The BBC will not share Iplayer

chris

THE BBC will not be allowed to share the use of its Iplayer technology with other broadcasters.

Aunty had proposed sharing its Iplayer technology to help the other channels after the digital switchover.

The BBC Trust which makes sure that the BBC does not get too common said that while it liked the principle of sharing Iplayer more widely, that would not deliver value to licence-fee payers.

It felt that the proposals, which had features of both commercial and public service operations, were too complex for the riff-raff to understand.

That is not to say it has rejected the idea out of hand, it just wants the BBC to come up with something that will make a bob or two.

ITV, Channel 4 and Five produce public service broadcasting in exchange for free access to the airwaves, but after the switch to digital TV, which will be completed by 2012, they will have to compete with other media organisations.

The plan that the trust rejected would have meant that the other TV networks could use its technology to create their own versions of Iplayer.

Iplayer allows viewers and listeners to catch up on programmes they may have missed, up to a week after broadcast.

Source: theinquirer