“It will be available only outside the UK, where the BBC is not allowed to charge for its content, and marks a new stage in the broadcaster’s move to exploit its content around the world,” Fenton reports. “iPlayer, currently only usable in the UK, [will be] available to iPad owners in certain target markets in the middle of next year.”
Fenton reports, “Luke Bradley-Jones, managing director of BBC.com, its commercial web operation, …said it was too early to say what the BBC would charge for the global iPlayer, but said it would be a monthly subscription and that the US would be among the first markets to come online. ‘We’re quite bullish about what we can charge, but we are still working out the details,’ he said.”
Read more in the full article here.
Al Jazeera iPhone app with live video feed is free. I hope CNN and BBC would give the same globally.
Get the live stuff working on iOS devices in the UK first.
I notice that bbc content on my streaming netflix queue expires on the 1st of January, so they are pulling everything. Hmmm, another subscription to a single channel…no thanks.
That wording was a bit odd. I first read it as “not allowed to charge outside of the UK”, when he meant was outside of the place where they can’t charge.
If the US iPlayer will only include what’s on the BBC America cable channel it’ll be useless. Subscription payments to watch Star Treck and old James Bond movies? They don’t even have a news broadcast anymore.
@CMS
There are actually a number of channels from the BBC. There are channels BBC 1 – 4, World News Service, a couple of kids’ channels, etc.
It’s like subscribing to Disney with everything they own– ABC, ESPN, etc.
If you have seen the iplayer for BBC, it’s pretty nice. It’s black like the ABC player, but has far, far more on it, with different tabs or sections for thediffent channels. Check out some of the limited content they already offer on iTunes Store TV Programs. BBC has it’s own section there.
Can’t wait for this app to hit the US. X3 I will flat out admit I love watching a lot of what BBC has on.
As a Brit and longtime enjoyer of the beeb’s iPlayer (in addition to ITV and the other commercial stations’ equivalents) I really hope you guys out there get the service much as we enjoy it, the best telly on the planet, with no adverts. And at a price that allows everyone to access it, ideally free.
“Bullish about what we can charge.” I shudder at the thought.