursday, 15 June 2006 13:38 (nineteen years ago)

what's the fine these days? i remember it being ridiculously high when i was in GB.

― A Giant Mechanical Ant (The Giant Mechanical Ant), Thursday, 15 June 2006 13:42 (nineteen years ago)

It's in the first sentence of that link!

― ailsa (ailsa), Thursday, 15 June 2006 13:44 (nineteen years ago)

Yeah this will really fuck me up if they end up targeting home users with the capacity to watch streamed TV, even if they're not watching it. I don't have a TV but I do have broadband - but there's no way I'm paying over £100 a year for something I don't use!

― Archel (Archel), Thursday, 15 June 2006 13:47 (nineteen years ago)

are they going to "rebrand" / rename the TV license - to what though?

the key point with broadband:

"need a licence to watch any TV station broadcasting within the UK on your computer."

If you watch a live broadcast via broadband on your computer - then you need a license

If you have Broadband but.. don't watch a live broadcast, and don't have a TV then you don't need a license. You can still

However, you are free to watch archived programmes or downloadable clips without a licence.

― DJ Martian (djmartian), Thursday, 15 June 2006 14:16 (nineteen years ago)

Yes but how are they going to check? And how can I prove I haven't watched live?

― Archel (Archel), Thursday, 15 June 2006 14:20 (nineteen years ago)

a possible future scenario is that the TV license comes with a unique PIN security number, that you need to login to watch live broadcasts on the BBC via broadband?

― DJ Martian (djmartian), Thursday, 15 June 2006 14:23 (nineteen years ago)

Yes but how are they going to check? And how can I prove I haven't watched live?

strage that these questions are not part of their FAQ...

― Konal Doddz (blueski), Thursday, 15 June 2006 14:28 (nineteen years ago)

By the year 2020, Archel they will wire you up to a lie detector every 12 months ! or you will have to register your IP address under a fascist regime connected with ID cards !

― DJ Martian (djmartian), Thursday, 15 June 2006 14:28 (nineteen years ago)

Well having no TV will clearly mark me out as a dangerous non-conformist anyway and I'll be under 24 hour surveillance.

― Archel (Archel), Thursday, 15 June 2006 14:32 (nineteen years ago)

By the year 2020, Archel they will wire you up to a lie detector every 12 months ! or you will have to register your IP address under a fascist regime connected with ID cards !

-- DJ Martian (altmartinu...) (webmail), Today 11:28 AM. (djmartian) (later) (link)

Toynbee Idea
In Kubrick's 2001
Resurrect Dead
On Planet Jupiter

― jinx hijinks (sanskrit), Thursday, 15 June 2006 16:00 (nineteen years ago)

What else can I watch on exciting P2P television? (I can watch the news from Spain.)

― PJ Miller (PJ Miller 68), Friday, 16 June 2006 06:26 (nineteen years ago)

Anybody try out Chris TV Online yet? (800 TV channels and 600 radio stations, it says here)

(got a mail about this last week because I use one of their other apps with my TV card)

― StanM (StanM), Friday, 16 June 2006 06:28 (nineteen years ago)

eight months pass...

"you need a tv licence to use any television receiving equipment such as a tv set.....computers or mobile phones"

am i correct in understand that if i own a mobile phone or a computer, i must pay a tv licence? i dont know how to watch tv on a computer or a telephone, and have no interest in doing so, but that doesn't mean i couldn't right? so thats why i have to pay?

― 688, Tuesday, 27 February 2007 11:55 (eighteen years ago)

bleep bleep bloop

― Tracer Hand, Tuesday, 27 February 2007 12:02 (eighteen years ago)

No, you only need a TV licence if you are using the phone etc as a receiving station on which you will watch TV.

― Mark C, Tuesday, 27 February 2007 12:07 (eighteen years ago)

& the mobile operators still haven't got their sh*t together to even be capable of doing that yet, i thought

― Tracer Hand, Tuesday, 27 February 2007 12:09 (eighteen years ago)

At this BBC thing yesterday a device was mentioned which sounded pretty amazing. Apparently you stick it into the back of your TV and it beams some kind of signal to your interweb, meaning that wherever you are in the world, you can watch, via your computer, whatever's being shown on your TV (I guess your pc acts as a remote control too).

― Mark C, Tuesday, 27 February 2007 12:10 (eighteen years ago)

this seems like as good a place to ask as any: do any uk mac folks have any experiences with elgato's usb antenna thingamajig? it looks tempting.

― ^@^, Tuesday, 27 February 2007 12:19 (eighteen years ago)

sounds like a slingbox, mark, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slingbox

― Alan, Tuesday, 27 February 2007 12:19 (eighteen years ago)

the Elgato thing is supposed to work great but i would rather watch TV on a TV. where it might completely rule is in conjunction with a video iPod, if you're into that kind of thing?

