(17 October 2007 3:00 pm)

MUMBAI: UK pubcaster The BBC and Adobe Systems have announced a strategic relationship around the delivery of web video.

By adopting Adobe Flash player software, the BBC will make its free catch-up TV service — BBC iPlayer — available as a streaming service across Macintosh and Linux, as well as Windows, by the end of the year.

The strategic relationship will also allow the BBC to provide a single consistent user experience for the majority of streamed video and audio content on www.bbc.co.uk.

The BBC iPlayer on-demand streaming service will complement the download service currently available. This non-exclusive relationship is part of the BBC’s strategy to reinvent www.bbc.co.uk, to ensure all its rich-media content is accessible to the widest audience possible.

BBC future media and technology group controller Erik Huggers said, "I'm delighted to announce this strategic relationship with Adobe. It is important to ensure that BBC iPlayer is available on as many platforms as possible.

"It will offer our audiences increased flexibility as to how and when they consume our content, both live and on-demand, on www.bbc.co.uk. With a complete end-to-end workflow, Adobe's video solutions will revolutionize how we create and deliver content to audiences in the digital age."

BBC iPlayer will have its marketing launch during the holiday season when it will offer downloading and streaming services, as well as radio options. The service currently enables viewers to download and view around 400 hours of television programs from the last seven days and store for up to 30 days.