DIGITAL TV SUMMIT 2010, LONDON. The international version of BBC’s iPlayer will use a single subscription pay model at launch and also be initially available only on the iPad, according to Luke Bradley-Jones, EVP and MD, BBC.com.
It will be free to download the app for iPlayer and some free content will be provided to showcase the service. Furthermore, advertisers will be given the change to partner on free sections of the site.
Bradley-Jones also said that, “it is unlikely we will take the exclusive route over time” and “the mid-term objective is for the service to be multiplatform”.
Details on pricing of the service will be made known in the New Year.
In the UK, BBC iPlayer viewers that use the iPad can access the ‘Big Screen’ version, though there is no dedicated app.
Importantly, Bradley-Jones indicated the BBC would look at the commercial landscape of every country it operates in before introducing the iPlayer there. He implied this would be through negotiations with local partners that currently distribute its channels.
He also said the Global iPlayer would be much more than the catch-up service it is in the UK, offering viewers such additional features as ‘best of’ and classic programming.
