BBC director general Mark Thompson revealed the Corporation’s latest TV technology at the Edinburgh TV Festival, announcing details of MyBBCPlayer, a new online service allowing viewers to legally download seven days of TV programmes.
Delivering his address, Thompson stated: “This will be the decade of video on-demand. It will come, not when switchover occurs, although that is important, but when every household has access to rich media online.
“Pessimists suggest that the BBC will disappear amongst the choice of on-demand, but the BBC is one of the biggest brands and that is before we direct the full force of our creatives and marketing at the media.”
The new online media player, which is expected to launch next year, will also allow access to parts of the BBC archive, as well as an online simulcast of BBC One and Two.
The developments are certain to unnerve commercial rivals, although Thompson was clear that his desire was to work with the industry in all of its on-demand developments.
It is important, the director general said, not to hamper existing commercial businesses, such as ITN’s commercial archive of news footage. He said: “As a partner, we believe we can open up new opportunities to the commercial sector. Openness and universal access are at the heart of the BBC mission. Lets work hard at understanding the best way of protecting both public and commercial value.”
Turning his attention to the on-going debate over the future of funding for public service broadcasting (PSB), Thompson was adamant that the licence fee should remain the sole preserve of the BBC.
“The key goal is rich public service with plurality,” he said. “One of the things I think it would be wrong to do would be to split up the licence fee and pick away at the solidity of the BBC. Why not look at other ways of funding – let Channel 4 off spectrum tax for instance?
“There’s no reason why the solution can’t be in plural funding and many of those who argue against it do so in an attempt to weaken the BBC.”
Defending the range of PSB output delivered by the Corporation, Thompson continued: “The BBC is more, much more than any one service. Increasingly people see that things like the Dr Who website and BBC Bitesize matter just as much as the output of BBC One.”
When asked how much the new licence fee settlement would be, Thompson was playful with his audience. “Of course you’d like exact figures?” he asked smirking, “well I’m afraid I can’t give them. There’s one key variable around digital switchover, and that is precisely what it is the Government wants the BBC to do. Once we have a timetable then we can begin to price things up.”
When asked about the BBC’s position in a digital only and on-demand world, Thompson’s main concern was that vast amounts of content are not yet easily navigable.
“The public are getting much more used to navigation. We need to figure out how to do that clearly. The public are very sophisticated and I can’t believe that we can’t fin a simple way to do that.”
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