BBC iPlayer might go international
- Thread starter Rosalind
- Start date
Yay. I don't have to use a proxy to change my IP address to watch.
Wow, someone who sees the Internet as a revenue source and actually wants to expand globally instead of alienating their audience? I think that's a very good thing. Hopefully it happens.
I'm glad they are coming to this conclusion. I like the "for example, Doctor Who" that they list. 
I'm glad they are coming to this conclusion. I like the "for example, Doctor Who" that they list.
Well, it's a fine selling point.
No more using my VPN connection!
I guess it will also give Amercians a new way to ignore EastEndersI'm glad they are coming to this conclusion. I like the "for example, Doctor Who" that they list.
Very cool. Pity my internet connection sucks at the moment.
Ow. I think this will affect Auntie ABC's iView in a negative way. Though there is probably still enough local content to keep it moderately popular..
I'm not so sure, there's always a delay in contents being shown here. For example, "last chance to see" was filmed in 08, but we only just got it here. And things on iPlayer only stay there for a few weeks, so people will still want to watch it on iView when it gets there. Just look at all the Poirot, Sherlock Holmes, Doctor Who and Torchwood repeats that iView put on when the shows get repeats on tele. It will, I think help to sync the more popular shows with those in UK, like we're getting the DW xmas special this year on boxing day.
I suspect this means it'll be on a subscription only service, so you'll need to pay an amount per year or something and log in to view the contents. so question for everyone here: will you be willing to pay for iPlayer service? and how much? Keep in mind that British households pay £150+ per year for BBC subscription which includes radio, tv, internet etc.
I'll be happy to pay for it, but anything above £48 per year is going to make me think very hard about it.
I'll be happy to pay for it, but anything above £48 per year is going to make me think very hard about it.
^I'd expect it to be a paid service, BBC Worldwide is a commercial business and they are there to drive profit on BBC's rights, and I recall one of their top people was saying (rather laughably I think) he thinks people would pay $5 an episode for Torchwood online. So I would think it would either be a pay to own/rent service or a subscription service, unlike the iPlayer catch up service here in the UK.
One of the news stories I saw about this suggests they might charge as much as $10 PER EPISODE. I'm assuming that's an error, because frankly it's cheaper to buy the Blu-ray box sets if that's the case.
Which I personally prefer to do anyway. I hate watching TV shows on my computer and my ISP talks a good game regarding download speed, but it's a joke.
I'm more interested in being allowed to access some of the other video and online content related to Doctor Who and other BBC shows that's otherwise denied us in North America. For example, I'm still waiting for the Mac version of the Adventure Games to be made available outside the UK. And Amy's History Hunt might have been more enjoyable if we'd been allowed to see the Karen Gillan videos that went with it.
All that said, it's nice to see the BBC finally starting to realize that it's called the "World Wide Web" and screw the licence fee - there are plenty of options available for funding it outside the UK, whether that be user-pay (though as discussed above, let's hope some intelligence and sanity comes into those decisions) or selling advertising. Who knows - if they make enough on international sales, maybe they might be able to, you know, knock a few quid off that licence fee. Or stop sending Who fans into panic over the spectre of budget cuts. Everybody wins.
Alex
^Stop being so up yourself on this subject. Rights issues are thorny for every company. Lots of things aren't available anywhere but the country of origin.