Digital TV News

BBC iPlayer voted best catch-up TV service

Tuesday 19 October, 2010

By Becca Talbot - becca@consumerchoices.co.uk

The BBC iPlayer has been crowned the best TV catch-up service, as more and more telly addicts watch their favourite shows on-demand at a time that suits them.

A recent report has found the BBC iPlayer the most user-friendly catch-up service, while the Sky Player is the least accessible platform.

The study, carried out by user experience consultants Webcredible, assessed the usability levels of each of the UK’s major broadcasters’ on-demand catch-up services.

The BBC iPlayer, the ITV Player, Channel 4’s 4oD, Demand Five, STV’s online catch-up service and the Sky Player were marked on criteria such as how easy a user can find a specific show using the service, and how the service engages with viewers through additional features.

Trenton Moss, director at Webcredible, said: “The functionality offered by many of the video on-demand sites is very similar, so user engagement is an area where sites can really look to differentiate themselves.”

Moss added: “This is particularly important for broadcaster on-demand services to compete with sites like YouTube and new market players such as SeeSaw.”

The BBC iPlayer scored 88% in the usability category, followed by the STV Player, the Scottish TV broadcaster’s on-demand offering, which scored 76%.

Webcredible’s report said the BBC iPlayer currently offers consumers the “most usable video on-demand offering”.

Satellite TV giant Sky’s catch-up service, Sky Player, came bottom of the report, scoring just 55% because the report found that Sky didn’t “clearly explain” its different subscription packages.

The Sky Player allows existing Sky customers to watch shows they have missed on the channels they already subscribe to, and is available online and on the Xbox 360 games console.