Pay-per-view iPlayer to launch in the States

BBC Worldwide plans revealed

7 October 2009 16:06 GMT / By Amy-Mae Elliott

The commercial arm of the BBC, BBC Worldwide, is planning to launch a pay-per-view iPlayer-esque service in the States where 20 million of BBC.com's 50 million users are.

The online video portal might offer some catch-up US content for free, but would charge for "premium catalogue material" and archive programming.

Such material includes the likes of Doctor Who, Torchwood and Top Gear, all of which do well in the States, but would be offered for a little more than consumers are used to paying on iTunes.

BBC.com's MD Luke Bradley-Jones told paidContent:UK: "Millions of people love Torchwood and would probably pay 10 bucks an episode rather than two bucks".

The plans, said to be over 6 months in development, will require BBC Trust approval, especially as Bradley-Jones says they "would like" to use the iPlayer name and branding.

In the meantime, BBC Worldwide is looking at pushing mobile apps where apparently there is a greater willingness from consumers to pay for content.

A commercial iPhone live TV app for the BBC World News TV channel is planned to cost around $2.