BBC iPlayer launches, bringing catch-up and on-demand viewing to BBC content

c in 2007, giving UK audiences the ability to watch and listen to BBC television and radio content online, on demand, after its original broadcast. Before iPlayer, viewers who missed a programme had to wait for a repeat or record it themselves — there was no easy way to catch up on shows after they aired. iPlayer changed that by letting people stream BBC programmes for a limited window after transmission, initially through a downloadable player before moving to a browser-based streaming service. It was one of the earliest and most successful catch-up TV services from a major broadcaster, and it played a significant role in shifting how audiences in Britain — and eventually beyond, through international versions — consumed television, moving viewing habits away from fixed broadcast schedules and toward on-demand access.