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Are you implying that a Broadcasting Corporation ought not to be concerned with technologies for transmitting video over communication networks?

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Concerned with? Sure. NIH on the taxpayer's money? Probably not. Not like the BBC ever had its own homegrown tape format or anything, it got it all off-the-shelf.

You could argue that tapes are not broadcasting though - whereas if I recall, the BBC was quite involved with early Television research and development.

Personally, as a British citizen and license-payer, I'm quite happy for the BBC to spend money on research and development (if well-thought and efficient; perhaps in this case it was misplaced), and I'm glad that the BBC is pushing technologies like video-over-internet compared to some of the more dinosaur-like traditional media companies.

Time to go watch some more BBC4 streaming over IP.

Maybe not a homegrown tape format... but how about Teletext, FM Radio, Freeview, HD on Freeview, iPlayer?

The BBC invented FM? I was not aware of that...

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