On Friday, we reported on news from The Inquirer, which claimed that a Nokia spokesperson had informed them that a BBC iPlayer app was in development for Windows Phone, and that it would be available for Nokia’s Lumia handsets in “a few weeks”. If you’re a Windows Phone user and a fan of the BBC’s incredible TV and radio programming, you’ll no doubt have been enormously excited by this news.
But when we contacted the BBC Press Office to verify the story and hopefully probe for a few more details, we were disappointed to learn that the Beeb isn’t working on anything of the sort.
The BBC’s Ian Walker told Neowin that “BBC iPlayer is already on over 500 platforms and devices, including Virgin Media, BT Vision, FreeSat, Freeview, Sony PlayStation, Nintendo Wii, and hundreds of mobile phones, tablets and Internet-connected TVs. We are always looking at new and existing platforms to bring BBC iPlayer to, but we have no plans to launch a BBC iPlayer native app in Windows Phone Marketplace in the immediate future.”
BBC iPlayer is available on Microsoft"s Xbox 360 - but not yet on Windows Phone.
The BBC hasn’t yet committed to bringing any of its apps to the Windows Phone ecosystem, despite the availability of BBC News, BBC Sport and BBC iPlayer apps on other mobile platforms. The BBC is currently in the midst of extensive cost-cutting across all departments, and while Windows Phone users will no doubt be frustrated by this news, the practicalities of tightened purse-strings are something that most of us can at least relate to in these austere times.
Source and lower image: British Broadcasting Corporation