BBC's iPlayer adds support for Firefox
Rumors have been swirling for months that the BBC was going to allow users of their iPlayer service to access the popular player on a computer or platform other than Internet Explorer for Windows. Well today British citizens are part way there as the BBC …
Context & Ripple Effects
The iPlayer launched in July 2007 (after a delayed build-up) locked to Internet Explorer on Windows, and the BBC has been peeling away that exclusivity piece by piece: first the December 2007 Mac beta for streaming, now Firefox support confirmed today. The move follows months of criticism over platform lock-in, sharpened when BBC tech chief Ashley Highfield claimed in November 2007 that only around 600 Linux users visit the BBC website — a figure widely scrutinised as understating demand from non-IE users.
Two constraints keep this only 'part way there', as the report puts it: the BBC still requires DRM on downloadable programmes despite earlier intentions to drop it, which keeps downloads tied to Windows, and no Linux client exists yet. Streaming in Firefox narrows the gap; it does not close it.
First-order effects
- Firefox users in the UK gain legal access to iPlayer streaming without installing or switching to Internet Explorer, removing the most common complaint since the service launched.
- The BBC's effective dependence on Microsoft's browser for its flagship on-demand service ends, reducing exposure to the criticism that licence-fee-funded content was Windows-only.
Second-order effects
- Pressure shifts toward the remaining gaps — a Linux client and DRM-free or cross-platform downloads — where the BBC's stated intentions have already outrun its delivered products.
- Rival broadcasters' catch-up services face a raised baseline: once the publicly funded player supports multiple browsers, exclusive-platform offerings look less defensible.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds, broadcaster catch-up TV settles into browser-agnostic streaming with platform clients layered on top, while DRM becomes the last real boundary between platforms rather than the browser itself.
- The episode also sets a precedent for how publicly funded digital services justify platform scope — audience-size claims like Highfield's become part of the accountability debate.
The trend: Public-service broadcasters' on-demand services are moving from single-platform launches toward browser-agnostic streaming, with DRM, not the browser, becoming the remaining platform boundary.