BBC plans to extend iPlayer to global audience

BBC plans to make its iPlayer catch-up service available to a wider audience, by unblocking the access for international users.

Speaking at a conference last week, the BBC’s director of future media and technology, Erik Huggers, said: “The internet is by definition a global medium, yet today we are artificially blocking international access to the iPlayer.

“That’s a problem in my mind, and a big challenge for the industry,” he added.

An international version of the service could come up against competition from similar services, such as the US’s catch-up offering, Hulu.

However, the iPlayer has seen huge success in the British market since its launch, with over 42 million programmes being accessed on the service in the first three months of 2008 alone.

The BBC recently signed a deal with Sky, making the iPlayer available through the satellite broadcaster’s online TV service Sky Player (see iPlayer Launches On Sky’s Online TV Service).

Virgin Media was the first third party to launch iPlayer when it went live on the cable platform in May, while Nokia also agreed to feature the service on its N96 handset in September (see BBC iPlayer And Nokia Team Up In New Mobile Deal).

The iPlayer is also available via the Apple iPhone and iPod Touch, which Huggers said is an increasingly popular way to access the service, now accounting for around 3% of all iPlayer viewers.

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