BBC Will Let Programs Be Downloaded

[Assistant 134]

BBC Will Let Programs Be Downloaded
Saturday August 27 12:29 PM ET


The British Broadcasting Corp. is planning a new service to let Web users download its television and radio programs up to a week after they have aired.

BBC Director General Mark Thompson, who unveiled the plans for the company's "MyBBCPlayer" at the Edinburgh International Television Festival Saturday, said he hoped the service could be active by 2006.

Under the outline he presented, Thompson said the player would let Web users download original BBC radio and television programming from its Web site for as long as seven days after it originally aired.

But complete details weren't released and any plan to make the material available for download would have to be approved by the government-owned broadcaster.

Also not disclosed was whether the BBC would charge users a fee for the downloads or how it would protect the digital rights of such programming.

Thompson said the plan is part of the BBC's efforts to expand its operations beyond traditional forms of media.

"I accept the premise that if the BBC remains nothing more than a traditional TV and radio broadcaster then we probably won't deserve or get license-fee funding beyond 2016," he said. "That is very definitely not our plan."

The dominant broadcaster in the United Kingdom, the BBC operates a pair of public television channels, a 24-hour news channel, and several digital channels, as well as national and digital radio networks.

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http://www.bbc.co.uk

[Greg WibblyWobbly]

Cheers to the Beeb !!!!!! Great news for us Anglophiles !!!!!!http://lordgreg.minki.net/clap.gif

[minki]

Right now you can download some short videoclips from their archives...only if you live in the U.K. Bah :(

[Greg WibblyWobbly]

Right now you can download some short videoclips from their archives...only if you live in the U.K. Bah :(

I wonder how they stop "outsiders" from downloading ?

[matthewrose]

At the moment the BBC are putting more and more of their programs on the web for viewing up to 6 or so weeks after they air and usually a week beforehand as well. This is great for me because i live in the UK but for most of you it has no use whatsoever.

However at the moment it is only some new programs and there look to be no plans to put classic series' such as AYBS on the web. But you never know...

[Greg WibblyWobbly]

At the moment the BBC are putting more and more of their programs on the web for viewing up to 6 or so weeks after they air and usually a week beforehand as well. This is great for me because i live in the UK but for most of you it has no use whatsoever.

Why not ??? :shrug:

However at the moment it is only some new programs and there look to be no plans to put classic series' such as AYBS on the web. But you never know...

I doubt that AYBS? will ever be put up there to view. The Beeb is making too much money on them for sale to let them be downloaded.

[matthewrose]

I'm pretty sure you can only watch the shows they put on the internet if you live in the uk, because they are only under obligation to provide a service for the UK public. Well at least i know my friend in australia can't watch them...

[Greg WibblyWobbly]

I'm pretty sure you can only watch the shows they put on the internet if you live in the uk, because they are only under obligation to provide a service for the UK public. Well at least i know my friend in australia can't watch them...

Ohhh I didn't understand when you wrote that. Makes sense. I went to the Beeb site and can't find the spot to download. I'd like to give it at least one try... :mrgreen:

[matthewrose]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_sports/winter_sports/schedule/4581754.stm

The link above is for watching the winter olympics online but it says on the website it will only work for uk broadband users but you can give it a try.

and on http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcthree/ you can watch all 6 episodes of the new comedy tittybangbang in full. however, even if it will let you, i wouldn't bother. they're fairly crap.

hope that's enough to keep you busy!

[Greg WibblyWobbly]

Pretty cool !! Thanks a lot !!! :mrgreen:

[matthewrose]

lol i wasnt actually looking for links for you but i stumbled across this http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/space/spaceguide/skyatnight/proginfo.shtml

which has a back catalogue of The Sky at Night with Patrick Moore episodes to download. so if it works for you then theres something else to try.

i suspect it doesnt work though because today in the paper there was an article about how the bbc are successfully prosecuting people who are watching the broadcasts online and dont have a tv licence. and seeing as anyone abroad doesnt have to buy a tv licence, i imagine they have a block in place to stop foreigners watching over the net.

[Greg WibblyWobbly]

Story of my life..... :roll:

[Capt. Peacock]

I could download them. It didn't even ask me for a postal code.

[LovelyMissShirleyBrahms]

Is there any downloading for the soap EastEnders?

[Greg WibblyWobbly]

What exactly do I click on the download this stuff ??? :shrug:

[minki]

i suspect it doesnt work though because today in the paper there was an article about how the bbc are successfully prosecuting people who are watching the broadcasts online and dont have a tv licence. and seeing as anyone abroad doesnt have to buy a tv licence, i imagine they have a block in place to stop foreigners watching over the net.

They block foreign (non-UK) IP addresses. I did hear that they may offer a paid subscription service for non-UK people to download clips and what not...but not in the near future.

It still trips me out that Brits have to pay to watch television O_o

[Capt. Peacock]

I could download them. It didn't even ask me for a postal code.

Well, I must have been lucky the other day. I was told by the beeb I couldn't download content any longer :x

We watch Eastenders every week. If you have Dish TV you can get it as pay per view for $10.00 a month. They are a month behind the English air date but it still is good.