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The Telegraph reports that the BBC and Microsoft have been unable to reach a deal to see the iPlayer service made available on the Xbox 360 console. The BBC wants its content made available for free, while Microsoft intends to offer the functionality only to its Xbox LIVE Gold subscribers.
“Microsoft only wants to offer its users access to platforms it can charge for as this is the model it is pursuing. It wants to ensure that only those paying for Xbox LIVE Gold accounts can access its additional content services and even then there is usually a charge on top to get access to those,” explained a source close to the BBC’s Future Media and Technology department.
“This does not fit with the BBC’s model and Microsoft will not budge at the moment. It is really frustrating for those involved on the BBC side who want to make sure iPlayer is rolled out on as many popular entertainment platforms as possible,” the source added.
BBC’s iPlayer is currently available on PS3 and Wii, with the latter recently launching an iPlayer Channel offering improved functionality.
A BBC spokesman said: “BBC iPlayer has been extremely successful on PS3 and we recently re-launched on Nintendo Wii, from which the public response has been fantastic. People clearly want the BBC iPlayer on their gaming consoles, and we don’t think Xbox users are any different, so we’ve had discussions with Microsoft about bringing the service to the platform.”
Microsoft has declined to comment.
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