BBC's iPlayer has been a huge success since its release. It's the answer for any television schedule problem. "Oh Sh** I've forgotten to watch …" "Don't worry it will be on iPlayer." It's a fantastic tool for catching up with TV and entertaining licence-fee dodgers, but it's also got another use and the BBC has cottoned on.
Europe and America has an appetite for British shows. They simply cannot miss the apprentice. At the moment this market is 'unexploited' but the Beeb plans make iPlayer international come next year.
Good news for the 'foreigners' who get to watch Top Gear online but the downside is of course its got to be paid for so we're going to be seeing adds or fees on the site which will suck a bit. We'll get over it though and maybe we'll get some shiny new features in the new year too.
Source: engadget
2 thoughts on “BBC iPlayer to go international: fees and ads on their way?”
They might just catch this in time although all TV is available on biitorrent within minutes of showing.
It makes a lot of sense, I hope they have more success with monetising this than the Luddite record companies did with their attitude to mp3, waiting until it was 10 years too late to try and sort it all out.
Good luck BBC
I do hope that the BBC keeps the ads of those IP addresses hitting the site from the UK. They can charge and advertise however they like for the rest of the world, but I HAVE PAID MY LICENCE FEE!
:-)