BBC offers more listener control

BBC's free iPlayer not only offers downloads of the past week of the TV network's programs but also the listeners' own choice of podcasts, tentatively called MyBBCRadio. Yet to come: details of how do-it-yourself scheduling will work. Meanwhile this week, the Beeb is offering downloads of BBC Philharmonic performances of Beethoven's symphonies 6 through 9. Music lovers downloaded the first five symphonies 700,000 times. Downloads are offered for a week starting on the day after broadcast. The iPlayer holds down server costs by using Kontiki peer-to-peer technology also employed by the California-based nonprofit Open Media Network.