Beeb says Internet TVs overly complicated

The BBC has called internet-connected televisions too complex, citing overly complicated apps as the main reason iPad traffic far surpasses that from televisions.

Speaking at the Digital Television Group summit, the Beeb’s iPlayer chief Daniel Danker said that iPlayer traffic coming from Apple’s iPad was four times that of so-called connected TVs.

"Even after connecting connected TVs, audiences are presented with a list of choices that boggles the mind," Danker told DTG Summit attendees.

Danker also took aim at ‘firmware upgrades’ just to get televisions working with the service, slamming the current practice as more PC-like than TV-like.

There are twice as many iPlayer enabled televisions on the market as iPads, despite the traffic figures, Danker revealed. All this is evidence that manufacturers need to get their house in order and fix up the software experience he said.