BBC Store closing

[Phil_A]

Well, that's that then.

Sadly, we have taken the difficult decision to close BBC Store on 1st November 2017.

So why has this failed then? I have a feeling it may be because when a show is already out on DVD, paying the same price for a download you can only watch on your computer seems a bit of a bum deal.

For me personally, whenever I went there to look for something I always ended up disappointed by the available selection, and would've preferred more of a focus on archival shows, e.g. stuff that isn't already readily available in another format.

Would it have worked better if they'd adopted a Netflix or Hulu style subscription model? Come to think of it, the iplayer is going subscription only for foreigns, isn't it. I wonder if the plan is to move more content over there, making the store pretty much redundant?

[Absorb the anus burn]

Yep, heard about this.... What a fucker! But it was a botched affair all along.

Firstly, they come late to the table, despite having the most amazing archive of content; then they only offer stuff that has been on DVD for ages; then when they finally start uploading good stuff (rare single drama collections by Welland etc.) they pull the plug, because they can't compete with the big boys.

The BBC have digitised their entire archive of programmes... It should all be uploaded and made open access, as it was paid for by public money...

[Old Gold Tooth]

It's a shame but as others have said it was doomed from the start.
It had the age old problem  of offering stuff you could only play through their own slow and laggy player rather than as DRM-free files. Such a great library of stuff but pointless to buy something on an inconvenient format.

[olliebean]

They've said they'll be giving full refunds for any programmes bought, but it's a shame they couldn't have come up with a way to let people download them to keep instead. Some of the more exclusive stuff might never be made available again.

[Ambient Sheep]

So, if they closed their physical DVD shop a year or two ago, and now they're closing their "virtual DVD" shop, what the fuck happens now?

Physical media licensed via commercial companies, or what, exactly?  Selling digits via iTunes?

[steveh]

The future now seems to be solely streaming via the big platforms:

A BBC spokesman said, "Since the appetite for BBC shows on SVOD [streaming video on demand] and other third party platforms is growing in the UK and abroad, it doesn't make sense for us to invest further in BBC Store where demand has not been as strong as we'd hoped in a rapidly changing market".

BBC Worldwide – the BBC's commercial arm – is under increasing pressure to find new sources of funding outside the traditional licence fee model. However, it has accepted that the BBC Store model failed to provide that revenue, with viewers increasingly opting for subscription services such as Netflix or Amazon over 'download and keep' alternatives.

http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2017-05-25/bbc-store-to-close-as-corporation-admits-defeat-in-the-face-of-streaming-service-rivals

The BBC's also a long, long way from digitising their entire archive and their earlier attempt ended up in a big mess with the project eventually being abandoned. From what I gather it's now rather more piecemeal depending on demand and programme-maker needs.

[Hollow]

It's probably failed cause the BBC is a semi-criminal protection racket that asks (demands) you for money, then just when you think you've paid enough asks you for money again, we've already paid arseholes.

I personally hope the whole thing collapses...paying for your own brainwashing, twice!...takes the piss.

[Bad Ambassador]

He's started early. Binmen must have woken him.

[Hollow]

He's started early. Binmen must have woken him.

Hehehe...that was a particularly nonsensical one wasn't it?

My wake up posts never make much sense then I end up defending them all day...something to do innit?

[MojoJojo]

It's a shame but as others have said it was doomed from the start.
It had the age old problem  of offering stuff you could only play through their own slow and laggy player rather than as DRM-free files. Such a great library of stuff but pointless to buy something on an inconvenient format.

Of course the obvious solution would have been to let it be accessible through iPlayer, as that has wide support. But I guess they couldn't do that because iplayer wasn't linked to an account, because of all the issues around the license that everyone was avoiding. Now they seem to have decided what they are doing with that, I wouldn't be surprised if they are planning to start selling stuff through iPlayer and that might be part of the reason why the BBC store has been closed.

[Ignatius_S]

...Would it have worked better if they'd adopted a Netflix or Hulu style subscription model?...

In theory, yes but I think there were too many issues like people being concerned about privatisation by the backdoor (or rather stable door after the horse has bolted) for it to work.

Of course the obvious solution would have been to let it be accessible through iPlayer, as that has wide support. But I guess they couldn't do that because iplayer wasn't linked to an account, because of all the issues around the license that everyone was avoiding....

You could access content that had been purchased via the iPlayer website and (IIRC) iPlayer mobile apps.

The iPlayer system is changing so you need an account  (at the moment, people are being encouraged to sign up in readiness) and think the plan was to eventually merge the store and iPlayer.

...Firstly, they come late to the table, despite having the most amazing archive of content; then they only offer stuff that has been on DVD for ages; then when they finally start uploading good stuff (rare single drama collections by Welland etc.) they pull the plug, because they can't compete with the big boys...

I would have said they started adding the kind of content that you're talking about – here's a post four months after the launch:

...When the online BBC Store launched, something that I commented upon that among the offerings there were some relatively obscure offerings. There was one Play for Today there, which was available on DVD already but the online price (£4) was over £20 cheaper than the physical product now.

I've just had a quick look and among the new releases on the Store's home page, there are two Dennis Potter works: Message for Posterity (a 1994 remake of a lost play) and Christabel. Pretty sure they haven't been on DVD (unless companies that sell VHS rips etc are counted) and having a quick look, this appears to be the case. Also on the homepage, there's a link to adaptations by Potter and having a look at those, think most haven't been on DVD before and where there was a DVD release, it was part as a collection.  That arguably isn't the "oddities/cult stuff" you're referring to, but this is material that was unlikely to see the light of day otherwise.

In the drama section, there are works from the 1960s and 1970s that wouldn't get a DVD physical release....
http://www.cookdandbombd.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=52674.0

Personally, I think there was problems with doing a soft launch and the business model – a subscription services is much more palatable to punters and, in the case, of the kind of content you were referring to, my feeling is that the core market would prefer a physical release.