OMG...signing up for BBC iPlayer AGAIN

[ardcarp]

Having got anything I want from BBC radio iPlayer for years, finding it on Google and going via the blessed 'Sounds', my last attempt was met with the BBC requirement to sign in. AGAIN. Needless to say I'd forgotten all the username and password rubbish. I can understand this requirement where financial security is paramount, but for iPlayer? It wouldn't accept my email address because 'it was 'already in use'. I got round all this by inventing a false persona, e.g. nom de plume, DOB, sex (!), email address, postcode, etc (and yes I'm over 13) and bingo...I was in. Just shows how ridiculous it all is. I think the topic was discussed ages ago, but I still want to know why the BBC needs this stuff?

[french frank]

but I still want to know why the BBC needs this stuff?

The junk reason is so that they can personalise their 'offer '- which laughably includes recommending completely unsuitable programmes for you ("We think you'd like to listen to Essential Classics, Classical Fix and This Classical Life." "No, I damn well wouldn't!")

More sense is that they get an idea of what kind of audience is accessing their stuff and from this they know who isn't i.e. which audiences are 'underserved'. That's pretty rubbish too as they don't know WHY those audiences aren't listening and viewing and what would persuade them to do so.

PS Yes it actually does say "Recommended for You - Saturday: Breakfast with Elizabeth Alker"

[Petrushka]

Having got anything I want from BBC radio iPlayer for years, finding it on Google and going via the blessed 'Sounds', my last attempt was met with the BBC requirement to sign in. AGAIN. Needless to say I'd forgotten all the username and password rubbish. I can understand this requirement where financial security is paramount, but for iPlayer? It wouldn't accept my email address because 'it was 'already in use'. I got round all this by inventing a false persona, e.g. nom de plume, DOB, sex (!), email address, postcode, etc (and yes I'm over 13) and bingo...I was in. Just shows how ridiculous it all is. I think the topic was discussed ages ago, but I still want to know why the BBC needs this stuff?

I don't understand why you keep on having to sign in. As far as I can recall, I've kept my user name and password identical throughout and if I'm on, say, BBC News I just click on I-player or Sounds on the top banner and I'm in straightaway. My user name appears in the top banner next to the BBC logo as usual and I never sign out. I don't think I've had to sign in for years or, at least, a very long time ago and enter by way of the shortcut on this Forum or use my own that's bookmarked.

[Serial_Apologist]

I don't understand why you keep on having to sign in. As far as I can recall, I've kept my user name and password identical throughout and if I'm on, say, BBC News I just click on I-player or Sounds on the top banner and I'm in straightaway. My user name appears in the top banner next to the BBC logo as usual and I never sign out. I don't think I've had to sign in for years or, at least, a very long time ago and enter by way of the shortcut on this Forum or use my own that's bookmarked.

I hadn't realised one can do that. My way is to Google the programme title; sometimes there's a general ad for the programme, and another link with the BBC homepage for the programme, or series of themed programmes for the week, say, and have no problem doing it this way.

[ardcarp]

Well I've had no problem for some years...but this morning the glitch occurred out of the blue. Did I press something by accident? I have a bad effect on electronics! But I'm still cross that there is ever a need to 'sign in'.

[Dave2002]

Well I've had no problem for some years...but this morning the glitch occurred out of the blue. Did I press something by accident? I have a bad effect on electronics! But I'm still cross that there is ever a need to 'sign in'.

I probably can't give an explanation for your recent glitch - but one is reminded of this nonsense when setting up a new device such as a new TV. Then one gets to see a little advert which repeats the words "You only have to do this once" which drives me furious and I want to throw bricks at Richard Attenborough or whoever else is spouting the mantras.

Indeed, mostly one doesn't have to do this, as the devices will remember the settings - including all the "protection" features. For example, what use is the stored login feature as a protection, if all one has to do is click on the buttons on a remote control? On our TVs we are presented with a "Who is logging in?" menu - ostensibly to stop three year olds from accessing programmes they shouldn't be watching, but all that one has to do is to click on the button and access is immediately granted. The system has no idea who is really watching - or is it going to notice if there is a sudden change in viewing habits? Maybe the assumption is that people who want such "protection" will always login, but it does seem unlikely that most people will actually do that. "Nobody" remembers the wretched passwords.

One problem which can happen, and I have seen this with so-called "smart" TVs is that they can lose the data which contains the passwords, forcing the reconnect set up procedure yet again. Perhaps the situation is different for people who are still able to receive programs via broadcast channels - but we can really hardly do that for technical reasons, so rely 99% of the time on internet connectivity. Another complication of internet connections is the segmentation of the various offerings, so we have different hardware devices for different channels - all requiring to be set up from time to time. Sometimes these just fail - or there's a software "upgrade" which causes the devices to be reset.