Key Points
- The BBC is expanding its low-latency streaming trial on BBC iPlayer to Wimbledon coverage, using the event to test the technology at scale with tens of thousands of concurrent viewers.
- The trial will stream BBC Two’s Wimbledon simulcast through a beta version of iPlayer, allowing engineers to evaluate performance across real-world conditions including broadband networks, devices and home setups.
- The BBC has been running similar tests since last year as it prepares for a future where streaming platforms are expected to rival or surpass traditional television in both viewership and revenue.
The BBC is expanding its test of a low-latency version of its streaming platform iPlayer to coverage of the current Wimbledon tennis tournament, the broadcaster affirmed this week.
The trial will see the BBC deploy the beta version of iPlayer during its streaming simulcast of BBC Two’s Wimbledon coverage, which will allow the broadcaster to evaluate the tech platform with tens of thousands of current viewers watching the same event.
The expanded test is intended to assess how low-latency streaming performs across a broad range of real-world viewing conditions, including different broadband providers, home networks and supported devices, as the BBC works toward reducing the delay between broadcast and internet-delivered television.
The BBC has widened support to additional devices and extended the duration of the trial to collect more performance data under everyday viewing conditions.
Ordinarily, a live streaming feed of a traditional TV broadcast can lag behind a digital over-the-air transmission by as much as two minutes. Newer forms of technology have helped broadcasters narrow that gap to as little as a few seconds, and a major goal in the industry is to entirely eliminate the lag so that terrestrial transmissions are on par with streaming feeds.
Melissa Darragh, a Senior Research and Development Engineer at the BBC, said Wimbledon offers an ideal environment for testing because BBC Two carries a single live feed across England and Scotland, generating the large audiences needed to evaluate the technology at scale.
“Based on viewing data for 2025, we expect that the HD coverage on BBC Two will generate the right size of audience for this stage of the trial, with tens of thousands of concurrent sessions on supported devices,” Darragh wrote in a note this week.
The BBC has been conducting low-latency streaming tests through the beta version of iPlayer since last September as it explores technologies capable of delivering live streams with delays comparable to conventional broadcast television.
The trials come as some reports indicate streaming TV platforms are poised to overtake traditional terrestrial and pay TV services in the coming years. Last September, a report from Futuresource Consulting found traditional TV platforms accounted for 45 percent of consumer spending in the United Kingdom, a figure that aligns itself nicely with viewership as well. But streaming platforms are starting to chip away at that lead, with subscription video on-demand platforms poised to overtake traditional TV revenue and viewership by 2029.
As that projection creeps closer to reality, narrowing the gap between the traditional TV experience and that of streaming platforms has become paramount for many of Britain’s public service broadcasters, including the BBC. Improving latency so that streaming feeds align with terrestrial signals is an important element: Someone choosing a streaming service doesn’t want to have a match point or goal spoiled by social media users who are watching the same event on a quicker medium.
Separately, the broadcaster noted that BBC channels are now supported through Sky’s Real Time low-latency streaming platform, which is available to customers using Sky Glass smart TVs and Sky Stream devices. The integration offers another route for viewers to access BBC programming with reduced streaming delays as broadcasters and platform operators continue investing in next-generation IP delivery technologies.
