BBC Archive: available for downloads?

[SiHart]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-17368514

BBC director general Mark Thompson has announced proposals allowing viewers to permanently download copies of their favourite shows from the archives.

Mr Thompson said the plan - named Project Barcelona - would enable the purchase of programmes to own for a "relatively modest" fee.

He added that the digital archive would stay open for good, and shows would remain available to licence fee payers.

The plans will be put before the BBC Trust later this year.

'Digital shop'

Mr Thompson, who was speaking at the Royal Television Society (RTS) in London, said that the UK's producers would also need to give their support to the project.

He said that the BBC intended to open up a "digital shop" for programme downloads, but that other existing providers would also be able to buy the content.

Mr Thompson added that more and more programmes from the archive would be added to the service.

He described the scheme as the "digital equivalent" of people buying a DVD of their favourite programme for a permanent collection. Many of the programmes would not have previously been available to own.

The BBC's boss also said that the project would provide a source of income to support independent programme production in the UK, and denied it was a "second licence fee by stealth".

If this happens I'll be very happy and may never leave the house again!

[WhiteCrowNZ]

Sounds brilliant, but I bet I'll be going bar-humbug, as it'll be a UK only thing ...

[Philipnet]

Cheer up Mike
The BBC already sell their content world-wide; it's not a great step up for them to sell this content world-wide either.

[Nyder]

I wonder if they'll open up the BBC Wales archive too? Back in 1977 a camera crew came to our school to ask us "kidz" about violence on television. I said my favourite programme was Doctor Who and that of course it wasn't too violent!

It wasn't shown as part of the live discussion programme, but I like to think it's languishing in the archives somewhere!

[Stuart Wallis]

If they drag you out of the archives, could you bring The Web of Fear out with you?

I daresay this is probably the BBC trying to avoid everything out on Blu-ray. It'llbe the third time for a lot of stuff, but better that than waiting til after the Blu-ray; Depends on what exactly they're making available before judging exactly how good or bad an idea it is.

[SiHart]

That's a good point. This report doesn't really revela what they're going to make available or whether you'll have to pay for the privillege, and what you get if you do pay. It'd be amazing to have access to the whole archive (I wouldn't know where to start!) but unless they've been busy digistsing the whole lot in readiness I can't see this happening right away. Perhaps they'll start with the popular stuff and work up to the more obscure stuff?

[Alex]

This article claims it'll cost £1.98 per episode: http://paidcontent.co.uk/article/419...wnload-scheme/

Which is ridiculous if you ask me, I'd rather wait a few months and buy the dvd of the series on the cheap than pay that much. That said, it may well change, and there could be a sliding scale depending on the age / condition of the programme.

[Dirk Gently]

Don't I already pay the BBC for the privilege of seeing the TV programmes they have made?

[Larry]

Don't I already pay the BBC for the privilege of seeing the TV programmes they have made?

not really a valid argument that is it after all you fork out money for Doctor Who DVD's or any other BBC programm on dvd so there is not really much difference paying to download it from i-player.

[Awesome Wells]

not really a valid argument that is it after all you fork out money for Doctor Who DVD's or any other BBC programm on dvd so there is not really much difference paying to download it from i-player.

It's a perfectly valid argument. How many "free" views of a programme does one's licence fee pay for? At what point do you have to pay again for something you've, in essence, already paid for?

If Tim watched an episode of Doctor Who once but I watch it ten times before it goes off iPlayer, have I received better value for money or has Tim been ripped off? If I want to download a digital copy of the same episode to keep, should I pay more, less or the same as Tim? If Tim's going to watch his downloaded copy twenty times and I'm only going to watch it once, should he pay more or less than me, or will that balance it out? If Tim missed the episode entirely on transmission, and didn't get a chance to watch the iplayer edition, should he be able to download a free copy at his leisure to watch what he has, in effect, paid to see? Should I be allowed to do the same, even if I'd seen the episode on transmission?

The licence fee (which is, don't get me wrong, integral to the BBC and should never be got rid of in favour of advertising) is a massive can of worms when combined with extraneous purchases, particularly in the digital age.

[Paul Monk]

The answer seems obvious to me. When you pay your license, you can opt to have access to the online archive and a modest cost per month on a watch whatever you like as often as you, as with companies like Netflix and Lovefilm. If you don't want it or don't have access then you don't need to pay.

[Si Hunt]

If Tim watched an episode of Doctor Who once but I watch it ten times before it goes off iPlayer, have I received better value for money or has Tim been ripped off? If I want to download a digital copy of the same episode to keep, should I pay more, less or the same as Tim? If Tim's going to watch his downloaded copy twenty times and I'm only going to watch it once, should he pay more or less than me, or will that balance it out? If Tim missed the episode entirely on transmission, and didn't get a chance to watch the iplayer edition, should he be able to download a free copy at his leisure to watch what he has, in effect, paid to see? Should I be allowed to do the same, even if I'd seen the episode on transmission?

We're talking archive TV here though. Tim didn't pay a license fee to watch a program made before he was born, so why should he see it for free?

Also there is going to be costs associated with making these shows available, so someone's going to have to pay them.

Si.

[Dirk Gently]

We're talking archive TV here though. Tim didn't pay a license fee to watch a program made before he was born, so why should he see it for free?

No, but my Dad did.