BBC: Xbox iPlayer delay was worth it

Some may bemoan the fact that the BBC and Microsoft took aeons to bring iPlayer to the Xbox Live platform but the BBC says it's not about to start rushing shoddy apps out just to keep up with the Joneses.

Speaking to TechRadar, Daniel Danker, the BBC's general manager of programmes and on-demand, talked about the BBC's processes and how it's happy to take its time to create a better product.

"I'm glad you comment on the polish," he said after we mentioned the premium feel of the Xbox Live app. "That's a bit of a reflection on how we like to come into the market.

"When we launched on the iPad last year, we took our time coming out with that. We took our time creating a product that was really simple, really elegant, incredibly polished."

So polished you can see your face in it

"The audience rewarded us for that and we learned something interesting. iPlayer was the number one app on the iPad last year in the UK, bar none. That's not an accident. That's the result of spending a bit of time to create a polished product.

"And I expect similar things will happen here. You know, there's a temptation sometimes to come out when everyone else is coming out, or be first to market – and that's not our aim.

"Our aim is to produce an experience that reaches the entire BBC audience, which is really, broadly speaking, everyone. And if we're going to do that you can't rush to market. You have to have the polish, you have to have the simplicity."

Of course, there are other reasons why the iPlayer took so long to make it to Xbox Live, not least being the BBC's insistence that it be free to all users and not restricted to those with Xbox Gold membership.

Happily, that is the case – and we reckon it's been worth the wait in our hands on iPlayer for Xbox Live review.