BBC Shows on iTunes This Week?

This is great news if true.

Fingers crossed… :D

I wonder if this will only be available in the UK or in other countries as well.

If they are free, time limited downloads great :)

If they are going to ask £1.89 like the US TV shows on iTunes then I'm not interested.

Fantastic news, I really hope this is true.

I wonder if this will only be available in the UK or in other countries as well.

I'd be surprised if it's available outside the UK as it's funded by UK license payers. Unless they'd be able to offer some paid subscription model for those overseas?

Yes! Please BBC! Please, Please, Pleeaaeeaase?? Pretty Please!

This would be amazing and it would be great through iTunes! I suppose the article is refering to tomorrow= this tuesday!?

I wonder is this will only be available in the UK or in other contries as well

I doubt it being available around the globe...Their iPlayer service only works in the UK...

Unless the BBC do make this available to the rest of the world, I can see a lot of people buying UK iTunes vouchers on ebay so they can create a UK account.

But distributing on iTunes won't solve the Linux problem (unless the BBC are going to put pressure on Apple to release a Linux version of iTunes).

If they are going to charge for them, then **** is going to fly.

The easiest way to get round the "unique way the BBC is funded' is to ask iTunes users for their TV license number. Then you can watch what you want at no extra cost. Obviously the damn license fee will go up next year (yet again) but its the most logical way.

My bet however will be they don't go this route. :rolleyes:

Worldwide services are distinct from the BBC iPlayer, which offers programmes broadcast in the last seven days online for free. Ashley Highfield, the man with ultimate responsibility for the BBC's online efforts, has indicated iPlayer will be available via the AppleTV set-top box, however.

This rumour relates to BBC Worldwide, who are a different "group" within the BBC to the iPlayer people. So don't expect iPlayer to move to iTunes this week in the UK. More likely, classic BBC programmes will start to be sold internationally via iTunes.

But if the BBC is embracing Apple & iTunes, then I'm sure it won't be long before iPlayer comes to iTunes. It'd be such a good fit it'd be daft for both parties not to!

Whatever... this is great news if it's true!

SL

Unless the BBC do make this available to the rest of the world, I can see a lot of people buying UK iTunes vouchers on ebay so they can create a UK account.

Which leads nicely into this thread. :p

This could be seriously huge! Not because we might get BBC content on iTunes. But rather because it could pave the way for having regular TV content on iTunes for free. There have been two recent developments that are significant. The first is the iTunes rental which allows time-limited viewing of content. The second is the writers strike negotiations where the studios fought to have a two week "promotional" period after a TV show airs where the writers do not get royalties. Put these together and I imagine a scenario where there could be TV shows offered on iTunes immediately after they air as "free" rentals. They would probably have embedded ads and would only be available for a couple weeks after the air date. After that, they would be sold for $1.99 just like they are today.

This is the scenario that I am really hoping for. I'm also convinced that this is why Apple did not build any kind of DVR functionality into the Apple TV. Instead of messing around with setting up recording schedules you could simply subscribe to a show like you do a podcast and episodes would automatically download when available. Simple!

I think Apple has had the technology ready for a long time, it's just hasn't been until now that the politics have caught up with them. Personally, I can't wait!