The BBC has stated that there is a delay in regards to the scheduled launch of the BBC iPlayer on Xbox LIVE. A spokesman for the BBC stated that it was due to Microsoft’s wishing to charge for the player and content while the BBC wants all users of LIVE (Silver and Gold) to be able to get the player for free.

The iPlayer is already available on the Sony Playstation 3 and a new version for the Nintendo Wii has been launched hat corrected many of the errors with the first version.

At present that means only Microsoft is without the content and if they are unwilling to change their stance on forcing gamers to pay for the service they may find themselves without the content all together.

Since Microsoft charges for just about everything from avatar items to games, videos and even Gold membership which is required just to gain access to all of the features it seems unlikely that Microsoft will suddenly make a change to that precedent. They are obviously hungry for cash as they cannot manage to supply most content for free and even some for a reasonable price. This could eventually hurt them in the long run as Nintendo and Sony begin to make further deals that provide free content to their network users and expands the services. The recent Playstation firmware update even added new TV content to many countries in Europe all freely available.

Is it any wonder people abbreviate Microsoft as M$?