Broadband customers can now register for the BBC's flagship online television service iPlayer.

The iPlayer will allow broadband users to download their favourite programmes from the last seven days and have the opportunity to watch them for up to 30 days afterwards.

A similar service is offered by Channel 4 in the form of its 40D offering. According to the Telegraph, the service attracted 2.5 million users in its first five months.

Only a fixed number of broadband users signing up for the service will be invited to join up initially, with numbers increasing over summer ahead of the service's full launch in the autumn.

However, to begin with, the service will only run on PCs with the XP operating system, generating some controversy because of this fact.

Arash Amel, an analyst with research firm Screen Digest, told the broadcaster that such platforms are the most desirable because they bring together a number of features.

"The real holy grail in the UK is one platform, like the iPlayer, that brings all the content in one location - a kind of Freeview concept for downloads," he said.

Friday, 27th July 2007

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