Amusing Web: BBC iPlayer launches in Europe... and costs half the price of the licence fee

Friday, July 29, 2011

BBC iPlayer launches in Europe... and costs half the price of the licence fee

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By Daily Mail Reporter

Last updated at 4:14 PM on 29th July 2011

The BBC's iPlayer service today launched in Europe for less than half the price of the British TV licence fee.

The European version of the iPlayer costs just 6.99EUR (£6.14) per month - which equates to £73 per year.

The annual licence fee for British viewers is £145.50 per year.

Going global: The European version of the iPlayer costs just 6.99EUR (£6.14) per month - which equates to £73 per year

John Smith, head of BBC Worldwide, said: 'Today marks a significant next step on a digital journey that has already seen 12million BBC Worldwide apps downloaded across brands as diverse as Lonely Planet and Good Food.

While the global iPlayer app will not provide all of the BBC's content to overseas subscribers, the catch-up service is expected to allow those abroad access to full series of shows.

The iPlayer app is due to launch internationally in the next few months - in the U.S. it is expected to cost around $10 (£6.09) per month.

DOES iPLAYER REQUIRE A TV LICENCE IN BRITAIN?

Yes and no is the strange answer to that seemingly simple question.

According to the TV Licencing authority, if you use iPlayer to watch TV programmes at the same time as they are being shown on TV - such as live sporting events - then you need to be covered by a valid TV licence.

However, if you use the service to watch programmes after they have been broadcast, either as downloads or via streaming on-demand, then you do not need a licence.

The licence fee gives Britons access to ten TV channels and 55 radio stations, as well as the Online, Mobile and iPlayer services.

However, the BBC said that the international iPlayer app will help to provide more funding for services for people in Britain, a view was echoed by industry experts.

'There are two ways of looking at this,' Ian Maude, head of internet at Enders Analysis, said recently.

'One way is that people overseas should pay more for BBC content than those in the UK who are forced to pay the licence fee, whether they like or not, as it is imposed as a flat tax.

'However, the other way to view it is that any more money the BBC can generate overseas is good for UK licence fee payers because the extra money will help keep the fee down.'

Mark Thompson, the BBC's director general, said the iPlayer app will allow the BBC to 'sell directly to consumers' without the need to rebrand them for broadcast internationally, which would seem to bring it into conflict with the business model of the BBC's commercial arm, BBC Worldwide.

BBC director general Mark Thompson. The global iPlayer app will not provide all of the BBC's content to overseas subscribers, but the catch-up service is expected to allow those abroad access to full series of shows

But as mobile TV technology improves Mr Thompson called for broadcasters, mobile phone companies and the government to work together and create guidelines for the developing frontier.

'I believe that there's a strong case for the UK's broadcasters, mobile phone operators, Ofcom and government to come together to develop a road map for the introduction of mobile TV in this country,' he said earlier this year.

'This would be complementary to the availability of TV content on demand, whether streamed or cached on the device and would enable the public to access time-critical content – news, major sports events and so on – wherever they are.'