Why doesnt BBC iplayer have a fucking algorthym?!

[WineIsMyCarb]

Front page of iplayer is RuPaul's drag race, series 7 of something I've never watched, episode 1 of Simon Reeve's America's docu That I've alredy seen the first episode of and a box set of Waterloo Road.

I watch no soaps, avoid anything where women are pretending to be blow-up dolls, and based on my search history watch a lot of quizzes and documentaries. And yet RuPaul's "face" glares at me everytime.

Next row down is 'continue watching', as if I'm desperate to watch the credits of what I watched last night.

FFS BBC, they spent how much on this platform and are doing another version next year, I think. Yet this one is the most basic piece of shit I've ever come across. It's like a bookcase of VHSs that you have to watch the credits of the last episode of faulty towers to get to the next one because they can't skip the last 35secs.

All with a guaranteed budget year-on-year that is enforceable by a prison sentence. Whoever has designed this piece of shit or put so many limits on the capability of the team designing this shit should be in prison.

Thnks for reading... it's been a tough couple of weeks!

[Breathes]

You ok, Wine...?

I agree @WineIsMyCarb Netflix is much better for stuff like this- it will even let you watch other stuff that it thinks you will like. I player is rubbish.

I only watch TV on my iPad. I find something I want to watch about once a week from BBC and more often on 4, but can’t stand the huge number of stupid boring advertisements.
It’s honestly not worth the licence fee.

I thought it was only me who objected to RuPaul’s misogynistic mug gurning at me. And no, I don’t want to explain it to my kids when I just want some Operation Ouch. Surely there should be an “ignore this program” button?

And don’t get me started on Sounds....

Just overtired and hangry, thanks, @LookImAHooman
I've had some alcohol-free carbs now so have mellowed somewhat.

I really object to RuPaul's drag race. As being a pointless waste of money, misogynistic bullshit, narrow view of gay men as make-up obsessed shallow queens, but mostly as being loud, bolshy and cliche ridden.

I would love a "fuck off" button @Molto.

Also there's no 'quiz' category, even though bbc does some good quizzes. BBC comedy almost universally not funny (with the exception of Motherland and 'Philomena Cunk' s faux documentary. Anything the bbc thinks is funny concerning politics, race and sexuality, socio-economic background or culture is clichéd, pejorative and thoroughly shit IMO.

Maybe I need tea and chocolate now I've finished my pasta...

Ha, WineIsMyCarb I had this exact thought just a few hours ago. Every week I listen to Kermode and Mayos Film podcast on one device, and wanted to catch up on another, but their podcast didn’t come up at all in any listing. I had to go to the search bar to find it. Like it had no idea I ever watched it.

Yet, when I paused an episode of something on one laptop, and when to carry on watching on another computer a while later, it remembered that, and I could resume from the paused point. So there is a link to your sign in, why can’t it also learn your preferences?!

Doh, I don’t watch the film podcast, it’s a radio show, obvs!

Sounds is the same - I don’t want to listen to BBC music or listen to random podcasts by people I’ve never heard of. I want to listen to Radio 4, Radio 4 Extra & Radio 5. I don’t want to have something I’ve already listened to played again. It’s really irritating.

They need the money to pay for all the outrageous wages. No budget left for development.

Yeah, RuFuckingPaul needs to get his overpainted mug the fuck off my app

And don’t get me started on Sounds
Dear God, the scrolling ...

Wine Maybe I need tea and chocolate now I've finished my pasta...

Fixed it for you

I think I understand OP, they suggest stuff I'm never interested in.

Ive always suspected the bbc is rammed full of bulkshit jobs @SandraOhshair, and anyone with any talent or actual skill in producing tv or radio programmes or similar is marginalised and ignored. There were far too many 'knowing winks' at W1A from real presenters and journos to disabuse me of this prejudice.

The doc on female fighters is good. Currently next to RuPaul..

I too wish they had a quiz category. I only watch BBC for the quizzes and the odd bit of sport. I try to use it for kids programmes but its shite. If i put on an episode of Numberblocks, at the end it doesnt siggest more Numberblocks but 6 other unrelated programmes the DC.have no interest in.

I agree. My husband accused me of watching the Drag Race thing because it always gets top billing!

It needs to be more like Netflix.

To be honest, Netflix kept putting Drag Race as my top billing item for weeks. It has to be paid placement.

This drives me bonkers too. The other thing that annoys me is that there isn't a separate category for soaps and they are included in the drama category which means me wading through a load of soap episodes when I'm looking for a good drama.

But one of the great things about the BBC is they don't have to operate like everyone else.

What annoys me is the search algorithm. If I search “garden” iplayer only brings up programmes with that word in the title. Not any other gardening programmes with different titles. It’s very poor considering a Netflix search will bring up word matches, genre matches, other programmes starring the same people and even other programmes starring regular costars of those people.

I quite like that they aren't stalking me quite as effectively as other platforms but if they think I'm going to be tempted by Drag Race they've got another think coming. Glad it's not just me.

Yeah and sounds is the same.

I’m looking for the next episodes of things I am listening - fucking impossible to find.
Suggestions for you are mostly podcasts - don’t think I have ever listened to a BBC podcast... why not next episodes in suggestions?!? Grrr

To those complaining about the categories, have you ever tried to browse Channel 5 for a decent documentary? You have to wade through pages of utter tripe ASBO-and-proud type stuff to find Mary Beard or Bettany Hughes.

If I’m halfway through a series it doesn’t remember what I watched last and let me continue from the same point. It just offers me the latest episode. I have to flick through them all to find out where I was up to!