Talking Telly: BBC head says global iPlayer coming ‘within a year’

The BBC has said there’s a global version of its on-demand iPlayer on the way for at least a year. But finally a date line has been drawn in the sand.

BBC director-general Mark Thompson said at the MediaGuardian Edinburgh International Television Festival Friday that, “Within a year, we wish to launch an international commercial version of the iPlayer.”

Thompson said the BBC Worldwide division has been making slow process in building their own version of the UK-only platform, which currently has both live streaming of all the BBC television networks and on-demand streams of shows for a seven-day period after airing.

Moreover, Thompson said that the network is developing a way for verified UK license payers to be able to use the existing iPlayer platform from non-UK IP addresses, presumably for Brits traveling abroad or expats who maintain residence in Great Britain and another country.

But there are still questions to be answered on the non-UK “global” iPlayer in its final execution. If people are paying a fee to the BBC for access (probably the most logical option) would this mean they’d also pay for the right to, say, watch “Doctor Who” and “Sherlock” on the much earlier UK timetable, or would shows that have US rights sold be blocked?

That would be bad news for the many DW fanatics who would gladly pay for legal viewing when it airs in the UK instead of seeking out not-so-legal downloads of the show online, and those people are many of those willing to pay a monthly fee for the privilege. However, for a network like PBS that is banking on this enormous “Sherlock” buzz for their fall ratings, at least the illusion of exclusivity is part of the price they pay for the rights.

Also, will this BBCWW iPlayer also include live streaming as well as on-demand? Note: only live UK television requires a license fee under the current structure, although UK culture minister Jeremy Hunt has said the exemption should end for video-on-demand. But if we’re paying, can’t we at least get BBC One and Two live? And could we also, just for the fun of it, get all those region-blocked previews and trailers that are on the BBC.co.uk site? After all, there would have to be some sort of logging into the site and cookies involved.

BBCWW has licensed some of their programmes out already in the US via Hulu, and Thompson said, “British ideas are no longer strangers in LA and the world’s other media capitals.” That may be true to an extent, especially with the division’s coproduction deals with Starz for “Torchwood” and “Spartacus.”

However, surely Thompson and others overseeing the development of the US market for BBC as a whole know that they cannot offer a limited amount of product such as what’s available on Hulu as a way to grow their audience here. There are some of us who won’t be happy until we can see “EastEnders”, The One Show”, “Mock the Week” and “That Mitchell and Webb Look”, amongst so many others, in as close to real time as they can legally and technologically make available.