Wii got iPlayer as Sony and Microsoft too controlling

BBC boss spills beans on recent launch

11 April 2008 12:08 GMT / By Amy-Mae Elliott

According to the BBC's Erik Huggers, head of future media and technology at the corporation, the Nintendo Wii was the first of the next-gen consoles to get the iPlayer video on demand service because Sony and Microsoft wanted to "control" the iPlayer.

Huggers is quoted by BBC journalist Darren Waters in an official blog post as stating: "If you want to get on the PlayStation or Xbox, they want control of the look, the feel and the experience; they want it done within their shop, and their shop only".

Waters suggests that iPlayer coming to the PS3 is "almost inevitable" but that a similar service for Microsoft's Xbox 360 is less certain due to the fact that the platform does not offer an open browser, but accesses online content via Xbox LIVE, and speculates: "I'm guessing that Microsoft wanted the content but not the iPlayer branding".