AfterDawn: News

BBC iPlayer is going global

BBC Worldwide CEO John Smith has said today that the popular iPlayer streaming service will go global next year, giving users around the world a chance to enjoy shows like Top Gear and Doctor Who, which normally air in the UK.

The service will likely be free with ads, although the BBC may decide to charge a subscription fee.



After receiving the approval of the BBC Trust, Smith says the plans are now to introduce the service next year. Executives in the company have said the Trust's decision will allow them to raise funds. Earlier this year the government froze the license fee.

Adds Smith: "Not only will that mean international fans of, for example, Doctor Who can get their fix legitimately [rather than downloading programmes illegally], but it has the potential of opening up a new revenue stream for the entire UK production industry, alongside sales to traditional broadcasters."

Notes Luke Bradley-Jones, MD of Global iPlayer: "Our research has shown there is an international audience of British TV fans that are frequently watching TV online – and we are excited about rolling out our iPlayer VOD [video-on-demand] service to meet and grow this demand. We strongly believe the Global iPlayer is going to offer an excellent opportunity for the UK's creative industry to directly reach much sought after digital audiences and revenue streams around the world."

Written by: Andre Yoskowitz @ 10 Nov 2010 18:10

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• 5 comments

• dEwMe

  Awesome!!! Finally some good news. As opposed to telling me my water heater gets Netflicks or something...
  
  

  Just my $0.02,
  
  dEwMe
  

  11.11.2010 10:36 #1

• plazma247

  Its not as if they havnt been selling access to the same content through amazon video on demand for ages..
  
  This will just allow them to probably make more direct revenue from the content.

  12.11.2010 07:05 #2

• ST2006

  Yeah.. when are American channels gonna do the same for us?! When is Hulu gonna do the saeme for us??!!
  
  Jus saying, it would be appreciated !!

  12.11.2010 15:53 #3

• plazma247

  Originally posted by ST2006: Yeah.. when are American channels gonna do the same for us?! When is Hulu gonna do the saeme for us??!!
  
  Jus saying, it would be appreciated !! Well its already here and has been for a while, sawsaw.com is just an example of this.
  
  Due to the bbc the online tv pay for model is so far behind america because so many players have stuggled to fight against the bbc (EG FREE CONTENT) but its happening slowly with may agreements recently and ofcom giving the go ahead for a number of projects.
  
  Until then mate theres always proxys and vpns to give you access.
  
  PS the channels will never do it over here and dont hardly in america, instead they use other parties like hulu (who is not a channel) and amazon video on demand to distribute for them. Its unlikely you will ever see hulu in the uk, its american brand, seesaw is trying to be that, however its likely that amazon at some point soon will take a stab at the uk market.

  13.11.2010 05:12 #4

• ST2006

  Originally posted by plazma247: Originally posted by ST2006: Yeah.. when are American channels gonna do the same for us?! When is Hulu gonna do the saeme for us??!!
  
  Jus saying, it would be appreciated !! Well its already here and has been for a while, sawsaw.com is just an example of this.
  
  Due to the bbc the online tv pay for model is so far behind america because so many players have stuggled to fight against the bbc (EG FREE CONTENT) but its happening slowly with may agreements recently and ofcom giving the go ahead for a number of projects.
  
  Until then mate theres always proxys and vpns to give you access.
  
  PS the channels will never do it over here and dont hardly in america, instead they use other parties like hulu (who is not a channel) and amazon video on demand to distribute for them. Its unlikely you will ever see hulu in the uk, its american brand, seesaw is trying to be that, however its likely that amazon at some point soon will take a stab at the uk market. I swear Seesaw.com just basically brings each channel's VOD services in the UK together? It doesn't actually show us content from the US that is hard to get "legitimately" over here?
  
  Proxys and VPNs? Tried brifely but didn't work.. would be more interested but I've got torrents for these things. Still, may I ask you for some some links to start me off with, for whenever torrents are no longer a choice please? Thanks in advance :)
  
  The thing about Hulu is, in a way I don't think they would be able to expand here. The problem is that British channels want to milk American content, as well as services like Sky.. and their producers want the same thing. That''s how they keep their money up. Sorta answered my own question...
  
  Still, UK Hulu with American content would be awesome !!

  13.11.2010 13:42 #5