Speaking at the Financial Times Digital Media Broadcasting Conference in London on Wednesday, the BBC’s Director General, Mark Thompson, revealed that the international version of the BBC iPlayer will definitely be available before the end of this year, and will likely cost less than $10, or approximately €7.
BBC iPlayer not currently available in Ireland
Thompson is quoted as saying that the international iPlayer would cost,
“a small number of dollars per month, definitely fewer then 10.”
The BBC iPlayer has huge potential internationally, with a strong BBC brand boosted by great shows like Top Gear, and has the capability to earn significant revenues from the international iPlayer that could be re-invested back into the BBC to produce a greater number high quality shows.
Thompson went on to urge other broadcasters, the government, and mobile phone operators to help put in place a road map for the arrival of mobile television.
“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.
“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.”