FYI the BBC iPlayer test has hit some snags and is delayed, but wider tests should be coming very soon. for that i want some kind of reverse slingbox, to watch stuff i've downloaded on my TV, wirelessly (without having to stream it through iTunes).

― Tracer Hand, Tuesday, 27 February 2007 12:28 (eighteen years ago)

I'm not really a fan of the whole Slingbox idea. I can't think of many times where I'm at a computer away from home and wish I could beam what's on my TV at home to it. A mobile device, maybe, but price/bandwidth issues, plus on a tiny screen I'm more likely to watch short content purposed for it.

I'm much more a fan of Slingbox's cousin, the Slingcatcher, which does it in reverse: streams whatever you've collected on your computer to your TV. It seems like it's going to work the way Apple TV should but doesn't.

― Alba, Tuesday, 27 February 2007 12:32 (eighteen years ago)

ok so forget the telephone thing

if my computer is capable to playing a television programme, i have to pay a licence? i guess most computers are televisions now too?

― 688, Tuesday, 27 February 2007 12:32 (eighteen years ago)

i have a nice little device that acts as an external USB2 hard disk when attached to a computer, but is a standalone media player that plays out through SCART or composite or component. the remote lets you navigate through the folder structure and plays xvid, divx and a number of other formats (inc stuff ripped from DVD). about 140 quid. it's sort of anonymously branded so i don't have a name for you sorry

― Alan, Tuesday, 27 February 2007 12:33 (eighteen years ago)

googling "media player 160gb scart" gives me this

http://whatthehellis.wordpress.com/2006/10/11/160-gb-hard-drive-media-player-plays-divx/

110 quid at maplin. it's the same device with another brand label on it!

― Alan, Tuesday, 27 February 2007 12:34 (eighteen years ago)

Hey - that looks good. My mate at work bought a similar player for £50 that's a 1GB flash-based thing, which he transfers stuff onto whenever he wants to watch it, but it's USB, not USB2, so it takes longer than copying to a CD and playing it on a DivX compatible DVD player, like I do.

The only worry I'd have with those sorts of things is that they won't keep pace with new codecs (I suppose you could get firmware updates?). The Slingcatcher is dependent on your computer for the decoding and is just a neutral video-out streaming device, which seems a better plan.

Anyway, I'll have to stick with my burning discs method for the moment, as I only have slow wireless (and Firewire, not USB 2, for that matter). And when I upgrade I'll probably get a laptop, so I may just end up getting a lead and plugging it straught into the TV. Wireless shmireless.

― Alba, Tuesday, 27 February 2007 12:45 (eighteen years ago)

yeah i thought about the updated codecs problem too. i don't see any way to do any sort of update.

odd thing is the remote control on the device has volume + and volume – the WRONG WAY AROUND (+ – not – +) even though the on-screen volume bar is std minimum at the left.

this might be a deal breaker for many :-D

― Alan, Tuesday, 27 February 2007 12:49 (eighteen years ago)

Indeed.

if my computer is capable to playing a television programme, i have to pay a licence? i guess most computers are televisions now too?

It's not about playing them. It's about receiving them. If you don't have a TV tuner card, then don't worry.

― Alba, Tuesday, 27 February 2007 13:10 (eighteen years ago)

what is this tv tuner card? presumably they dont come as standard then?

thanks,
tuomas

― 688, Tuesday, 27 February 2007 13:12 (eighteen years ago)

What if you have a TV tuner card but you don't use it?

(this is moot, as I also have three TVs, but just saying, like?)

― ailsa, Tuesday, 27 February 2007 13:15 (eighteen years ago)

BBC TV Test - Service Outage
Dear Trialist,

This is an update on the current service status of BBC TV Test. As communicated in my last update to you we have now reached our next milestone for the service - a major software release. This means that the service is now unavailable until further notice.

The release will bring a raft of service improvements rather than user facing functionality, however, we hope it will greatly speed the throughput of data onto the website thereby increasing the availability of programmes for download.

Thanks for your participation in BBC TV Test and we will be back in touch once the service resumes.

If you do have any issues with BBC TV Test you would like to discuss in the meantime please call our Customer Service Agents at BBC Information on 08709 000 223, 8am - 8.30pm, 7 days a week or feel free to contact me if you have any wider concerns or issues.

Ian Hunte
Managing Editor, BBC TV Test

― Elsa Svitborg, Tuesday, 27 February 2007 13:17 (eighteen years ago)

I just want people to savour that first graf, it's a masterwork of BBC-speak.

― Elsa Svitborg, Tuesday, 27 February 2007 13:18 (eighteen years ago)

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