Wii Offers BBC iPlayer In U.K.

The BBC’s very popular flagship video-on-demand service iPlayer now has a new outlet. Apart from watching programson your computer, you can also access them through your Wii – at least, you can if you live in the UK. A basic version using the game console began onWednesday, but it’s been promised that the software will become more sophisticated as things progress. To access it, Wii users will need to access the Internet channel on the console. Given thepopularity of both, it’s a match that seems ideal. The Wii is the fastest-selling console ever in Britain, shifting a million units in just 38 weeks, while iPlayer has turned into a massivesuccess story for the BBC, with 17.2 million programs streamed or downloaded in March alone, making a total of 42 million programs since it was released last Christmas. Erik Huggers, the BBC’s groupcontroller for Future Media and Technology, announced the deal in a speech at the MipTV-Milia conference in Cannes, and said iPlayer would soon also be availableon television.   "The BBC’s catch-up TV service can now be accessed on an increasing number of different platforms – from the web and portable devices to gaming consoles."