bbc.co.uk

If you are a citizen of the United Kingdom, there are several great free streaming options available to you. Thanks to the UK's unique public broadcasting structure, the level of quality available on free TV streaming sites is unparalleled. Not only are there several incredible free streaming sites and apps filled with spectacular original TV series and movies (thanks to the BBC's many imprints), but there are also some great free streaming services out there that provide access to some excellent licensed content as well. Although some of these free TV streaming sites might not be strictly speaking free, they do not cost anything to use, unlike services like BBC iPlayer which require a television license to watch.

Since September of 2016, the UK government has required its citizens to acquire a television license in order to stream content on sites such as BBC iPlayer. If you are streaming live television or simply watching reruns on-demand, a television license is required.

That being said, users of the BBC iPlayer streaming platform are asked to verify their licensure status before watching any content. At this time there is no credentials checking system in place, so be sure to get your television license before streaming anything - live or on-demand - via the BBC iPlayer streaming platform. It's only about 100 quid per year, after all? it still winds up being slightly cheaper than Netflix.

BBC iPlayer is one of the most popular streaming services on the internet. There is a good reason for this, as it offers a great variety of TV shows, movies, documentaries, specials, and more. Personally, I love BBC iPlayer because it opens up the world of British media in a convenient and neatly organized manner. But it isn't just British TV and movies that BBC iPlayer has available - there are plenty of classic and current American titles too.

BBC iPlayer has actually been around for nearly two decades now, but its recent switch to HTML5 has helped make it more popular. This platform has been around in one form or another for nearly two decades, but its meteoric rise in popularity is due to the switch to HTML5. If history isn't your thing, feel free to skip ahead and meet back up with the rest of us later in the ?design? section.

History

BBC iPlayer began by utilizing their cross-platform streaming technology, BBC Redux. It started out as a proof of concept and when it left its beta testing, BBC Redux became integrated into BBC iPlayer and officially launched on Christmas day, 2007. The platform wasted no time in attempting to improve upon itself either, launching a new look for the BBC iPlayer not even one full year later, in June of 2008. The BBC iPlayer streaming site's original tagline was "Catch up on the last 7 days of BBC TV & Radio," reflecting the type of content that was available on BBC iPlayer. The "7 days" component reflected the fact that content was initially only available for 7 days after it aired on live television. Later, the site changed its slogan to "making the unmissable, unmissable." And in May of 2010, the site underwent what is referred to as a "social makeover," adding in recommendations and other features.

This February, BBC iPlayer expanded its programming exponentially, offering content from all 4 ITV channels, Channel 4, E4, More4, 5Star, and several others. Along with this expansion of content, BBC iPlayer added a ?channels? function onto the main page and search features of the site.

BBC iPlayer was relaunched in April 2014 with a new interface that was more intuitive. Along with this change, BBC iPlayer's content was no longer available for only 7 days - now users could stream it for 30 days upon airing. However, legal limitations exclude most news broadcasts from this elongation (24 hours is the limit for news broadcasts). This is, more or less, the way BBC iPlayer has operated ever since (the main difference being that it no longer offers radio broadcasts).

Today, BBC iPlayer is one of the most popular free streaming sites in the UK. Many people love it because its user-friendly interface, great selection of TV series and movies, and cross-platform availability. However, some people may not be convinced that BBC iPlayer is the best free TV streaming site for them. Well, let's take a look at everything it has to offer so that you can see how great it is! Maybe I can change your mind.

Design

First of all, I really like the design of BBC iPlayer. It looks as good as even the most expensive premium streaming sites and it works flawlessly. Honestly, BBC iPlayer has a more intuitive, user-friendly, and visually stunning design than some of the most popular and critically acclaimed premium streaming sites on the web today. The site is well-organized and offers several different ways to browse content. For instance, you can browse by genre or category with the slim site menu bar. You can search for a specific title or series in the search bar, or you can navigate to Home, News, Sport, Reel, Work-Life, Travel, Future Culture, and More (such as music, sounds, nature, weather, and TV).

Below that, the design should look fairly familiar. Users can browse by genre and category - each section has its own side-scrolling library of suggested titles. The media player, too, is easy and logical to use. When watching a series, for instance, the rest of the seasons and episodes available can be quickly visited without having to do any clicking back and forth. The entire user experience is smooth and intuitive.

Content and Features

BBC iPlayer offers a great selection of TV programs, movies, specials, and documentaries. If you catch it within 30 days of airing, you can stream it on BBC iPlayer. The channels that BBC iPlayer includes are Channel One, Channel Two, Channel Three, Channel Four, Radio 1, CBBC, CBeebies, Scotland, News, Parliament, Alba (Wales), and S4C. Due to the 30-day window of availability, it can be difficult to characterize what is available on BBC iPlayer. Generally speaking, though, anything that airs on British television can be streamed on BBC iPlayer as long as you catch it within its window of availability.

Mobile and Desktop Experience

BBC iPlayer is a highly popular free TV streaming service that offers a beautiful desktop and mobile site as well as excellent, top-tier mobile apps for both Android and iOS devices. UK citizens can also download BBC iPlayer apps for Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Chrome Cast, Roku, Sky TV, Virgin Media, Sky Go, Now TV, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. This free British TV streaming site is available on just about every device known to man, and it offers an incredible user experience on each.