A month into the rebranding of the BBC, the TV version of the iPlayer is next to be revamped. How viewers navigate the service on TV will be fundamentally changed.
The new look begins its roll-out today, but will reach all iPlayer compatible TV sets in the coming weeks.
The most visible change is the introduction of a revamped navigation menu, which will appear on the left hand side of the screen (shown in the image above). As a result, the BBC will have more space on the screen to showcase its content.
In a blog post, Neil Hall, Head of Product at BBC iPlayer, said the changes were part of a wider effort to modernise the user experience across the BBC’s digital services.
Further changes to how the iPlayer looks and feels will follow on mobile and web versions of the service, linking in to changes across BBC Sounds, BBC News and BBC Sport. The BBC began rebranding its services last month, with a revamp to the look and feel of BBC One, BBC Two and BBC Four. BBC News is due to get a new look next spring.
It’s important to us that any changes we make to iPlayer work for everyone, so our new menu has been usability tested with adults, children, and people with accessibility needs to ensure people can continue to find and explore our many programme genres and channels with ease. We’ve also gathered feedback from the people who help us test changes like this in what we call our beta group, who have helped us improve the experience further.
Neil Hall, Head of Product at BBC iPlayer
iPlayer beta
The changes to the iPlayer TV app will automatically roll out to all users, but viewers eager to switch to the new look can switch to iPlayer beta on their TV, via the settings menu.
As part of the forthcoming changes to the BBC iPlayer, HD versions of all BBC One English regions, BBC Alba and BBC Parliament will be rolled-out. HD online streams of these channels are currently exclusive to Sky Glass, following a recent agreement between the two organisations.