BBC rumoured to be working on digital download store

The BBC is developing an ambitious new scheme to create an iTunes-style store that would enable UK consumers to download new and old BBC TV shows, it has emerged.

PaidContent has learned that the BBC wants to make all its programmes available on a download-to-own (DTO) basis under an initiative called Project Barcelona. It is thought that content on the store would be priced from around £1.89 per show.

The website claims that Project Barcelona has been negotiating with the independent producers that make some of the corporation's programmes, and has already received support on what is viewed as a potentially strong way to combat piracy.

However, independent production trade body Pact is thought to be concerned about the scheme, particularly over the share of revenue for indies and potential impact on already-declining DVD sales.

In a statement to PaidContent, a BBC spokesperson said: "In addition to BBC iPlayer, the BBC already makes some of its content available on a download-to-own (DTO) basis.

"Any proposal to extend this facility would require not just the support of the industry but formal approval by the BBC Executive and the BBC Trust."

The as-yet-unannounced Project Barcelona could mark a radical shift in the way BBC Worldwide, the corporation's commercial arm, monetises the corporation's huge archive of content in the digital world.

All households in the UK already pay an £145.50 annual licence fee to fund the corporation, enabling them to watch BBC shows on television and on the catch-up TV service BBC iPlayer for a 30-day period.

After that, the rights are handed to Worldwide, which sells the programmes on DVD, and licenses the content to digital distribution services, such as iTunes, Blinkbox, Netflix and LoveFilm.

However, the corporation is thought to be concerned that only around 7% of its archive programming is offered for sale, suggesting that third parties are 'cherry picking' the most commercial content and leaving the rest.

Project Barcelona is thought to be about the BBC making all of its content available for paid download in an own-branded service, including all-new material, shortly after the 30-day transmission window.

The download platform would enable the BBC to more broadly promote its older content, as well as provide the producers with a bigger cut than they currently get on iTunes.

The corporation will handle all administration costs of the platform, and it could generate at least £13m in revenue for indie producers over the next five years.

Information uncovered by PaidContent says that the project is "about making what is effectively seen as non-commercial programming available to the market at a price and ease of use that will encourage consumers to purchase programmes that the commercial market would not make available due to the poor returns and risk involved".

If it can overcome the disagreements with the production companies, the new download platform could provide the BBC with a strong new revenue stream in the digital world, particularly as it faces major spending cuts.

However, the approach would still have to get full approval from the BBC Trust, which may be concerned about the corporation entering a major commercial venture that could muscle out other download services.

BBC Worldwide already offers a paid-for version of BBC iPlayer, but that is only available to consumers outside of the UK.

BBC confirms pay TV download service

BBC television programmes will be available in a new paid download store shortly after first transmission, director general Mark Thompson has confirmed.

The iTunes-style store, codenamed Project Barcelona, will operate in addition to the existing BBC iPlayer window and give users the option to pay for "owned" downloads of new and old TV shows.

Speaking at the Royal Television Society, Thompson said: "BBC iPlayer is the most successful and most intensively used catch-up service in the world but it's true that, after that seven day public service window, a large proportion of what the BBC makes and broadcast is never seen or heard of again.

"On television, despite all of our existing forms of public service archival and commercial windowing, the overwhelming majority of what the BBC commissions and broadcasts becomes unavailable when that iPlayer window expires.

"We want to change that and have started to talk to our partners, including the independent sector and PACT, about a proposal which we will formally submit to the BBC Trust later this year which - for reasons which escape me - we call Project Barcelona.

"The idea behind Barcelona is simple. It is that, for as much of our content as possible, in addition to the existing BBC iPlayer window, another download-to-own window would open soon after transmission - so that if you wanted to purchase a digital copy of a programme to own and keep, you could pay what would generally be a relatively modest charge for doing so."

Thompson addressed concerns that the BBC was seeking to double charge licence fee payers for content by drawing parallels between digital downloads and purchasing physical media in shops.

"This is not a second licence fee by stealth or any reduction in the current public service offering from the BBC - it's the exact analogy of going into a high street shop to buy a DVD or, before that, a VHS cassette," he explained.

"For decades the British public has understood the distinction between watching Dad's Army on BBC One and then going out to buy a permanent copy of it. Barcelona is the digital equivalent of doing the second."

The store's launch is contingent upon the BBC obtaining agreement from programme production companies and the BBC Trust.

Another nail in the coffin of physical media such as DVD and Blu-ray methinks?

BBC says viewers 'comfortable' with TV download project

Licence fee payers are "very comfortable" with the BBC's plans to launch an iTunes-style digital download service, according to the BBC's director of archive content Roly Keating.

Keating said that the aim of Project Barcelona, the name given to the download venture, is to "expand very significantly the range of BBC content that's available in the UK on a download-to-own (DTO) basis".

He said that DTO is the "equivalent" of purchasing a DVD, or VHS video in previous years, in that it is a permanent copy of a favourite BBC programme to "own and keep".

Research done by the corporation, he said, has shown that audiences are "very comfortable" with this idea, and there is a "clear understanding" of the difference between viewing something once as it is shown on TV or BBC iPlayer, and keeping a programme to enjoy forever.

He said that Barcelona is about making the BBC's vast library of content dating back decades more widely available to audiences for consumption on digital devices.

"At the moment, although partners such as iTunes offer a selection of the most popular BBC titles for purchase as downloads, we estimate that more than 90% of what the BBC commissions becomes unavailable for download once it's removed from BBC iPlayer," wrote Keating in a blog post today.

"We'd like to change that, and get to a point where it's the norm, not the exception, for shows to be available for digital purchase soon after transmission, with the most comprehensive range of BBC titles being offered via a bespoke online shop."

BBC director general Mark Thompson confirmed the existence of Project Barcelona earlier in the week in a speech at the Royal Television Society.

Keating repeated Thompson's assertion that the download platform is not a "second licence-fee by stealth", and insisted that it will not result in any "reduction in the current public service offering from the BBC".

He said that the download store will mostly likely exist as a "commercial site" separate form the licence-fee funded iPlayer platform, which will continue to offer on-demand and catch-up on recently broadcast BBC shows for 'free'.

However, many of those same programmes will also be available to purchase via Barcelona in the same way that content is currently made available on DVD or on iTunes while still in the catch-up window on iPlayer.

He added: "Audiences would simply have a choice of whether they want an immediate viewing experience on BBC iPlayer, for free, or to buy their own permanent digital copy and watch it whenever they want."

Rights to programmes made available on Barcelona would be "wholly non-exclusive", he said, meaning independent producers would be able to work with other digital retailers, including iTunes, as well as secondary TV channels, subscription services and DVD.

Keating said that the BBC is "excited" by the potential of Barcelona as a way to make particularly older BBC shows more widely available, but he stressed that the project still must be approved by the BBC Trust later this year.

"Over time the aim would be to make available not just an expanded range of recent titles, but a far greater volume of archive content as well," he said.

"Barcelona would open up an important additional space for that very broad set of BBC programming that currently isn't being made available by the market, much of it never seen since its original transmission. We believe there's value for audiences in that, as well as additional revenues for producers, rights holders and the creative industries."

He added: "We're excited by the potential of the Barcelona idea, but it's still very much in development, and it's certainly too early for us to be able to offer further detail on issues such as pricing, technology and timing.

"There's much work to be done with our partners across the industry before it'll be ready for submission to the BBC Trust for approval."

What nobody in the BBC ivory towers seems to realise is that once a BBC programme has been made available online it can be copied across the entire internet and downloaded by any nine-year-old absolutely free-of-charge!